“None of us were born ‘overthinkers’. The good news is we have a choice to reverse it if we really want to,” said Nipa Asharam, a life coach

Many of us are self-declared overthinkers, who do not shy away from confessing that we waste time overthinking. While with time it may become a habit, by exercising certain restraining ways we can always control our thoughts. According to Nipa Asharam, a life coach, none of us were born ‘overthinkers’. “We chose to become due to life’s happenings. The good news is that we have a choice to reverse it if we really want to,” she said.

“Here are steps I used and I use them with many clients too. If you are serious about it, then using these tools consistently, will get you the results,” she captioned the post on Instagram listing the following ways:

Know when you overthink

Just like any habit, if we are doing it for a long time– catch yourself! “Give it a name for instance ‘orange’, anytime you are overthinking tell yourself ‘hey that’s me doing orange. Anything light and effective to bring your attention to it,” she explained.

Check the pattern of overthinking so you know what to solve

By this, she said, she means some think of the past, some think of what others think about them and some think of all that can go wrong etc.

Remove the label

“‘I am an overthinker!’ I bet you say that, which means you believe that is who you are. It is not true, that is what you become with conditioning. So, instead say, I overthink about [what you identified in the above point], which I am working on’,” she said in the post.

Challenge the thought

She said, “My favourite way of doing it is by asking myself ‘is it absolutely, absolutely true? The world ‘absolutely makes you think again.” Follow it up with ‘what else can be true?’ Now you know you are smart so, think of the other possibilities. If you do this long enough then it becomes a habit that will liberate you slowly,” she added.

Use a timer, it works

We have no idea how much time waste on overthinking. So, she suggested setting a timer to allow yourself to overthink. During this time you can also add ‘challenge the thought’ so you use the overthinking time effectively to help yourself.

Identify the activities that can distract you

As a kid, if we went on and on, our parents distracted us with another activity. “It can work in this situation as well. So, identity what’s the activity that can break the overthinking cycle,” she said.

Practise being present in the moment

“I would not use the word ‘meditate daily’, in fact, try to first be present as much as you can. If you are working out be present on the muscles or if reading a book be present on the content instead of constantly checking your phone or replying to messages that can wait. “If you go back to overthinking snap a rubberband gently on your hand and say not now,” she suggested.