Break free from Overthinking – The Power of Purpose, Focus and Mindfulness

✉️ This article was part of the "Silent Strength Newsletter" – Fostering inner strength for introverted Developers and Leaders in Tech Business: Full Newsletter Episode and subscription

Digital environments can be challenging for our minds. They are far away from nature. Our brain needs to sort our thoughts, ideas and input from outside and is supposed to bring them into actions and results. Especially for rather introverted people this often leads to overthinking.

At a certain point in time I found out for myself, that this was not helpful for me on the long run. In this article I will share 5 aspects that all belong together and helped me to come into action rather than overthinking things.

Find your Purpose

At first this sounds simple but it can be a tough nut to know your own „Why“ in life. Having a purpose helps you to find guidance through every day decisions and your life. It can be your lighthouse in stormy weather. It’s always there to bring clarity and guide you.

Ask yourself „Why do I get up every morning?“. Start small. See what comes up. If its a vague picture at first, it’s fine. Take a break. Look back at it later. I suggest to have at least a set of values (5 at maximum). In best case it’s as clear as possible.

Have a Focus

Having focus in every single moment is your power weapon against overthinking. It supports the physiological safety everyone of us needs. As a rather introverted person it can help you to avoid too much stimuli from outside and to be in control of things that you can influence directly. Our brain in general is not made for multi-tasking. We can do task-switching but this is usually inefficient and might result in high mental load.

Set a focus for your day („Today I will finishing task ABC.“), a meeting („In this meeting I will listen to understand.“) or even minutes („In this 5 minutes I will just breathe.“). Write your focus on a post it, if it helps you.

Set a Priority

Usually we have a lot of priorities. With fancy colors or arrows on it. In the initial meaning (latin: „prioritas“) there was no plural. There was one thing above all the others. Having a priority helps you to find a starting point. Often we do what comes next from outside. Setting your own priority gives you a clearer perspective and the feeling of being in control.

Check „What is important now?“ in this specific moment. For example, when you start your day or arrive at work. The answer will come. Setting the right focus (e.g. „In the next 5 minutes I am checking what is important next.“) might support you.

Have a Routine

Routine is your every day friend. It gives you more room for deep thinking and to delve into topics rather than thinking about trivial stuff over and over again. It also supports your feeling of being in control of things. I recommend to be strict with your routines. Especially when a routine is very important to you. It is okay to say „no“ to others if this is currently your routine and focus. Kindly ask them to come back later.

Maybe the first hour of your day is a good routine for you: Good food, some meditation, planning your day. Or you need routine as recurring focus spots in your work calendar: „Read mails“, „Have Lunch“, „Deep Thinking Time“.

Practice Mindfulness

This is maybe the easiest way to start but also the one which I think is often misunderstood. Mindfulness means to

Experience the current moment – without interpretation

Meditation is one practice out of many that might support you to be mindful. So it’s not the same. Mindfulness can help you to recognize your thoughts and emotions without following them. Especially when it comes to negative thoughts or emotions. Mindfulness can be practiced very easy and it should be practiced regularly.

One technique that helped me a lot and that I want to point out here was „Labelling“. Whenever you recognize a thought or an emotion, label it with „thought“ or „emotion“. Nothing more. Don’t follow this thought or feeling. Do this during the day in different situations and at least for a week. Reflect.

Try it out

If you find yourself struggling with overthinking, I encourage you to give these strategies a try. I hope these aspects will help you to feel more productive, to reduce your stress-level and to break free from overthinking when you need it 🌱

Need Support?

Do not hesitate to reach out to me. I am happy to support you as Mental Health Coach and Mental Health First Aider.

Get in touch!

– You are not alone