20 Tips to Stop Your Mind from Overthinking

Overthinking, or when your thoughts and worries circle in an endless loop, can stem from a lot of things.  Fear of making mistakes, stress, and perfectionism name a few.

If you constantly overthink things, it will become a habit.  This habit can, in turn, make you more susceptible to illness, depression, and anxiety.  But how do you stop it? Glad you asked.  Below are some things to help.

Remember, your thoughts help dictate your actions and reactions. You have the ability to help yourself.

20 Tips to Stop Your Mind from Overthinking:

1. Ask yourself “is this a productive thought?”
2. Put things into perspective
3. Know your body’s rhythm and schedule activities accordingly
4. Focus on the five senses (what you can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel)
5. Surrender the need to be perfect
6. Accept that you cannot change the past
7. Accept that you cannot predict nor control the future
8. Exercise
9. Accept that you don’t have to understand everything
10. Repeat phrases to calm or center yourself (“relax”, “accept being still”, “I am safe”)
11. Do only one thing at a time
12. Acknowledge problems, but focus more on potential solutions for each
13. Consider that you’re depriving yourself of to be overthinking
14. Consider what you might feel like if you stopped overthinking
15. Ask yourself “what is within my control? What isn’t?”
16. Give yourself a set amount of time to worry and then move on (15 minutes of worry time)
17. Practice mindfulness – being here and now, without judgement
18. Practice deep, belly breathing
19. Take a class to practice being creative
20. Help someone else

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