How to BANISH overthinking
What is overthinking? We’ve all been there: our thoughts like a hamster on a wheel, running round and round frantically, getting nowhere. Overthinking is thinking too much, consider it as self-focused rumination.
Lyubomirsky* defines it as “thinking needlessly, passively, endlessly and excessively pondering the meanings, causes and consequences of your character, your feelings and your problems”. When we are down, many of us believe that we need to focus our attention inwardly on our feelings and circumstances to find the solutions that might resolve our troubles.
What research is now showing is that quite to the contrary, overthinking causes a cascading of unhelpful effects. Ruminating on our problems and feelings doesn’t normally lead to clarity and insight – it is more likely to lead to distorted, pessimistic thinking and the amplification and prolonging of sadness. It is this combination of rumination with negative mood that can be so toxic.
So in order to boost our happiness and wellbeing we need to know how to shake off overthinking, and to reinterpret and shape negative thoughts into neutral or optimistic ones. Happy people tend to have a greater capacity to absorb themselves in more life-giving activities that distract them from negative, anxious overthinking.
Let’s now take a closer look at those strategies that shake off overthinking and shift your mood so you can be more creative and productive in your problem solving. (more…)