To be productive at work, you should know how to deal with overthinking well. It cannot be denied, that overthinking can be an obstacle to remaining productive at work. Excessive thoughts make you unable to focus at the office. As a result, you cannot complete your work and could potentially be reprimanded by your superiors.
So how do you deal with overthinking? Don’t worry, below we will show you how. Come on, look carefully!
Why Overthinking Should Be Avoided?
Before continuing how to overcome overthinking, let’s first discuss the reasons why this must be overcome or avoided immediately.
According to a 2013 study conducted by the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, thinking too much about your problems, mistakes, and shortcomings can increase the risk of health problems.
This may often be felt by workers when they make a mistake in the office. When a mistake is made, whether verbally or in writing, he always thinks about the problem and causes overthinking.
Quite a few people make mistakes at the office and then feel insecure. This will reduce your work productivity. Because you are always fixated on these mistakes.
Reducing overthinking can reduce stress, sleep better, and automatically have a positive effect on your life. Imagine if you could handle overthinking well. At night you sleep better and the next day you can welcome work positively.
Therefore, you should know how to deal with overthinking well.
How to Overcome Overthinking
Overthinking can be caused by various things, from work, family problems, or even something that hasn’t happened yet.
This condition often comes suddenly without knowing the time. Therefore, knowing how not to overthink is important so that your activities are not disrupted.
Here are some ways you can use to eliminate overthinking.
#01. Find out the trigger
Overthinking often appears when someone faces a problem. Therefore, it is important to know what kinds of problems usually make you overthink.
Try to focus on finding ways to solve the problem. So, you don’t spend too much time thinking about other things that occupy your mind, for example how the problem could have happened.
If necessary, note down how you got out of the problem. That way, if in the future you encounter a similar problem, you can use the same solution.
#02. Divert attention
Focusing on thinking about one thing is natural. However, don’t let that make you think about it so much that you can’t concentrate on other things.
Look for something that can distract you from things that often make you stressed when you think about it for a long time.
Stress is a natural thing experienced by everyone. However, if left unchecked, the risk of mental disorders due to prolonged stress also increases.
You can distract yourself by writing, exercising, doing a hobby, or doing something else that makes you happy.
#03. Set a time limit
Another way that is quite effective in dealing with overthinking is to set a time limit when you think about certain things.
This method can also help if you are trying to make a decision.
The sooner you set a time limit for deciding something, the less likely you are to overthink it.
Even so, still make considerations and don’t rush into making decisions.
#04. Stop assuming
You may feel excessive anxiety when thinking about conditions that have not yet happened. These negative assumptions will make you overthink.
Quoting from the American University of Sharjah website, negative thoughts about something that hasn’t happened can make you more likely to experience it.
That’s because you don’t focus on what’s going on. As a result, you might mess up the plans that were made previously.
#05. Breathing exercises
Quoting from the National Health Services page, here are breathing exercises that you can do to reduce stress caused by overthinking.
- Let your feet touch the ground.
- Take a deep, slow breath through your nose for five seconds. It’s okay if you don’t reach the count of five at first.
- Exhale through your mouth slowly.
- Repeat the breathing technique for five minutes.
This method is quite easy to use because it can be applied anytime and anywhere.
#06. Face your fears
Facing fear is not an easy thing. However, when you can get through it, you will no longer overthink because of this condition.
For example, if overthinking is caused by work problems, try discussing it with your boss or coworkers instead of keeping it to yourself.
Continuing to avoid your fear will only make you think about it more and make everything seem more scary.
#07. Meditation
Another way you can avoid overthinking and make your mind calmer is to meditate.
The Harvard Health page states that meditation can train the brain to let go of negative thoughts which often cause stress and even depression.
Meditation techniques are also considered to be able to regulate the performance of the amygdala, the area of ​​the brain that is responsible for controlling emotions, especially fear.
#08. Share with others
Talking to others about your worries or disturbing thoughts can help relieve emotional stress. Apart from that, you can also get a new perspective on the problems you are facing. So, meet people you trust such as family, friends, or your partner when you start overthinking.
Apart from getting input on existing problems, you can also get moral support from them. Overthinking is a habit that many people do and can get better over time.
However, if these lingering bad thoughts start to interfere with your daily activities, there’s no harm in consulting a psychologist. Psychologists can help you dig deeper into the causes of overthinking and the right ways to reduce it.
#09. Practice Self-Acceptance
Overthinking often comes from dwelling on past mistakes or worrying about things you can’t change.
Instead of hating yourself for things you might regret, try to be more accepting and compassionate towards yourself.
Here are strategies that can help you become more accepting of yourself:
- Practice gratitude and think about the aspects of yourself that you value.
- Cultivate a strong support system consisting of people who can give you encouragement and love.
- Forgive yourself for the things you regret.
#10. Challenge Negative Thoughts
Remind yourself that what is in your mind is not reality. Every thought you have will not always be true, accurate, or even realistic.
Learning how to reframe thoughts more positively can help eliminate overthinking.
When you find yourself thinking too much, challenge these thoughts. Ask yourself if this is realistic.
Consider alternative scenarios. It may be difficult at first, but learning to let go of excessive thinking can help you learn to replace negative thoughts with more helpful ones.
#11. Focus on solutions
According to Forbes, thinking about problems will not help you, but thinking about solutions to these problems will help you.
Don’t let your thoughts lead to problems that happen to you. As much as possible, shift to thinking about solutions.
Ask yourself what steps you need to take to solve the problem. Instead of asking “Why is this happening?”, it’s better to ask “What can I do?”.
#12. Stop being a perfectionist
Most people overthink because they feel they are not doing enough to complete their work. Less intelligent, less neat, less good, and other less.
This will lead to overthinking because you believe that your work is not good enough. Therefore, the right way to overcome overthinking is to stop being a perfectionist.
Sometimes, getting the job done on time is better than making the job as perfect as possible.
#13. Switch to happiness
Think about things that make you happy. For example, drawing, writing, playing music, or hobbies that make you forget your problems. According to Inc.com, this method is quite effective for overcoming overthinking.
For example, suppose you are experiencing overthinking at the office, then you should think that when you go home you will draw or write a novel.
Apart from that, you can also divert your thoughts to taking leave and vacations to reduce excessive thinking.
#14. Focus on the present
When you overthink, you tend to think about what bad things will happen to you in the future. If this happens, realize that you cannot predict what will happen to you in the future.
You will lose your time now if you keep worrying about what will happen in the future. Of course, this is not something productive.
So, use your current time to focus on the present and do things you like.
#15. Pay attention to how you think
One important way to overcome overthinking is to pay attention to how you think. This is because overthinking is a habit. So, you need to be aware when you start doing it.
Whenever you feel doubtful, stressed, or anxious, stop for a moment and look at the situation you are experiencing. Then, pay attention to how you respond. Doing this can help you overcome the habit of overthinking.
Those are 15 ways to overcome overthinking that you can apply so you can achieve productivity in your day-to-day life. Remember, overthinking will not help you solve problems. It can get you into other problems.
Apart from the discussion above, there are many other interesting tips about productivity in the world of work. You can read it through articles on The Inspire Muse!
This collection of articles is suitable for those of you who are experiencing problems related to productivity and are trying to fix them.
