Many of us have a bad habit of analysing a social situation to death. Maybe it’s a job interview question you bombed. Maybe you stuck your foot in your mouth with a friend. Whatever the scenario, writing about it can help you stop overthinking.
Picture: annazuc
Writing has quite a few mental health benefits. And this particular exercise works even better because your writing is objective, distanced from the situation.
Over at Self Stairway, writer Vincent Nguyen explains:
Try to avoid writing about how you feel and instead be as objective as possible. If you think someone was laughing at you, for example, don’t write “I’m so pissed off because I know they were making fun of me!” Instead say, “There were some people laughing. I’m not sure if that was directed towards me.” Reading that lets you sit back and analyse the situation with a less emotional perspective. Plus, you can sort of see how silly it sounds that you may be thinking they’re making fun of you just because they’re laughing at all. People laugh all the time. It doesn’t mean it’s for any particular reason that’s related to you.
Again, writing is therapeutic, so even if you still feel the situation is related to you, just getting your thoughts on paper can help you let go of them and get on with your life.
If you’re an overthinker, there are a number of additional solutions we’ve covered, so check those out here.
And check out the rest of Nguyen’s post at the link below.
5 Ways to Stop Being an Overthinking, Overanalyzing Worrywart [Self Stairway]
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