9 Tips How To Deal With Overthinking And Anxiety

Side view woman looking sad as she works from home. Image from freepik.com
Side view woman looking sad as she works from home. Image from freepik.com

How to deal with overthinking and anxiety

Tend to overthink or think about something constantly? Because of this tendency, we feel like we have problems that only exist in our heads. Humans do have the advantage of high imagination. Not surprisingly, some problems are the result of our own making.

Being a person who panics easily is not fun. Anxiety and worry must disturb our activities. Then what if you panic easily and worry too much? Let’s do the things below to help you reduce anxiety!

9 Tips How To Deal With Overthinking And Anxiety

1. When you think about something and suddenly get anxious, try asking yourself: is the same thing in 5 years still important to you?

Woman Sitting in Front of Macbook feeling Overthinking And Anxiety. Photo by energepic.com from Pexels
Woman Sitting in Front of Macbook feeling Overthinking And Anxiety. Photo by energepic.com from Pexels

The habit of panicking easily follows your habit of overthinking things. Simple things get more complicated when you think about them, and things you don’t need to think about often become big problems.

To deal with this kind of condition (overthinking and anxiety), when you start panicking and overthinking something, immediately ask yourself. Will the problems you think about today affect your life in the next 5 years? If so, you should think about it carefully. But if not, maybe the problem is just your imagination.

2. Excessive worry makes it difficult for you to make decisions. So, set a deadline for when you have to make a decision.

Alarm clock. Photo by Black ice from Pexels
Alarm clock. Photo by Black ice from Pexels

Against a thing, you can never see it simply. For example, when you are faced with a situation where you have to choose whether you should accept a job offer, or if you focus first on preparing for your Masters’s course. Indeed, both are important things that must be considered carefully.

But your habit of overthinking makes it difficult for you to make decisions. You think down to the little details that you don’t need to think about. To overcome this, try short deadlines for yourself. The pressure to make decisions in a short amount of time will minimize your habit of thinking things through.

3. Your worry may come from using your time not maximally. So, try to be a more active person.

Woman Wearing Blue Turban, White Top and Brown Cardigan. Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels
Woman Wearing Blue Turban, White Top and Brown Cardigan. Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels

When you are not doing anything, usually your mind will wander the world, thinking about things that can be thought of. From here, negative thoughts that make you panic can occur. To avoid this, try to be a more active person. How to make the most of your time. You can do this by setting deadlines. So that your time can be used to work on those tasks.

If you have a lot of free time, try filling it with useful activities, such as developing a hobby. With a busy schedule and a busy mind and body, you won’t have time to think about unnecessary negative things. With this always active daily, you also don’t panic easily. Your mind will get used to moving fast and making decisions quickly too.

4. When you are in panic and are “stuck”, take a deep breath, and say “stop” to yourself.

Man Wearing Black Cap With Eyes Closed Under Cloudy Sky. Stop everything you are doing to take a breath. Photo by Kelvin Valerio from Pexels
Man Wearing Black Cap With Eyes Closed Under Cloudy Sky. Stop everything you are doing to take a breath. Photo by Kelvin Valerio from Pexels

When you are faced with a problem, you will blank suddenly. Everything that comes to your mind is negative. Your anxious mind thinks this is the end of the world, and the mistakes you make are fatal mistakes that cannot be corrected.

Finding a solution to a problem is never possible because you can’t even think clearly. If this happens, try to calm yourself down first. Sit down for a moment, take a deep breath, then say “stop” to your mind. At that time, make yourself aware that you are just anxious too much.

5. But if the worry does not go away, try to think about the worst that could happen. Then start anticipating.

Not worrying too much and without your direction, but think of strategies for dealing with the worst. Photo by Startup Stock Photos from Pexels
Not worrying too much and without your direction, but think of strategies for dealing with the worst. Photo by Startup Stock Photos from Pexels

If method number 4 doesn’t work, try to think about the worst thing that will happen as a result of the current problem. After you find the worst thing that could happen, start to formulate anticipations.

If you have found a solution for the worst, you will automatically be calmer because you have less anxiety. People tend to be afraid of things that are not sure to happen. But by guessing, at least we can predict how to deal with it.

6. Also remember that reality and your thoughts are two different things. Most likely, things are not as bad as you think.

Man pointing his head and overthinking about something trying to remember. Photo from freepik.com
Man pointing his head and overthinking about something trying to remember. Photo from freepik.com

To make you calm, also keep in your mind that what you think will affect your reality. When you are overthinking something, you can see problems that don’t exist. Problems that don’t exist can create problems that do exist because what you think must affect what you do next.

7. Exercise can also relax your body and relax. In addition to the body being healthy, the mind will also become clear.

Woman About to Run during Golden Hour. Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom from Pexels
Woman About to Run during Golden Hour. Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom from Pexels

To reduce stress levels, you can exercise. Jogging lightly or going to the gym as well. With exercise, our blood circulation becomes smooth. Medically, stress occurs when blood flow to the brain is not smooth.

So if you are diligent in exercising, your body will be healthier, and your mind will be fresher and clearer. If you can’t control your thoughts, at least through exercise you can control your body to reduce the anxiety level you feel.

8. Avoid being close to people who are easily anxious too. Your friend must have an easygoing disposition.

The people around us somehow influence our mindset. If you are a person who panics easily and is always overthinking and hang out with people of the same nature, the result will be multiple waves of panic.

The stress is also getting heavier. What you need is someone cheerful and always looks at everything positively. So that when you start to panic, he can respond casually.

9. Accept the fact that you can’t control everything. Just apply the principle of “Okay, okay”

Woman Open Arms While Closed-eyes Smiling Photo. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
Woman Open Arms While Closed-eyes Smiling Photo. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Last and most importantly, accept the fact that you are human. Mistakes and problems are common in human life. You really can’t control everything. Some events are beyond your control. That way, you will surrender everything to God. The important thing is you have tried to avoid problems.

The anxiety stems from your fear of your imagination. The most important thing of all is to accept the fact that you are human beings who live on the world stage. Good things can happen, as well as bad things. Just rest assured that for every problem, there must be a solution! Hopefully, these 9 tips how to deal with overthinking and anxiety will be useful.

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