On Loop
By: Mahima Trivedi
Tags: Overthinking Tips, Blog, Overthinking, Philosophy, Self Help

Thought 1: “My chest feels oddly heavy today.”

Thought 2: “Could it be an acid reflux? Muscle ache? Or..Or..Or…. a heart attack?!”

Thought 77,882: “I am unable to smell my perfume!! And I also coughed a bit, could it be…..?”

Thought ‘I have lost the count, but it’s probably midnight by now’ : “XYZ also said I looked paler than usual, while ABC mentioned my weight. I definitely have something wrong going on.”

Above narrated is a preview of overthought thoughts practically leading nowhere yet generating tons of unnecessary panic in the thinker. More often than not; such thought loops begin gradually and then reach a pinnacle of confusion, indecisiveness and desperation, only to synergistically create more loops.

Overthinking is quite literally an art of creating problems that weren’t even there. So it’s basically 9 pm Republic TV version of Arnab, except overthinking strikes a debate 24/7 and nobody; much less the nation, cares about it.

Shakespeare’s very own Hamlet’s tragic flaw was procrastination, cynicism and indecisive thoughtfulness; which ultimately led to deaths of most characters. Likewise, fictional characters such as This Is Us’s Randall Pearson, The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen, Bojack Horseman, Monica Geller, even Ginny Weasley (refer Chamber of Secrets) are frank examples who displayed traits of destructive overthinking and obsessive thought processes.

Frequently chronic overthinking is related with various psychological disorders, but isn’t exactly an explicit symptom. Hence on the outside the person may appear as normal as when Kanye is with Kim, except on the inside, it’s just Kanye and his twitter account. Yet the demarcating factor is consciousness of how deep you have fallen into the overthinking abyss and how much you can cope out of it.

Here’s my two cents along with 5 tricks and tips to unloop:

Avoid expecting perfection

(Except if you are Beyonce)

The concept of perfection is subjective, therefore it is impossible/impractical to wait and wait and wait for a perfect outcome no matter how much thought process one puts in. Also, in pursuit of perfection, mulling over a plethora of “What-ifs” and “Should haves” could be the Tadka to your overthought Dal.

“The perfect is the enemy of the good.” — Voltaire.

Recognizing this basic truth can help you unloop for the time being and move on.

Let go

Let go of legit most of your views about fear and anything-everything associated with it. The burden of fear is commonly linked with similar situations and memories of past experiences. No doubt, analyzing congruent experiences of past could help make a better decision in present but there’s only a thin line between analyzing and overthinking.

Fearing constantly about what could go wrong may escort us towards paralysis by analysis; meaning you become so afraid to take the wrong decision that you end up taking no decision at all. This might cloud your judgment as well. Hence, to unwind and unloop, imagine having a mental STOP sign that frees you from over analyzing.

If you are aware about it, you are already improving

Awareness about your habit of overthinking; especially about the mindless kind, is a massive step towards its cessation. Just step back or try to hold a broader perspective for those nagging thoughts. Analyze your response and emotions in accordance with your thoughts and then try to address it by changing thoughts and mindset.

Whether you are making a mountain out of a molehill or fussing big time only to create tiny results, your consciousness about your own overthinking is vital.

Doesn’t Matter In five years/months/weeks/days from now? Not worth pondering over. AT ALL!

This one’s the commonest paradigm to follow AND to master in order to unloop. Overthinking generates mental pressure which ultimately results in excessive stress and anxiety. Though a harmless activity, ideally sitting and accessing same hypothetical scenes, past events and conversations only multiplies your loop.

Indulging in alternative activities such as meditation, exercise, painting, sports, taking a walk, learning an instrument or any simple distraction (Michelle Morrone’s IG) might prevent you from succumbing to loops.

Plan Your Stress

Yep, plan your stress. Waking up anticipating stress and pressure will set a sour tone to your day. Instead, allow yourself a specific time alongwith a time limit to stress over a particular issue and arrive to a conclusion. For example, you could put a 5 minute timer for small decisions and as soon as the time is up, you are no longer obligated to ponder over it and can move to the next task.

Apart from planning, minimizing your daily input of information also cushions your unlooping and declutters extra mental baggage. Loading only small chunks of information in segments throughout the day alleviates the loop. So lining up a plan with moderate info consumption could help clear up mental space.

Lastly, to conclude, try and control your loop the next time you catch yourself overthinking. Controlling your own stream of thoughts creates a far better mental picture than the ones thought absentmindedly.

Also, I’d love to know what works best for you to unloop! Leave a comment down below!

Thank you for reading! :)