16 Ways To Free Yourself From Overthinking

Some ideas:

Ask yourself: “Is this a productive thought?” Will mentally rehearsing your upcoming meeting with your boss yet one more time help you? Or is it time to trust that you’ve prepared enough, and that at this point your best bet is to trust your instincts? It’s actually when we can relax a bit that we can most easily access our intuition.

Put things into perspective. Will this issue you’re mulling over for the umpteenth time matter in five years? Or are you blowing the situation out of proportion?

Know your body rhythm & plan accordingly. Are you a morning lark or a night owl? When do you tend to be at the top of your game physically, emotionally, mentally? If you focus best in the late afternoon, try to pick this time to work on projects that challenge you mentally, rather than attempting to do so at dawn, when the latter might cause you anxiety. If you’re a morning person, do your best to take on those conversations or assignments at this time, when you’re mostly likely to be effective. Also, taking care of important matters in the morning then allows you to go about the rest of your day with a sense of accomplishment, rather than having unfinished business lurking in the back of your mind.

Focus on your five senses. For instance, notice five things you can see. Four things you can hear. Three things you can touch. Two things you can smell. One thing you can taste. Such attention can help bring you into the present moment.

Give up on needing to be perfect or omnipotent. You will wait around forever for that day. We are always growing and changing, and there is always something more to learn. We are not meant to be perfect. We never know all of the facts – instead, we do the best we can with the information at hand. Try to do your best (knowing that this changes from day to day), then let the matter go.

Accept that you cannot change the past. Maybe things didn’t go the way you wanted – learn the lesson, and let it go. Don’t let something from your past take up too much space in your mind.
Accept that you cannot predict the future. However, it’s pretty safe to predict that obsessing about the future can rob you of the present.

Exercise. Take a walk around the block or down the hall, to generate endorphins (feel-good hormones), work off any possible (probable) anxiety, and clear your mind.