You’re thinking too much. Not about important things that deserve thought, but about the things that have already been decided, the conversations that already happened, the outcomes you cannot control. The mind running laps around problems that action — not more thought — would solve.
Overthinking is the cognitive version of revving an engine in neutral. It sounds like work. It feels busy. But you’re not going anywhere. The same thoughts cycle through, slightly repackaged each time, without producing new information or useful insight. Just more of the same loop, tighter and more exhausting with each pass.
The research on overthinking shows that it is closely associated with anxiety, depression, and poor decision-making. When we replay past events obsessively, we tend to make them worse in our minds than they actually were. When we simulate future scenarios excessively, we tend to catastrophize — generating worst-case images that are vivid but not accurate.
The antidote to overthinking is almost always simpler than we expect. Sometimes it is action — doing the thing instead of thinking about doing the thing. Sometimes it is conversation — talking it out with someone who will give you honest perspective. Sometimes it is physical movement — a walk, a run, anything that breaks the mental loop by changing your physical state. Sometimes it is simply a decision to let the thought go, not because it’s been resolved, but because continuing to hold it isn’t helping.
Not every question needs to be answered before you move. Not every scenario needs to be imagined. Some things resolve themselves when you stop trying to force resolution with thought alone.
Think enough. Then move.