8 Tips to Stop Overthinking and Be Happier

Overthinking doesn’t just frustrate and disappoint, it can also make you feel lonely and sad. With that in mind, here are eight ways to stop overthinking and be happier

1) Meditation

Many people don’t realize that meditation is one of the best tools for battling overthinking. Give it a try: Simply sit down with your eyes closed, breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, let all of your thoughts wash over you, and get lost in your breath for several minutes. It might not always be easy at first (especially if you have a busy mind), but once you start doing it regularly, you’ll notice that meditation helps stop over thinking. Meditation will also help you to stay focused on whatever task or idea you need to finish; it’s basically like weights for your attention span. Once you become more focused, find gratitude throughout your day—it’s another great way to stay positive. Instead of dwelling on what went wrong during an event or interaction, look at what went right and think about how lucky you are to have those things or experiences in your life; see how appreciative that makes you feel! Another trick? Picture where you want to be five years from now. That visualization process can help keep things in perspective as well. Whenever something goes wrong, tell yourself, This too shall pass, If I had it my way..., Time heals all wounds, or some other clichéd saying that reminds you that time has a healing power and every day brings new opportunities for growth and improvement.

2) Externalize your thoughts

Externalizing your thoughts (in other words, getting them out of your head and onto paper) can help you stop overthinking. When you write down what’s bothering you, it gets easier to put things into perspective. You realize that many problems are just part of life—disappointments we all experience at one time or another. Once you recognize that these problems are normal, it becomes easier to get back on track. This concept is similar to how taking a step back from a painting might help you see what needs to be done next; in both cases, it’s about maintaining perspective. So stop overthinking by taking action: grab a pen and piece of paper and start writing down your thoughts.

3) Get rid of distractions

If you’re over-thinking, it’s probably because you have too many distracting thoughts. The best way to stop over-thinking is, therefore, to get rid of distractions. Whether that means turning off your TV or getting off social media for a while, keeping these things out of your life will help you tune in on more meaningful thoughts and reduce stress caused by negative thinking patterns. You can also try focusing on one thing at a time—for example, work on one project before moving onto another. Take care of yourself: Sometimes over-thinking is caused by stress or exhaustion; treating those underlying issues with exercise, good nutrition and sleep could keep over-thinking from impacting your everyday life.

4) Keep a journal

If you feel your thoughts overwhelming you, it’s important to have an outlet for them—like a journal. Writing about your feelings can be cathartic, letting go of your emotions instead of forcing yourself to keep everything bottled up inside. Even just writing down one thought a day can go a long way towards stopping overthinking in its tracks. It also makes you more mindful of your actions: keeping tabs on what triggers certain feelings might help you figure out how to respond when they hit next time. It’s definitely worth a shot! But even if nothing comes from keeping a daily log, at least it takes some pressure off your brain by giving it something else to focus on. In fact, getting away from overthinking is often as simple as moving your body or engaging with others in person; so why not do both?

5) Practice radical acceptance

As we live, we naturally get disappointed by our expectations not being met. However, it is important to practice radical acceptance: accept that your expectations might not be met; accept that you can’t always have what you want; accept that sometimes things won’t turn out how you hoped. By practicing radical acceptance, disappointment will no longer have a place in your life.1 . You can’t control everything. You can only try your best to do so, but ultimately there are some things you simply cannot control—and that’s okay! It doesn’t mean that what happened was meant to happen or that there wasn’t something else you could have done differently (which is true). Simply accept it for what it is and move on from there.2. Having unrealistic goals creates disappointment.

6) Know you can’t control everything

Accept that you can’t control every aspect of your life, especially when it comes to things beyond your influence. For example, if you’re upset because someone has a job that seems better than yours or lives in a nicer neighborhood, try taking a step back and acknowledging that all is not fair in love and war—and sometimes people simply have better luck. Whatever happened was out of your control, so try to accept what’s going on instead of beating yourself up over it. And remember, it’s OK to feel jealous at times! That doesn’t mean you need to let it rule your life, but there’s no shame in feeling resentful once in a while.

8) Take Action

To stop overthinking , make a deliberate effort to take action. In psychology, there’s something called Seligman’s Learned Helplessness Theory, which suggests that if you try your best but end up getting something wrong repeatedly, it can have a negative impact on how you deal with future challenges. Essentially, you start to think maybe things will never work out for me in these situations anyway—which is not true at all! But over time, these thoughts become ingrained, leading you down a spiral of negativity. If that sounds like what you’re experiencing now, remember: All humans make mistakes; mistakes are fixable; everything will be OK in time.