OVERTHINKING LEADS TO PROCRASTINATION!!!!

Do you find overthinking getting in the way off you moving forward in your life?

Maybe you want a new job, get in better shape, start investing money for the future or even start your own business.

The truth is when the time comes; you some how get stuck in your own head, in your own thinking and find it difficult to manage your thinking or thoughts.

The next thing you start saying is I will do it tomorrow, and then tomorrow never comes.

Before you know it, you are caught up in that ugly cycle ‘PROCRASTINATION’ with no end in sight

Anticipation is killing me!!

Do you remember a number of years ago a cartoon featured the cat, Garfield, considering the task of getting out of exercising? He thinks, “I probably should get up and exercise, but my feet will start to hurt and my heart will pound. I’ll get out of breath, start to sweat, and I won’t be able to make it back home. Exercise isn’t so bad,” he says, “But the anticipation is killing me!”

Like Garfield, the thing you need to do probably isn’t so bad, but the anticipation is killing you! That small first step could potentially have a large impact on your life so you over-think it. The overthinking leads to procrastination, killing your motivation to take a step towards doing what it is you want to be doing.

Overthinking is destructive

I also know this from personal experience, last year I was starting my own business, one of the first things I did was set up a Facebook page, was it straight forward for me, no it wasn’t because I was overthinking the situation, I was thinking, no one will take me serious, am I qualified enough, will people reject me, am I ready to do this, what if I fail. All these thoughts and over thinking lead to me procrastinating and taking me a 6 weeks to set this up from when I initially set out to do this. So you see overthinking can be destructive and doesn’t really serve us and help us move forward, it also can lead to other negative emotions such as Stress or even anxiety. Was I stressed during these 6 weeks you bet I was.

WHY Overthinking?

So I guess the question is WHY do we over think? And how do we stop this from happening?

There a number of reasons WHY people overthink, one of the main ones Is Lack Of Confidence, when we hesitate and are indecisive we allow fear and uncertainty to creep in to our minds. FEAR is probably the biggest reason we overthink, fear of change, fear of success or even fear of failure.

Worrying is another reason why we overthink, worrying is a natural reaction to new and unknown things, in this culture we often think how can things go right. This then can attract problems in it.

Overthinking is also seen as a protection, protecting us from troubles.

Another big reason for overthinking is we are looking for and striving for perfection. Perfectionists are always looking to do something bigger and better, this can lead to a high state of anxiety and stress because they are overthinking there way to be perfect. This lifestyle can damage your physical and mental health and well-being. Here’s the thing no one is perfect and we are never going to be perfect. So if we accepted this we then maybe stop to overthinking. After all over thinking I just a bad habit. This bad habit can stop you from really having a fulfilling life.

How to stop overthinking?

This bad habit can be very difficult to change, so I have 7 helpful tips or steps to help overcome this problem.

1- Manage your thoughts more effectively- Recognize when you are overthinking, stop taking these annoying thoughts seriously, manage them in away were you eliminate negative thoughts and work more with the positive thoughts. Write them down if you need to, get them out your head and on to paper, this will help you make more sense of what is really going on for you.

2- Work on that muscle ‘making decisions’- When you start making decisions you will build your confidence and start taking more risks, this in turn eliminating negative thinking and allow you to overcome difficulties and become solution focused.

3- Stop waiting for perfection- perfect timing, perfect conditions) before you do what you know you should have done long ago. Being ambitious is great but aiming for perfection is unrealistic, impractical and debilitating. Aim for constant improvement and consciously and methodically work towards positive change where you need it most. A good friend of mine once said ‘practice makes permanent’ and not perfect.

4- Have a go to person- this might be a friend, coach, mentor or even relative. Someone who will give you good sound, relevant, meaningful feedback. Someone who accepts you unconditionally. Also someone who will tell you what you need to hear, and not what you want to hear.

5- Keep a Journal- Keeping a note of your thoughts, behavior’s and actions is a great way of keeping perspective. This will allow you to evaluate what’s working for you. This will keep you focused and motivated also.

6- Be more pro-active- Get out of the theory and be more practical now. Do at least one thing that will get you closer to where you want to be. Even it scares you, especially if it scares you. Feel the fear and go for it.

7- Create and commit to a plan- this is important, this brings about consistency and focus. Write this plan down, break it down in to small steps, and tick off each step as you do it. This will allow you to get a sense of achievement as you start working towards your goals. Remember don’t give yourself an escape clause. This will give you vision and purpose for your future, which will give you motivation every day you wake up.

Using these 7 steps will give you a strategy to overcome overthinking and in the long run prevent procrastination. That’s what we want right, I know this can be hard to change this ugly cycle, but if you are really committed and want to start living more effectively then this will lead to a more fulfilling life.

Now that you know what you need to do, stop thinking about it and just GET STARTED NOW!!