It is a Monday morning, and I sit on my terrace with my cup of coffee, with zillions of things going on in my head. I take a deep breath and start jotting random things on my notepad: things to do, pending tasks, grocery lists, everything about work, blog topics, just everything. By the time I am done, I am amazed at how whirlwind my brain has gone. You guessed it right, I am an overthinker.
It is like every nook and corner of my brain has some information. I am ambitious and a go-getter, and once I set my mind on something, I have to see it through. But all this comes at a cost; my penchant for everything has a side effect: overthinking.
If you suffer from overthinking like me, you would have experienced a spiral of unwanted thoughts that knows no end. I like to phrase it as over-analyzing, over-worrying, and over-complicating even the simplest tasks. You dissect the simplest tasks to the nth value; your brain can spin into a vortex of endless thoughts, leaving you mentally exhausted and emotionally drained even for the simplest of decisions, let’s say, just buying a dress for yourself.
I have a thriving career, a loving family, and a decent social circle; mostly, I am the life of any party. From the outside, you are tempted to think I have it all sorted, but most are unaware of the buzzing in my head, worries, and uncertainties. With age, I always thought my mind would get calmer and decision-making more effortless, but I could not have been more wrong.
With age, I realized that the value-add of overthinking in my life is ZERO-NULL-ZILCH. I also learned that overthinking for me was not limited to a specific area; it could be anything, from choosing a dress for myself to planning a dinner party; my mind could spiral into a whirlwind of thoughts with no substantive results.
And where does it get worse when overthinking throws me into a dungeon of the dreaded word: PROCRASTINATION.
The vicious circle of never-ending thinking leads to me being less decisive, which leads to the circle of procrastination. The go-getter in me is in turmoil, as I cannot decide, leading to frustration.
In this chaotic aspect of my life, the one thing that has helped me recently is mindfulness, this idea of being and staying in the present. It’s easier said than done not to focus on what will happen and how my decisions will pan out—just staying in the moment, concentrating on today, and making the best of it.
Initially, it was not easy for my hyperactive mind to stay in the moment; it was so used to imagining and being in control that practicing mindfulness was not easy. Gradually, I trained my mind to focus on the present. It wasn’t easy, and I needed practice, but it put me in a much better place. I could acknowledge my worries and anxieties but not let them control me.
I still need to improve at this; I am still a beginner. There are times when my thought train leaves and goes places, but it has gotten much better. It’s okay to wander, but the important part is to bring your mind back to the present. The added advantage is that it helps me get more done because I’m spending more time taking action and less time THINKING about it.
Take baby steps on your mindfulness journey; try this: ONE MINUTE OF STILLNESS. Sit with your eyes closed (or open if you want) for 60 seconds, paying attention to your breath. That’s it.
You’ll be amazed at how one minute can feel like a tiny vacation!
To learn how to trust the process read my blog on the Power of Trusting the Process