Have You Ever Experienced This…
A few nights ago, I was lying in bed with something on my mind.
I kept going back and forth on it.
Should I move in this direction…
or stay with what I’ve already been building?
At first, it felt like I was just thinking it through.
But after a while, I noticed I wasn’t getting anywhere.
The same thoughts kept coming back.
Just slightly different each time.
I’d land on one answer…
then immediately question it.
Run through a scenario…
then think of another one that changed everything.
It didn’t feel frantic.
It felt controlled.
Like I was being thorough.
But nothing was actually getting clearer. If anything, it was getting heavier, like I was adding more layers without resolving anything underneath.
When Your Thinking Becomes Looping
At some point, I stopped and paid attention to what was happening.
Not the decision itself.
Just the way my mind was moving.
And what stood out was this:
I wasn’t really trying to understand what to do.
I was trying to feel sure.
Trying to get to a place where there was no doubt.
Where I wouldn’t second-guess it later.
And the more I stayed there, the tighter everything felt.
You can think something through from every angle and still not feel fully sure. And when that happens, the mind doesn’t resolve—it keeps going.
Shifting Your Thinking
So I shifted the question.
Instead of asking what the right decision was…
I asked:
What’s the next step?
Not the full answer.
Not the long-term plan.
Just the next step.
And something changed almost immediately.
There was less pressure.
I didn’t need to figure everything out before moving.
I just needed to move a little.
Even a small step created a different kind of clarity—one that thinking alone hadn’t been able to give me.
Getting It Out On Paper
The next morning, I wrote everything down.
All of it.
What I was thinking.
What I was worried about.
What felt unclear.
And once it was out of my head, it looked different.
Simpler.
There were only a couple of things that actually needed attention.
The rest had just been repeating—thoughts circling because they hadn’t been given anywhere to land.
Why Overthinking Is Looping
I’ve noticed this more and more.
When thoughts stay in your head, they don’t settle.
They loop.
They expand.
They start to feel more complicated than they are.
And because you can’t see them, they start to feel endless.
But once they’re out, something shifts.
You can look at them.
Sort them.
Let some of them go.
Overthinking isn’t really about thinking too much.
It’s about holding too much internally without a place for it to land.
A Simple Way to Stop The Loop
If you’re wondering how to stop overthinking, it often starts here.
Write everything down.
Then ask yourself:
What’s the next step?
Not the perfect one.
Not the final answer.
Just the next step that moves you forward.
Then take it. Even if it’s small.
