How to Stop Overthinking When Your Mind Will Not Switch Off

Thoughts.

Watch them slowly drifting away.

During the years in which I was building my career, I was constantly thinking.

I thought about projects, people, problems, decisions and possible consequences, corporate ladder, life work balance, etc. Yet, I never experienced this as overthinking. The more carefully I considered something, the clearer the picture became. Then, if I saw that I cannot solve some idea through thought and reasoning, I let it drift for a while. I just let it alone. So it tended to drift away and came back with new perspectives. Thought had a purpose: it led towards a decision and then action. However, when forced thinking gave me the same thought again and again, I gave it space and focused on what I can decide upon and take action.

Perhaps my Karma Yoga teachings had already shaped my way of working more deeply than I realised.

One way or another, I fully understand, once useless thought/worry or fear came to me, I looked away.

Karma Yoga teaches us to place our full effort, intelligence and energy into the action. Fruitful action and only action because the only thing that we can control are our deeds. And that is what I did. When I was responsible for a project or making the final decision, I gave the process everything I had. Once the necessary work was done, I moved on. There was little reason to continue turning it over in my mind because I knew I had done my best and given all that I could.

This is why I sometimes find it difficult to relate when people say they are constantly (!) overthinking. Does it mean that you hesitate to make a decision or action or that you are just thinking about things that were in the past or could be in the future? The key is to focus on here and now.

Thinking itself is not a problem. According to Ayurveda it is a separate body with a a magnificent human capacity. It allows to reason, anticipate, compare, imagine, create and also - focus. Mind has 49 functions (lets call them gears) according to Upanishads, 5 modalities and 5 types. it is a great car we must learn know how to drive. Also mind is limited and negative, therefore there is a point at which thinking stops revealing anything new.

Always we should see it through How much are you thinking? vs Where is my thinking taking me? Simply asking yourself this question when you catch yourself overthinking can help shift the mental gear. The first step is learning to notice when overthinking begins (give yourself time to learn to notice). With time, you will start to recognise the patterns of your mind—and learn when to step away mentally from thoughts that are negative, full of worry, or disconnected from what is actually happening in the present moment. Lets say - you are in bed, you need to be able to focus on the present moment.

Would you buy a book that repeated the same page?

We have to understand that the mind will rarely say, “All right. That’s settled.” Instead, it drafts a book with gazillions of pages — thoughts, arguments, explanations, imaginary conversations, and endless scenarios that keep flashing through our minds.

Imagine seeing a book on a shelf. It has a beautiful cover. An intriguing title. You pick it up, read the introduction, turn the page… interesting. Then, on page three, you notice something familiar. On page nine — the same thought again. Page twenty-seven — there it is again. And somehow this book has a thousand pages, most of them telling you exactly the same thing.

Would you buy it? -No, waste of money. The message is clear.

Why spend your money or your precious time on a thousand pages when the whole point was already clear on page three? And yet, strangely, we can spend hours doing exactly this inside our own heads. The book contains one thousand pages, but only one piece of information.

Would you continue reading it? -No, in this case it would be a waste of time. The message is clear.

You would understand that nothing new was coming. However beautiful the cover, however important the subject, continuing to read would be a waste of time. So why do we keep writing this book inside our head? We revisit the same conversation. We repeat the same possible outcome. We ask the same question using slightly different words, as though the answer might finally appear on page 784.

You will argue: Nothing is clear, that is why I keep running circles of thoughts again and again until the answer will come.

Well, one thing we can agree upon: this thingy, you are thinking about, is clearly unclear. And maybe as the best result for now, you should maybe consider simply leaving it there. Exactly where it is. Or even consider loosing it. As tree looses the leaf in autumn. It is still there just not on the branch. How about that?

Sometimes things remain unclear because the process was unclear, the intentions were unclear, the words were unclear, or the outcome itself is still unclear. And perhaps, sometimes, it is worth allowing something to simply remain unclear.

This is exactly what overthinking is: an attempt to solve a problem while remaining on the same level on which the problem was created. In other words - we cannot solve the problem on the level of the problem.

Give this a moment of contemplation.

Think about the situations you have overthought the most. How often did the hundredth round of thinking reveal something genuinely new? Or did it simply bring you back to the same place?

Perhaps clarity does not always come from finding an answer. Sometimes, it comes from becoming comfortable with the fact that, for now, there isn’t one.

Overthinking creates false feeling of control

Overthinking can feel productive. Just like reading. But if you are reading the same page over and over - it is a waste of time, not productivness. It creates mental activity, and activity resembles progress. We feel vigilant, responsible and involved. We may even believe that continuing to think proves how deeply we care. But repetition is not depth. Thinking about a problem for five hours does not necessarily mean that we have understood it better than someone who considered it carefully for twenty minutes and then acted.

