Like most people, I analyze and/or criticize everything. We kinda have to in order to survive, decide what we want to do/be, etc.

Coupled with being a Virgo, I can be a bit supercharged in the area...

In work, I am extremely thorough and pay meticulous attention to detail on projects and will execute with scrupulous precision, guaranteed.

I’m not OCD (maybe a little anxiety, which is a common contributor to overthinking…,but I digress). The problem is, I often have a clear vision of how things are “supposed” to be, and I have a hard time deviating. 

At home, this analyzing and criticizing is quite annoying for everybody, including myself. I often feel I HAVE to say something about, analyze and/or criticize everything that isn’t “right”/my way, or it's going to eat at me until I do.

Side note: I have worked on it and gotten so much better!.

But this has been a struggle for many years.

I thought being analytical, critical, and having a keen eye for detail and what wasn’t right were great characteristics to have in the workplace, at least....I ensured projects got done on-time and well, etc. Star employee, right? Well...

Then I became an entrepreneur…

Analysis, criticism, and perfectionism, led me to severely overthinking every aspect of my business (which were now all my decisions to make). 

Things like…

• What was my business niche?

• What topics to address within this niche?

• Who was my target audience?

• What product would I offer this audience to generate income?

• How do I get started?

• When do I get started?

• Should I use my name or choose a different brand name? etc.

And the list goes on…

This is a classic case of “Analysis Paralysis”

Image: civilengineeringcentral.com

All of which would have been figured out by taking action, and evaluating the results, but…

I needed to be perfect FIRST,  before I could confidently make a move…so I stayed stuck. 

Overthinking is Procrastination in Disguise

I often…

• Spent way longer than necessary planning what I wanted to create in my business, but never pulling the trigger because I always found something else I felt I needed to do, learn, or add.

In reality, I already had plenty of skills and education I wasn’t implementing, so that wasn’t the answer.

This is referred to as “Fake Work”, which is when you do tasks that may be helpful, but not necessary to the end goal. 

“Ideas without execution are irrelevant. If you want to achieve what you are capable of, stop chasing new ideas and focus on execution.” -Brian P. Moran

For example, when I would create ANOTHER spreadsheet in the guise of getting more organized, but wouldn’t use it after a week or two because it really wasn’t necessary, but at the time, I felt it was a make or break thing I needed before I could move forward.

The real work would have been to engage in tasks that directly impacted my end goal. 

Like, making a blog post, developing a product, or making sales calls. Ultimately, taking actions toward my goal.

“The learning is in the doing.”

• Followed accounts online, and ended up falling victim to the comparison trap. If my content wasn’t as “good” as theirs (even though they obviously had way more experience and time in the game) I wasn’t posting it

I was bypassing my journey for the destination. 

I should have been looking at what they did to get to where they were (their earlier work) instead.

"Overthinking is keeping you from you goals."

Secondly, a lot of the accounts I followed weren’t wives or soccer, dance, and homeschool moms like me, which guaranteed I would be on a different timeline than the twenty-something, bachelor, that was an entrepreneur since 16 I was watching.

I’m not going to lie..I still struggle, but I have found strategies that help me take massive action when I find myself slipping into this space. 

Before we get to what I do to avoid getting into this space. Let’s look at the problems with..

Common advice given to help overthinking…

• Notice when you’re overthinking

This is great besides the fact that often (especially in the beginning) when you find yourself overthinking you’ve already been down the hole for sometime. 

Besides that, we already are noticing somewhere along the line, that’s why we’re reading an article like this, so that suggestion is kinda useless.

• Learn mindfulness skills like meditation or practicing being in the moment.

Sounds good, but the idea of sitting with my thoughts when they’re already running rampant usually exacerbates the issue, not help it. 

• Practice gratitude

Ok, I’m grateful, now what?

• Practice self-compassion

I empathize with and forgive myself for being an over-thinker, but I’m still overthinking…HELP!

• Embrace the underlying fear that’s preventing you from taking action.

This one is good. BUT, this can be hard to do on your own, even when you recognise there must be a fear there, from an inside view it might be difficult to know what that is.

I’m not discouraging you from doing these mindfulness practices. They do have their benefits, but if you want to make tangible progress on what overthinking is currently holding you back from…

Here’s advice that actually works    

1. Get familiar with what you tend to overthink (make a list if you have to)…It’s more than likely the same few areas or things 

For me, it’s usually around making a decision because I don’t want to make the wrong one, and/or the need for something to feel perfect before I can take action.

Figure out your hang ups, then commit to taking action.

Set a timer, and when it goes off, make a move/action that gets you closer to your goal.

In the book “5 Second Rule” by Mel Robbins says taking action is as simple as counting backward from 5, then immediately taking the next step. Otherwise, our brain will start to talk us out of it.

2. Be okay with it not being perfect or your best work, and move on!

We need to gain clarity by taking imperfect action. By doing this, we learn what works and what doesn’t. The key is to be okay with knowing “it’s not the best, but it’ll do”, and doing something will help you find clarity and make it better next time . 

3. Braindumps

When our thoughts are cluttered, we usually can’t be confident in our decision-making. We overthink and procrastinate when we feel unsure.. Brain dumping helps get all of our thoughts out of our minds and on paper, where we can organize what’s important, and get rid of what’s not important right now.

4. Visualizing and journaling

I’m not too good for an old-fashioned metaphysical practice, but unlike the common advice above, these practices need to include tangible steps toward progress. 

Visualization gives a clear picture of our goal.

Journaling helps us find what action steps are needed. With this list of actions we can figure out which are the next most important to take action on.

5. Break goals down into digestible pieces

A common problem in our efforts for being productive, is that we try to do too much, too fast, then we end up overwhelmed and have a hard time deciding what to do next. We look at the entire staircase instead of the one step we need to take that’s right in front of us.

We have to break down the goal, and conquer it piece-by-piece/step-by-step. No matter how small.

6. Shorten your task list

Having too many “to-dos” leads to stress and overwhelm. You should only have 1-3 tasks that are your priority for the day. 

Next…

7. Eat the Frog

Do the task you want to do the least, FIRST. Do this task at the beginning of the day when you're well-rested and sharp.

Having a plan isn’t enough…

Now, that you are clear about your goals, and have a PLAN you can work. 

There’s another key component you must add to your plan to make it actionable. So, you won’t end up like me and know the plan, but easily deviate when convenient.

The secret is to couple your plan with rules for yourself. This can look like whatever you feel will work to motivate you to take action.

Here are a few ways to ensure you stay on task…

• Use IF/THEN scenarios. 

Example- IF my goal is to write a blog post today. THEN, I will not watch entertainment television (something I enjoy) until I write the blog .

• Reward yourself for a Job Well Done

If you stick to your plan for the day/week/month using the steps given in the previous section, Reward yourself. Everybody likes a good, old incentive. It gives us motivation to do what we need to do. 

Pick a relevant reward that will help you make what you’re doing easier. If you finish a task on your work project, buy yourself a new tool that will help make the project more enjoyable moving forward. 

Sometimes, people will make the mistake of rewarding themselves in a way that isn’t conducive to their goal. For example, people that reward themselves with a burger when they meet the weight-loss goal.

Let’s choose enjoyable rewards that will continue to benefit our end result.

If you need more tips for executing your plans and building better habits, check out the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear 

Be a person that takes action over procrastinating and over-thinking.

Until next time,

Shonnea