Overthinking is one of the psychological problem that we come across frequently in our day to day life. It is referred as common and non harmful in today's modern world but it's not so. Anything in excess can be harmful, this holds true for our thoughts too. According to some research, it is estimated that on an average person come across 70000 thoughts each day. Too much indulge in over thinking can lead to serious mental problems like stress, depression, sleeplessness, lack of productivity etc.

Lifestyle would like to share some measures that will help to get rid of overthinking and bring back your calmness so that you can focus on your well-being.

#. What is Overthinking ?

As it's name suggests overthinking means coming across same thought again and again and trying to find out the minor detail that could change the possibility of final result. People who overthink get stuck in their thought because they are not clear about it and they bounces from one thought to other.

Miserable past experience, trauma, jealousy, ego etc. are some of causes of it.

#. When is overthinking a problem ?

Some bits of overthinking is fine but it may be problematic when :

It starts hampering your sleep
It starts hampering your social life
It starts hampering your work and productivity
You are getting negative and suicidal thoughts
You are getting violent

When you overthink too much you are 4 times more likely to develop mental health problems like depression and anxiety.

#. Ways to stop Overthinking

1) Keep yourself busy

Everyone of us has realised when we have a busy day we are continuously thinking about our work which leaves no room for unnecessary thoughts in our mind. It also act as a distraction from overthinking.

Try to keep yourself busy all the time. You can learn new skills, develop hobby, play sports, spend time with friends and family, exercise or do whatever you love.

This will actually increase your productivity apart from distracting you from your unnecessary thoughts.

2) Write it down

Write down your thoughts in a diary, journal or something like that. Write your each and every thought that is coming in your head no matter it may be positive or negative.

Basically what you are doing is taking your thought out of your mind and pasting it on the paper. This will give you a sense of relaxation and relief.

Later on you can sort out important thoughts and work on it.

3) Stay in present

About 70000 thoughts come and go every day in our head and most of them are either related to past or the future. That leaves a small window for present. So, when we are surrounded by these thoughts, we forget to enjoy and live our present.

People keeps on thinking about their future and their goals but they forget that their future depends upon the work that they do in present. So, when we focus on our present it will automatically improve our future.

Some other kind of people deals with the thought related to the painful past experience and keeps on getting depressed which is not good either. The truth is that - You should learn from the past, apply it in present for the betterment of future.

You can learn new skills, exercise, play sports, spend time with family and friends that will keep you busy and happy, which intern will make you enjoy the present.

Being in present is the greatest tool to stop overthinking. Somebody as well said - Being presence in the moment is the greatest present that you can give to yourself.

4) Stay away from negativity

In this modern era negativity is all around us. We are surrounded by negativity which can act as a trigger for overthinking. such as :

Social media :- This is the age of social media but over indulgence in it can trigger overthinking. This is because we start comparing our self with the fake (majority) lifestyle of people in social media. This can make us depressed, sad or jealous which can ultimately lead us to overthinking about it.

Comparison :- Comparison is rather good thing but not with others. This happens in most of our family especially with student which can trigger overthinking in them. This can create never ending battle in their mind. The person whom should we be compared is ourselves. We should compare ourselves with the past version of us and how much we have improved in those period of time in our respective field. This will act as a motivation for us to make better version of ourselves for the future. It's because of comparison that we have improved ourselves and came this far.

Forgive and Forget :- We are humans and humans tend to make mistakes. So, we should always try to forgive our self and other people for their mistakes. Doing this can save you from anger, negative feeling and overthinking about it. Somebody has well said - To lead a happy life try to forgive those whom you can't forget and forget those whom you can't forgive.

5) Meditation

Majority of people around are monkey minded people who cannot concentrate on a single thing just for sometime because of their thoughts. Here, meditation helps a lot.

Meditation is like an exercise for the brain which helps to calm it down and improve its function. It is said that 5000 problems with the single solution that is meditation.

Practicing mindful meditation just for 15 minutes a day can help to calm your monkey mind and hence helping you to get rid of overthinking.

Some meditation poses that can help are Padmasana (lotus pose), focus breathing, Sarvangasana (shoulder stand pose), Padahastasana (standing forward bend pose), Halasana (plow pose) etc.

6) Ask for Help

The above mentioned point might be enough for you however you always have an option for a help and there is no shame in it.

If you think your problem is getting serious and you can't handle it, you can talk to your family and friend about it. It should not be taken lightly in those cases. Otherwise may lead to long-term mental health problems.

You can go and consult a Doctor about it and even take therapy and medication if needed. This may help in your battle. However, the chance of it is pretty low but not null.

Thinking and reasoning is very important in our life. It is a thing that actually differentiate us from animals. It is because of our thoughts that we have come this far in an era of modernization. So, a healthy amount of thinking is not a culprit here.

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How to stop overthinking (and relax)