Worry is often planning without a plan. It is rehearsal without a stage. It creates the feeling of preparation without necessarily producing anything we can use. This is why overthinking can become strangely addictive. It offers a small illusion of control. If I imagine every possible outcome, perhaps nothing can surprise me. If I anticipate every difficulty, perhaps nothing will hurt me. If I continue examining the decision, perhaps I can eventually make it risk-free. But life does not offer risk-free decisions. It offers choices and consequences. No amount of anxiety can make the future predictable or past reversable.

Now, look at a trees in front of you.

Oh dear—I just can’t do it now. It’s my task to keep all the leaves on me.

They still have leaves, but most of them are already halfway to falling.

So—before a tree loses a leaf, does it think about it first?

Does the tree—right before letting go of a yellow leaf—think:

“I need space. I need time for this. I’m trapped in obligations, I made some promises. I have other leaves—I can’t lose this one. I’m afraid it won’t work out the way it should. I can’t get out of this loop. I will look too fat, without leaves. I can’t enjoy losing it. Oh dear—I just can’t do it now…

It’s my task to keep all the leaves on me. But… okay, I can try to loose one… just …just not now.”

The tree simply loses the leaf.

Sometimes it happens because of the season. Sometimes because of wind, rain or dryness. Conditions change, and nature takes its course. We must teach ourselves to do exactly that, what tree does. To loose what has to go.

Sort the thought - worry triangle

Overthinking feels infinite because different kinds of thoughts and emotions become mixed together. The mind gives each of them equal importance and equal urgency. Instead of debating every thought, try sort them into three categories.

1. Actionable - needs a step

Something requires a concrete one small step now. An email needs to be sent. A conversation needs to happen. A number needs to be checked. A decision has to be made. If it is actionable, identify the next step and take it. Don’t wait. The longer you wait the harder it is to take action.

Thinking about taking action is not the same as acting.

2. Anactionable - needs time

You do not yet have enough information, or the situation needs time to unfold. Reschedule when exactly you will return to the matter, and for now will allow it to remain unresolved until then. Not every open question must be carried consciously throughout the entire day. You can try to put them in the box: “Dont know, Don’t care, Will worry later”

3. Imaginary - needs witnessing not feeding

The mind is constructing a possible future and asking you to experience it emotionally as though it were already happening. The event may be possible. That does not make it present. An imaginary future does not always need a solution. Sometimes it simply needs to be recognised as imagination. Sorting thought in this way is not denial or suppression. It is leadership.

You are a grown-up

I often have to remind my clients: You are a grown-up. You are allowed to do whatever you want. (AHIMSA)

Rules and boundaries help us understand approximately where we stand. They are reference points, not always prison bars or the concrete foundations of reality. Many statements beginning with “I can’t” are not really about possibility. They are about permission. We wait for the mind to give us absolute certainty before we act. But the mind is limited by personal history, habits, fear and previous experience. Sometimes it sees only one narrow corridor of thought and calls that corridor reality. It may produce twenty reasons why something cannot work while remaining unable to imagine the possibility that has never happened before. At some point, another round of thought will not bring greater certainty.You must decide.Being an adult does not mean always making the perfect choice. It means accepting that choice is part of life. We are here to learn, to correct mistakes and to change direction when necessary.

Yes, you are allowed to change everything every day, whatever it is. Everything, literary. And this is where you choose to stand?

Let thought complete its work

The aim is not to think less. It is to think well. The aim is not to stop thinking, but notice small spaces between thoughts. A clear mind can examine, distinguish, imagine, plan and decide. It can show us what needs to be done. Then its work is complete. The tree does not organise a final committee meeting before releasing a leaf. It responds to the conditions of life. We also belong to nature, however determined the mind may be to place us outside it. So when you find yourself returning to the same thought, do not immediately ask: How can I stop thinking? Ask: Is this thought helping me? If no, move to next thought an never look back. Loose the leaf! And when nothing new is being written, give yourself permission to close the book.

PRACTICE

Sort your thoughts, loose unproductive ones.
Stop wasting life rewriting the same book in your mind.
Don’t fight your thoughts. Drift away, leaving them where they are. Be more like a tree.

P.S. If you recognise that stress and anxiety have become deeper patterns rather than occasional states, you are welcome to join me for a private retreat or Yoga Therapy Program, Anxiety & Stress & Mind Management — a personalised experience devoted to understanding your patterns of alertness and learning how to move from constant inner tension towards calm mind and ability to switch off whenever you wish for it.

This Insight is the property of Yoga Wellness Therapy. Reproduction or republication without prior written permission or clear reference to this website is prohibited. Author of this Insight is Laura - our Lead Yoga Therapist and Founder