What is overthinking? Melody Wilding, LMSW, an executive coach and author, discusses the three main forms of overthinking: rumination, future tripping, and overanalyzing. She highlights the signs and negative impacts of each type and provides practical strategies for overcoming them. By identifying the type of overthinking one is experiencing and implementing targeted solutions such as scheduling worry time, using temporal distancing, and practicing satisficing, individuals can break free from unproductive thought patterns and make more effective decisions in both personal and professional contexts.
- Rumination involves dwelling on past events, often negative or distressing ones. People who tend to ponder too much get caught in a cycle of regret, focusing on what went wrong in the past and being overly cautious to avoid errors.
- Future Tripping is characterized by being overly concerned about what lies ahead. Spending excessive energy on planning every possible scenario, future-tripping people may find it hard to celebrate successes. While some level of anticipation is beneficial, future tripping can escalate to the point of causing anxiety and stress about the unknown future.
- Overanalyzing involves diving deep into a topic, thought, or situation to a disproportionate extent. It can lead to procrastination, seeking constant approval, and difficulty prioritizing tasks, ultimately slowing decision-making and causing unnecessary stress.
To overcome each type of overthinking, Wilding suggests strategies such as scheduling “worry time” to confine rumination to a specific slot each day, using temporal distancing by projecting oneself into the future to gain perspective on current worries to avoid future tripping or aiming for a decision that is “good enough” rather than striving for perfection for those who tend to overanalyze.
Download the full article from Harvard Business Review (PDF)
