How to stop overthinking

Why it sticks

Overthinking disguises itself as work. Replaying a conversation or running through every way tomorrow could go wrong feels like preparing, and that feeling is the payoff. It almost never produces a decision. The cue is usually quiet: lying in bed, the drive home, the shower. Anywhere your attention is free. The more you try to push the thought away, the more often it comes back.

How to stop overthinking

1. Write it down within ten minutes

   When a loop starts, put it on paper. What exactly am I worried about? What, if anything, can I do about it? A thought on paper stops needing to be held in your head, and most loops look smaller written down.

2. Book a worry slot

   Pick fifteen minutes a day, at the same time, for thinking about the things that worry you. When a worry turns up at any other time, note it and save it for the slot. This is a standard technique in therapy for chronic worry.

3. Split problems from worries

   A problem has a next step: send the email, book the appointment, ask the question. A worry does not. Do the next step on problems straight away, even a small one. Worries go to the slot.

4. Move your body when it starts

   A loop running at the desk can often be broken by standing up and walking for five minutes. Moving gives your attention something else to process, and the thought tends to come back smaller, if at all.

5. Ask what you would tell a friend

   Overthinking judges you harder than you would judge anyone else. Say the situation out loud as if a friend had described it. The advice you would give them is usually short and kind, and it applies.

6. Close the day on paper

   Before bed, write tomorrow's three tasks and anything still on your mind. It gives your brain permission to stop rehearsing. Keep the notebook by the bed for anything that turns up after the lights go out.

What to track instead

A row that only records the habit not happening gets a tick on the days you were never tempted, and tells you nothing on the day it mattered. Give the row to the replacement:

• 15-minute worry slot
• Brain dump before bed
• Walk when a loop starts
• One next step taken

Print a tracker with these 4 habits or open them in a spreadsheet.

Your first week

1. Day 1. Buy or find a notebook that will only hold worries and next steps.
2. Day 2. Set a daily fifteen-minute worry slot and put it in the calendar.
3. Day 3. Every time a loop starts today, write one line and save it for the slot.
4. Day 4. Sort the list into problems and worries. Take one next step on a problem.
5. Day 5. Walk for five minutes the next time a loop starts at your desk.
6. Day 6. Write tomorrow's three tasks before bed and close the notebook.
7. Day 7. Read back the week's worries. Count how many happened.