Thoughts help you internalise and process some things that you have experienced or encountered. They can help you understand and think about your future ahead. However, sometimes thoughts can overrun and plague you with worries or anxieties. If you catch yourself riddled with tension because of your thoughts, here are the steps you can take to switch off your worries and anxious thoughts.
Create a journal
Here are some steps you can take when creating a journal to help you relieve your worries.
Write it down
Sometimes when your brain is in overdrive, it can feel overwhelming to do something as simple as breathing. To help yourself understand why your thoughts and feelings, writing them down helps give you a visual guide into your mind. You can start by typing it down without caring about grammar and sentence structure, or you can write it down in your journal or on a piece of scrap paper.
Read it
After writing down all your thoughts and worries, start reading them to see how can you solve them. You can start by picking out the things that are easier to solve, such as some financial worries. For example, if you find yourself worrying about your spending, you can start creating a budget and creating a plan to save up.
Break it down
For some of your bigger worries, like job security, it might be easier for you to break it down. Problems look daunting if you’re always thinking about the big picture, so seeing it piece by piece may help you to think of solutions and plans. Think of ways you can control and solve issues within your reach, and for problems that are out of your reach, you can come out with plans that may help.
Eliminate it
For the larger problems and worries you have, try sorting them into groups to develop a more balanced perspective. Decide which problems can you directly solve, which ones you can help indirectly, which one involves people you know that can help, and which ones that you don’t have any control over. Then, based on the groupings, understand and get rid of those you have no control over, and try thinking about problems you can alleviate.
Challenge your thoughts
Sometimes your worries come from you seeing the world in a threatening way. You might be riddled with negative thoughts and tend to be more pessimistic. These thoughts are called cognitive thoughts, and here are some examples to help you identify them.
Overgeneralisation
These thoughts generalise one experience as a definite experience. For example, if you failed an exam, you would think that you will fail all subsequent exams and that you’ll never be promoted or graduate. You would tend to think that a negative experience is the only experience.
Not counting positive experiences
Thoughts like this always belittle positive experiences by attaching negative logic to them. For example, if you passed one round of interviews, you would think that it was just dumb luck and that you didn’t actually do well in the interview. These thoughts tend to trivialise your achievements and might make you feel unworthy.
Jumping to negative conclusions with no proof
Negative thoughts will always be the default, even without substantial evidence. For example, you would think that your colleagues secretly hate you even if they have not expressly said it or did the actions to match. Thoughts like this are likelier to ruin interpersonal relationships.
Always expecting the worst-case scenarios
You may think this line of thinking is beneficial because you can better prepare yourself, but it will most likely plague you with needless worries instead. For example, you may think that you are getting fired just because your boss called you into her office unprompted. These thoughts may lead you to think that you have much bigger problems than you originally have.
Being responsible for everything
These kinds of thoughts lead you to believe that you’re in command of every situation you encounter. For example, you would think it is your fault that your brother twisted his ankle while playing football because you didn’t tell him to stay home instead. You would tend to put a lot of unnecessary burden on yourself, even if you aren’t connected to the situation.
If you ever have this train of thought, it is important for you to try and disrupt it. Whenever you catch yourself thinking like the examples above, ask yourself questions from the opposing end. These may help you to calm down and lessen your worries.
- Is this true? Does everyone who went through the same experience end up terribly?
- Is there a more positive outlook on this situation?
- Do I have proof?
- What are the most likely situations that may happen? Which is the most probable situation?
- Am I in charge? Could I have directly prevented it under usual circumstances?
Interrupt your thoughts
If you still can’t stop yourself from overthinking even after writing it down and challenging your thoughts, you may try to put it out of your mind instead. Doing activities may help you to distract yourself. It may be even more beneficial if the activities are also your hobbies.
Exercise
Exercising releases endorphins which help create a positive feeling in your body. It improves your mood and can help you lead a happier life. Exercises like yoga may help you to centre yourself.
Meditate
Meditation helps to calm you down by giving you a sense of peace and balance. You may try guided or mantra meditation, both of which help to relax and prevent distracting thoughts. Meditating for at least 10 minutes a day may improve your mental health.
Deep breathing
Deep breathing helps to reduce stress and calm your nerves. You may try taking slower and longer breaths to slowly help your body feel more relaxed. Doing it daily may help lower your blood pressure and ease your mind.
Talk it out
If all else fails, talking your worries out to a trusted person may help you to process and understand your worries better. You may try to talk to a family member, a friend, or even a therapist. Talking things out helps you see the situation more clearly by gaining more insights and helps you to release built-up tension.