How much time do you waste worrying about nothing?

Maybe I am different, perhaps it's just the way my mind works or maybe everyone is like me, but they manage to hide it better. Throughout my career as a Regional Creative Director and in other management positions, A large portion of time has been spent helping individuals through the process of their daily challenges. Often the work-related issues we started with seemed to always drift away from the project, and I found myself delving into people's minds, with the strange feeling of my role becoming one of a psychiatrist. I had a sofa in my office, which didn't help!

I lost count of the number of talented people I worked with within advertising who told me they felt they had made a career mistake. But when you ask them why they started working in advertising, their complete demeanour changes. You see the excitement and passion come racing to the surface as they remember an ad, tv commercial or just a simple line.

A lack of confidence, problems not even related to the job at hand. Perhaps some bills to pay, trouble at home or even insecurities from people. Sometimes, the people who exuded the most self-confidence on the outside but seemed as fragile as an egg. I always enjoyed encouraging, helping or offering advice to people if they asked. One of the topics I have heard myself say more than most others is 'what is the point of worrying about it now?'

Every time I said this statement, I could almost hear the person inside me screaming, 'If only you would listen to yourself!' Because I still spend a lot of time worrying about the next presentation, the next bill. Even thoughts there will be a crowd at the restaurant, museum or bar we are visiting. In fact, my mind goes into overdrive about everything!

I know I overthink pretty much everything; this is just the person I am, and that is half the battle. I over analyse every conversation. I can spend days after a discussion I have had with one person, going over every word and trying to understand if there was more meaning that I had interpreted or a hidden message in what that person said. Don't get me started about the complexity of thoughts that happen when reviewing emails! Emails are often misunderstood due to the lack of awareness you have about the tone of the individual writing and the current mood you are in when receiving the email.

I know I am not alone in this, as I have seen this so often throughout my career with incredibly talented people who seemed to be in total control. But how many times have you spent worrying about a presentation, meeting, task, project or whatever only to get to the point of it happening and it not being such a big deal? The amount of stress and worry that we put ourselves under is astounding and clearly not healthy.

The only way I have dealt with worrying about every detail is to push myself into more challenging positions. I will add as much work to my schedule as I can possibly handle so my mind stays focused on the next task at hand. It doesn't go walkabout in Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole of nightmarish thoughts about what could go wrong!

I know how destructive this can be and how this manifests into all areas of my life. Worrying about something doesn't make it easier and certainly doesn't help you think clearly about what lies ahead. It really is just a waste of time. And yes, I'll try to keep that in mind myself!