41. The Importance of Not Overthinking and How to Practice It

Whether as a child or as a working adult,thinking things throughhas always been considered a virtue.

In reality, though,what you need to watch out for is 'overthinking'.To put it more bluntly,

people are making themselves miserable by overthinking things that don't need to be thought about.
This is a discussion on the importance of not overthinking and how to achieve it.

The Disadvantages of Overthinking

If you continue to think about things that don't need to be thought about, you will suffer significant negative consequences.

1. Mental fatigue continues to grow
   Not only can you not move forward no matter how much you think, but you also cannot rest, leading to increasing mental exhaustion. It's like you are draining your own battery.
   

2. Stress only increases
   Every time you think, you experience stress. You never get used to it, and the more you overthink, the more your worries and anxieties grow.
   

3. Your decision-making ability declines
   Because your mind is exhausted and stress is only increasing, the more you overthink, the further you drift from making accurate decisions. Eventually, you become unable to make decisions at all.
   

4. Your ability to take action also declines
   Since you are completely exhausted from increased stress and your decision-making ability is quite dull, your ability to take action naturally declines as well. You become unable to move. You can no longer even make the decision to say, 'Let's do this!'

As I write this, I am reminded of myself during the time when I was spiraling downward.

I have experienced these disadvantages perfectly myself.

The Advantages of Not Overthinking

The opposite of overthinking happens.

1. Both mind and body can relax
   Since the stress caused by overthinking disappears, you can relax both mentally and physically. When you can relax, you release unnecessary tension, which also reduces the fatigue you had accumulated until then.
   

2. Concentration improves
   Because you don't think about unnecessary things, you canfocus on the 'now'.By being able to concentrate without distracting thoughts,your productivity also increases.

   
   

3. Mental space is created
   How important this space is. It creates a margin in your mind. Then, you become able to think about what is truly necessary. Because you have mental room, ideas come more easily, andyour creativity improves.

   
   

4. Changes in feelings occur
   Because you have space to think about what is necessary and have better concentration, it leads to self-confidence and creates room to feel happiness.

Just by not overthinking, many of the problems I had been carrying were resolved.

What are things that don't need to be thought about?

It's not that we don't need to think about anything at all. We do need to think about necessary things. So, what are the things that don't need to be thought about?

I'll list a few.

• Unnecessary evaluations, judgments, and comparisons with others

• Self-denial and self-blaming thoughts

• Reliving unpleasant past events over and over again

• Worrying and feeling anxious about things that haven't even happened

• Excessive "must" or "should" thinking

• Continuing to think about things that cannot be solved just by thinking

I could probably list more if I went into detail, but I'll stop here.

What can you do to stop thinking about unnecessary things?

The trick is not to order yourself to stop overthinking. Let's also give up perfectionism.

If you try to change completely all at once, you won't be able to.

Please accept that humans are creatures who tend to overthink.

There must be reasons why you overthink, so please don't blame yourself.

For now, please set aside the reasons why you overthink.

There are many ways to stop overthinking. It's enough if you can stop your thoughts or shift your mood.

You just need to incorporate what works for you, such as meditation, mindfulness, journaling, exercise, hobbies, or talking to people.

Meditation is literally the practice of not thinking, and journaling is about pouring out the thoughts and emotions that inevitably arise onto paper.

Mindfulness is a way of focusing on the present. By concentrating on what is right in front of you, you stop unnecessary thoughts.

Exercise and hobbies can also help you shift away from unnecessary thoughts.

If you have anxiety, it is necessary to think about how to resolve it. Once you've thought about it, just put it into practice.

Then, you can avoid overthinking the same things, wondering if it's this or that.

If you really can't find an answer on your own, you should talk to someone and ask for advice. If you don't know who to talk to, you can look for someone to consult, search for a consultation service, or ask someone about that.

You don't have to do everything by yourself.

For me, when I was feeling completely unwell and had lost all my energy, the method I learned from my mentorseemed to be the easiest and most suitable for me.

It was to take everything—unnecessary thoughts, necessary thoughts, and the emotions attached to them—and just observe them as they arise.

I wondered why I should do something like that, but since it was effective when I wrote them down and observed them as I was told, I have continued doing it ever since.

When I experienced hospitalization and surgery last year, I realized the importance of not overthinking and saw my own progress.

Spending time in a six-person hospital room would have been unbearable agony for the past me. There would have been too many things to worry about.

Starting with worries like whether my snoring might bother others, endless anxieties and concerns about hospital life would keep popping up.

Even if it is a common surgery, if you start thinking about it, your anxiety will just keep growing.

However, those negative thoughts would stop at some point even if they did arise. It seems I was naturally switching my focus on my own.

Furthermore, instead of blaming myself for having anxieties and worries, I was able to empathize with myself, thinking, 'Well, that's understandable.'

Last year, I felt once again that even someone like me, who had spent decades driving myself into a corner by overthinking, could start to see the effects. You can decide for yourself whether or not to stop overthinking.

Here is what Fu is like ↓

★ Click here for my thoughts on my mother, which I reached by continuing what I learned from my mentor ↓

　★ Click here for the note map