5 Easy Ways to Stop Overthinking and Master Decisiveness

It’s frustrating, no?

You can’t seem to figure out how to become productive.

At the same time, the reason is simple:

You overthink things.

You feel stressed and anxious every time you have to make even the smallest decision. Big life decisions feel unfathomable. You’re left spinning your wheels while you know that decisiveness would help you unlock your potential.

In our digital age, we’re faced with information overload every day. No wonder you suffer from analysis paralysis. Unfortunately, this bad habit keeps you from moving forward and achieving your goals in life.

Do you think you’re just a chronic overthinker with zero chance of ever overcoming your productivity problem?

Think again.

If you’re ready to master decisiveness, let’s explore how you can stop overthinking once and for all.

1. Approach decisions in a different way

Why do you overthink things?

Chances are that you’re afraid of making the wrong decision. You’re afraid that you’ll be seen as a failure or that you’ll have to start from scratch after you’ve invested a lot of time and effort into something. This keeps you from making any decision at all.

But what if you could change your thought process? What if you would look at your decision-making as part of a journey, instead of focusing on the end goal?

What this means is that you approach your decisions with curiosity and creativity rather than focusing on what you should achieve. See the possibility to choose as an opportunity to find out new things about yourself and to use your smarts to find creative solutions along the way.

2. Put things into perspective

When you suffer from analysis paralysis, every little decision feels life-altering.

While there are decisions that you need to think about more thoroughly, most of the decisions that you make throughout the day are small and insignificant.

To determine whether a decision is important or insignificant, label it according to the following questions:

• Will the outcome affect anything in your life in a big way (e.g. your income, your life partner, and so forth)?
• How will the outcome of the decision impact your life a year from now?
• What’s the worst thing that could happen?

If the outcome does have a big impact on your life even a year from now and if there are worst case scenarios you want to avoid, sit down and think about the decision. Call a friend and make a plan.

But if the outcome is insignificant, you shouldn’t spend much time thinking about it. After all, that just steals away energy from more important decisions.

To stop overthinking, make it as frictionless and easy as possible to make small and meaningless decisions. For example, choose what you’ll wear the day before and decide what you’ll eat for dinner every day of the week in advance.

3. Acknowledge that the future will always be a bit uncertain

There’s this thing about the future:

Even though we want to, we can’t predict it.

Whatever you do, there will always be a bit of uncertainty. You can’t know exactly where you’ll end up. Most things depend on various factors outside of your control. Even if you go out of your way to ensure that you’ll have full control of your future, you won’t.

And that’s fine! After all, that’s what makes life so exciting.

But at the same time, it’s natural to feel anxious. And in your quest to control your future, you overthink things. Fortunately, there are things you can do to ensure that you at least move in the right direction.

First, figure out what it is you truly want. If you could choose your perfect life, what would it look like?

Second, define where it is you want to end up. If you could choose, where would you be in 5 years from now? 10? What do you want to look back at and be proud of when you’re older?

4. Be kind to yourself

You probably have a perfectionist living inside of you. And that perfectionist is keeping you from making decisions.

You abstain from moving forward because ultimately, your inner perfectionist is criticizing everything you do.

To overcome your perfectionistic self, set a clear time limit to your decision. Instead of prolonging the decision (and ultimately, failing to make up your mind), promise yourself to make a decision when the time is up.

And keep in mind that “done is better than perfect.”

5. Trust yourself

You overthink things because you’re insecure.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re not confident as a person.

No, it just means that you’re insecure about a particular decision.

For example, you’re not sure if you’re cut out to do a certain task and that’s why you can’t decide whether you should do it or not. Or you might doubt your ability to make a decision if you lack relevant experience.

You need to start trusting yourself. Trust yourself that you can achieve what you set out to do and that you’re capable of making the right decision.

Ultimately, it will become easier and easier to make decisions.

Stop Overthinking

Overthinking is ruining your productivity.

You know it to be true, but overcoming analysis paralysis is easier said than done.

Imagine having the ability to make decisions without the anxiety or stress.

It would feel amazing, right?

Yup, it sure would. That’s why it’s essential that you start implementing the tips you’ve learned here to stop overthinking and master your decisiveness.

In the end, it’s the key to unlocking your productivity.

 

Camilla Hallstrom helps visionary entrepreneurs master the art of converting content and copywriting on her blog Irresistible Copy. Grab the free report: “5 Easy Productivity Tips and Tools for Entrepreneurs.”