Home Stories 7 Things You Don’t Realize You’re Doing Because You’re An Overthinker

7 Things You Don’t Realize You’re Doing Because You’re An Overthinker

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We all tend to overthink from time to time and that’s normal. But for those who tend to overanalyze everything on a daily basis, overthinking is not an experience that comes and goes occasionally, it’s just how their mind works.

Overthinking isn’t just asking yourself whether you left the stove on. It’s constantly overanalyzing your every thought, action, and decision. It’s constantly overthinking even minor worries and problems. It’s creating fantastical hypothetical scenarios in your mind, and sometimes, even getting lost in them.

Overthinking takes a lot of time and energy and it can be quite exhausting struggling with all those racing thoughts that refuse to allow your mind to rest.

On one hand, overthinking is a good thing because it enables you to analyze situations from all aspects and solve problems more quickly and easily. On the other hand, it can be a problem if you are not aware you’re an overthinker because this will prevent you from controlling your racing thoughts.

As a result, this can affect your ability to be productive at work, to maintain healthy, meaningful relationships, and to take care of your overall health.  

If you’ve always had a feeling that there’s something off about the way you think and analyze situations, but haven’t been able to pinpoint the cause, chances are you’re not aware that you belong in the group of overthinkers. So what exactly makes a person an overthinker?

Here are 7 things you’re doing that show you’re an overthinker:

1. You seek meaning in everything.

If someone takes an hour to reply to your message, you start creating thousands of scenarios in your head about the reasons. Or if someone makes eye contact with you in the restaurant, again, you can’t stop thinking about it. No matter what someone does, you always think there’s a hidden meaning behind their actions.

It can be quite exhausting running through all those “WHY” questions in your mind. So, why don’t you just let things be as they are? Not all things have to be complex and some simply happen on a surface level. But, no, you’ll do your best to find some meaning behind them, won’t you?

2. Solving problems makes you feel thrilled.

It’s not overthinking that makes you feel excited, but the moment when you reach a solution to a certain problem. For example, maybe you’ve been stressing over some problem at your work and when the most appropriate solution hits you out of the blue, you feel like you could jump over the moon.

Once you solve one problem, it doesn’t take you too long before you move on to the next one. You analyze the problem from every possible aspect and use all your knowledge and experience to solve it.  

3. You’re thinking more and doing less.

It takes you so much time and energy to make decisions and choices that you end up doing nothing. You tend to weigh your options and feel the need to think about every possible thing that could go wrong.

And even when you decide what the best choice or outcome might be, then you start comparing that outcome with another one which, in your view, might also be the best one.

But how about taking just one option and testing it out so as to see if it’s the right one? Remember, thinking is important, but so is putting your thoughts into action.

4. You analyze everyone.

You love analyzing people because you want to uncover the secrets that lie behind their façade. You want to know what the purpose of their life is and what defines and inspires them.

Therefore, you analyze the things people do and the way they behave and treat others and try to find the reasons behind this.

5. You have an insatiable thirst for new information.

Your curious mind always makes you want to learn something new. Once you hear a bit of new information, you feel an intense need to learn everything about it.

With each new day, you have a new opportunity to learn new, interesting information about whatever topic you’re interested in. Whether it’s through books, or online, or talking with others, you make sure you use every opportunity to satisfy your thirst for knowledge.

6. You can’t stand small talk.

Talking about ordinary, unimportant things, such as the weather, or what someone had for lunch or how they’re going to spend the next weekend is out of the question. If a topic is not intellectually stimulating and interesting, you don’t engage in the conversation.

Talking about superficial things is useless and a complete waste of time. You don’t care about how someone spent his or her day. What interests you is the purpose of their life, what inspires them, and the reasons why they do what they do.

It’s having meaningful, deep conversations that makes you feel satisfied and keep your attention.

7. You like doing things that calm your mind.

Struggling with all those racing thoughts and questions can be really draining, which is why you enjoy activities that help you relax and focus on other things rather than thinking.

Jogging, doing exercises, meditating, writing, practicing your favorite hobbies, or just going for a walk are some of the activities that prevent you from thinking and they also help you restore your peace of mind and recharge your batteries.