Overthinking is both an important strength and a frustrating weakness.
Former clinical psychologist and researcher-turned-writer Alice Boyes, PhD, the author of The Anxiety Toolkit and The Healthy Mind Toolkit, highlighted the significance of acknowledging the advantages of thinking deeply and being able to dial it back whenever necessary.
Boyes, whose body of work focuses on how others can use diverse strategies from social, clinical and positive psychology studies in their everyday lives and romantic relationships, likewise reiterated that over-scrutinizing is not the sole path to success.
“Sometimes it is enough to recognize that you currently do not overthink every decision, and that can work out fine, and even well,” she added. “You can begin to see yourself as someone who sometimes overthinks, but not always.”
In support of Boyes, the Benilde Well-Being Center of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde encouraged the general public to apply three practical solutions to address overanalyzing:
1. Execute once, then optimize.
When faced with a new task or situation, accomplish it with basic thinking. Only amend or develop your approach in subsequent times. This course leads to quicker judgments. It allows you to learn more through experience instead of delays.
2. Put your thoughts in a suitcase.
Anxiety warns you to be more cautious of potential threats. Trying to stop these thoughts will only amplify them. While your worries cannot be silenced, you can put them in a suitcase. Carry them around but do not interact with them. This creates sufficient psychological distance from apprehensions and enables you to make more skilful choices and actions.
3. Embrace both impulsive and deliberate decisions.
You may have experienced engaging in meta-cognition or “thinking about thinking.” Use this for your gain. Ponder on the decisions you have resolved that resulted in affirmative outcomes. Sometimes, the best ones are the results of exhaustive research and accurate perceptions. But this is not always the case.