Well, I definitely was and still am occasionally. I think we all are if we are honest with ourselves.
How do we know if we are an over thinker?
Are you?
What causes it?
Is this you?
- You try to steer or control your thoughts
- You often judge and analyse your thoughts
- You have trouble making decisions and often doubt the choices you do make
- You spend a fair amount of your time worried and stressed
- You find yourself returning to a thought over and over again even if its from the past
Sound familiar?
Now, asking yourself questions and challenging your own thoughts are good and healthy but not if you keep going over them time and again. Ask yourself if it's beneficial to you?
How does it affect the way you parent and your parenting style, are you always questioning situations or the thoughts these situations are giving you?
Do you find yourself analysing everything people say to you?
Maybe this might be causing you issues that don’t really need to be issues. Do you need to look at everything so closely and dissect it?
Nick Trenton wrote in his book 'Stop Over Thinking'
One method is to limit the time period when you worry. For example, you get into bed at night and prepare to sleep, but your brain instantly switches into worry mode and brings up a thousand things it wants to stew over. You tell yourself, "That's fine. I'm allowed to worry about that, and I will. But I won't do it now. I'll schedule a specific time to worry about this later. Let's say, tomorrow at 10:00 am. Before that period, I won't spend a single second thinking about any of this.
I'm halfway through reading this book and highly recommend it. Nick gives you different techniques to relieve stress, stop negative spirals, declutter your mind and focus on the present.
It’s great advice and allows you to actually control your thoughts and deal with them when you’re ready.
To conclude, try to change these thinking patterns and not allow yourself to become overwhelmed with your own over thinking and thoughts. Give yourself time and space to focus on your mind when you are ready.
Below I have written some tips for you.
