How to Use Overthinking Positively?
When it comes to thoughts, you may either think too little or too much. Conventional wisdom says that both the attitudes cause trouble to you. With the popularity of Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, which was published in 1948, overthinking was considered an undesirable trait and not recommended for people who wanted to be happy. Naturally enough, you still find a lot of advice on how to stop overthinking and get on with your work or life.
New research in psychology has shown that our brain is wired to overthink and there are some positive benefits obtained from overthinking. If you are in the habit of overthinking, don’t despair. It can sometimes help you with your work, innovation or studies.
Here are a few positive ways to use your overthinking habit
1.You may be More Creative
At work, study or in family life, if you are an over thinker, you are likely to be more creative examining different sides of an issue. When finding a solution or solving a case, you are more likely to succeed if you don’t give up quickly.
2. It Can Help You in Problem-Solving
Much of the commercial and industrial activity or even daily living involves problem-solving. If you think more, you are likely to gather more data, opinions, and facts. When faced with two options to invest a large sum of money, you might be better off if you gather more facts, analyze and decide.
3. It Keeps You Busy and not Idle
If you think more, your cognitive part of the brain is more occupied most of the time. Most often, an idle mind doesn’t produce good thoughts but a busy or active mind is likely to come up with intelligent solutions.
4. Overthinking Need not be a Negative Process
People associate overthinking with negativity, but positive thoughts can help the brain organize better for solutions and to gain perspective of incidents, happenings or a future event. Thinking can help in observation, analytical skills, coping with disasters and setbacks.
5. Overthinking Helps Visualize Different Scenarios or Outcomes
If you have the habit of overthinking, you can use it fruitfully to visualize different scenarios of the future in the light of past experiences. Or you can use it to make sure that all the aspects of the issue or proposal have been dealt with before the decision is taken.
6. Overthinking Helps in not Being Influenced by Others
If you think less and depend on the opinion of others, you may not be better off in comparison with someone who thinks every possible outcome on the idea. If you discuss with others, they may discourage something outrightly or may give advice without proper knowledge.
7. It Removes Self-Doubt
Most often, ideas don’t get converted to reality because you are left with self- doubt. Thinking helps to clear such doubts with facts and data or in consultation with your friends or associates who are willing to help you out.
8. It Helps in Presentation and Getting Business
Most often, ideas or proposals are rejected because proper thinking wasn’t involved in finding possible questions and doubts about them. The more you think, the more answers you will have to the questions that you may face.
Over thinking is a part of our cognitive process and one bad experience may lead you to think about several negative experiences you had in the past. However, new research shows that more thinking need not be counter-productive and it can have positive outcomes depending on the situation and your attitude.
