It lets you switch channels, away from your busy mind, to a different frequency where healing can happen. Here are strategies from my book The Genius of Empathy to help you shift from the small to the larger self. Gradually train your brain to focus more on gratitude, optimism, and self-compassion. Concentrate on problem-solving rather than dwelling on issues. Practice identifying and labeling thought distortions, like ‘mind reading’ or ‘catastrophizing.’ This disrupts their influence over your thinking. Doubting our abilities and self-worth can fuel the need to replay events in search of possible blunders.

How A Substance Use Disorder Can Impact Your Mental Health

• But when you practice decisiveness, remember to start very small and slowly work your way up, building confidence along the way.
• We only give them power when we believe they could be true and we need to do something about them.
• When you’re stuck in an overthinking loop, grab a piece of paper or open a note on your phone and just dump everything out.
• This type of auditory rehearsal is our mind’s last-ditch strategy for remembering things.

This simple exercise helps shift focus from anxious thoughts to what’s happening right now. But what’s the easiest way to put this into practice and actually make a real change with my overthinking? If I read a lot of news or check for example Twitter too frequently then it’s easy to get dragged into the fear or doom that is often used to get more clicks.

The key to this whole exercise, though, is that you have to treat it like a real appointment. This means you should put it in your calendar and set a reminder. And if the time comes and you do feel the need to think about it subscribe for Meetheage on YouTube more, do genuinely think about it. In this guide, I’ll explain what overthinking actually is, what causes it, and then walk through 10 practical exercises you can use to stop overthinking so much.

Create A Worry Schedule

Have a pain in one area and I’ll spend half the day trying to convince myself it’s this or that, or not this or that. It’s especially true with things like if someone asks me to hang out with them on Friday night and I say sure. So really enjoyed this as a lot of it hit close to home. Everyone overthinks occasionally, but if you’re constantly playing through worst-case scenarios and feel like it’s affecting your mental health, consider contacting a professional.

Desire For Control

Just click on the image below to choose your day and time, and experience the benefits of a calm, centered mind for yourself. Scheduling time for these positive life experiences is one of the easiest ways to stop overthinking. When you overthink, stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released into your bloodstream. The human mind loves to explore the past and the future, but the body always stays in the present (unless you have a DeLorean and a flux capacitor, but I digress).

Practicing gratitude means you are not denying problems, but rather training your brain to notice what is going well in your life to counteract your negativity bias. Setting boundaries surrounding technology can create a larger attention span and mental clarity, allowing for more effective action. Like you said, living true to yourself is the key to a calm, balanced and happy mind. You’ll come to a much wiser decision through action than through thinking. Kulraj Singh is a Physiotherapist in Crawley and writer/speaker on health and fitness. He specializes in muscle and sports injuries and a keen advocate of exercise for long-term health well-being.