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Episode #3 - Overthinking
42 Plays1 year ago
Overthinking is killing your productivity. This episode delivers the no-BS strategies you need to shut off the noise and start getting results.
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Transcript
Introduction to Overthinking
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey, it's Igor again. So today's episode ah ah is about oversinking.
Deep Thinking vs. Overthinking
00:00:07
Speaker
And oversinking is very different from deep sinking. Deep sinking actually moves us forward and is necessary for a lot of tasks. While oversinking actually ah ah doesn't move us forward at all. I
Hamster Wheel Analogy
00:00:27
Speaker
think the good analogy of overthinking is being inside a hamster wheel is when you're running, you feel like you are really sinking endlessly. But basically you're sinking in the loop and you are going nowhere.
00:00:52
Speaker
When you're oversinking, at least for me, I usually feel trapped or paralyzed. And the good indication of oversinking is when I have a lot of what-ifs or should-haves thoughts.
Energy Drain of Overthinking
00:01:16
Speaker
and And the main problem with oversinking is that it's really exhausting. It really takes a lot of energy. And it is the biggest enemy of action. So when you are overthinking, it means that you are not taking action. And you you basically still enjoy from yourself.
Personal Struggles and Recognition
00:01:46
Speaker
and your productivity goes to the lowest point and it's actually it's a horrible feeling i think that it usually leads to high levels of anxiety and i think my worst moments were when i was going day after day in this endless overthinking feeling completely trapped in my mind thinking only about my thoughts it's it's horrible and the I think that every person at some stage in their life they experience this
00:02:35
Speaker
And I think that it's very important to recognize overthinking.
Signals of Overthinking
00:02:43
Speaker
And you have different signals that you can notice. And of course, the most, I think, obvious and clear one is that the feeling in of being stuck. That's a the yeah a friend of overthinking.
00:03:05
Speaker
but you feel stuck, it's very important to recognize that. And then to think about, is it actually worth continuing whatever you're doing right now? and You can also just notice that you can't make a decision or you didn't make any you know forward moments for some time already. I think that every person has their own red flags and signals. But for every person, it's very important to first recognize that this is happening. And from my experience, I think
Startup Example of Overthinking
00:04:01
Speaker
the biggest examples probably when I was working in a startup. for which yeah It was like a social network for for um travelers and and we were working on one feature which was That doesn't really matter, details of this feature. But was what what was funny is that we were working on it for several weeks and we were polishing it really, you know, to make it almost perfect. So we we really wanted to release something well done. So I think that we finished this new feature in like four weeks probably, maybe even five weeks. And
00:04:48
Speaker
Yeah, it was just so funny that the feedback that we received, almost everybody hated this feature. Really, we there were people saying some things about this feature, completely different perspectives so from what we were thinking about.
00:05:08
Speaker
and At the end, of course, it it wasn't a complete waste, but it also wasn't really efficient approach. We we could have just you know released something raw, gather feedback, iterate. So of course, it was a huge learning for us and it really shaped how we approach it to new features in the future.
Revisiting and Doubting Decisions
00:05:41
Speaker
But this is a great example of and when you're trying to really make something perfect and and you start to
00:05:55
Speaker
Think about the decisions you already made when you have this inner dialogues of you know the conversations that you already had when and they start popping up in your head and you go through them again and again, decisions that you made yesterday, a week ago, you start to doubt this decision. You think about them again. And you don't even notice that
00:06:26
Speaker
Usually you don't even question yourself, like, but why do I think about that? Yeah, I already made the decision. There is no point for me to think about it again. But then, yeah, you feel like, oh, maybe it's not the best decision. at thatur just to that That's just the science of overthinking. Because at the end, you know, I think it's the best decision other the decisions that you actually act on. Then that's that's it. And it doesn't matter what kind of decision you make. You should never really act on this decision.
Impact on Relationships
00:07:06
Speaker
I think that ah also also in relationships you can be trapped in this overthinking when you start to overanalyze in the behavior. You start to have these imaginary scenarios in your head. And the worst part is that it actually can really distance you from your wife or husband because you start to develop completely different image in your head.
00:07:41
Speaker
And that the more you think about, the further it becomes from the reality.
00:07:49
Speaker
And I, e there were so many situations when I just was so surprised by how I was completely wrong in my thinking. How I was thinking one thing and it was so far from the reality that I was really caught by the surprise. And I have a two year old son and I think that he also teaches me a lot.
Being Present and Overthinking
00:08:29
Speaker
And, you know, I have this fear of being a bad dad.
00:08:36
Speaker
And the problem is that when you are thinking you are not here, you are somewhere else. You are in your past, you are in your future, you are in your thoughts, but you are not here and now. And I want to value every moment that I spend with my son.
00:09:00
Speaker
And to be able to do that, I need to be here and now.
Strategies to Counter Overthinking
00:09:07
Speaker
So what kind of strategies can we use so to to break but from the cycle?
00:09:18
Speaker
To me, I think that the first, the most effective strategy is the physical activity. and especially intense physical activity.
00:09:32
Speaker
and So sometimes when I notice that I'm being stuck I can go for a run. and it Or I can, for example, go do some jumping ropes, you know, like 15 minutes. ah ah But I think it's very important to have something intense. The goal is to do some physical activity intense enough for your brain to allocate most of your mental energy towards the exercise you're performing.
00:10:11
Speaker
And it's very important because so the to deal with overthinking, first of all, you you need to somehow to stop thinking about whatever you are thinking about. And that's why intense physical exercise, that they require the focus. And basically the side effect of it is that you stop thinking about whatever you are thinking.
Mindfulness and Writing
00:10:40
Speaker
And another, um think, strategy, of course, yeah mindfulness, meditation. it's It's also just you know just focusing on your breathing and especially deep breathing, trying to calm yourself, slowly breathing in and out. It can really help.
00:11:07
Speaker
and But I also find working almost like a magic, really, is writing write them down whatever is on your mind. Just basically brain down.
00:11:21
Speaker
and it I remember it was really hard initially for me to to start writing something because, so oh you know, what should I write about? like Should I? I was, you know, I was basically ever thinking this.
00:11:40
Speaker
Process it but but you you just need to write some start writing it really doesn't matter nobody's going to check you there's not going to be any ah judging you know nobody's going to say if you wrote something good about it it it doesn't matter the goal is just to start writing down whatever is on your mind just literally the same way is that you phrase your thoughts in your mind the same way you just start writing them down and in 5 damn 15 minutes it will be just like magic
Finding Personal Tools
00:12:14
Speaker
you will be absorbed by the writing. And the writing by hand can, some people say that it really has much more significant effect on them, but so to me for me, for example, even writing on my laptop is actually good enough.
00:12:36
Speaker
Sometimes I just change an environment and I go to another room and sit there and write. ah ah And it helps really tool which my mine to to clear my mind.
00:12:57
Speaker
And I think that doesn't really matter what kind of thing you're going to do. Because at the end, The tooling, that's all other tools that you can use and and probably you're going to find your own tools and I'm going to find new tools that help me. But what is very important is to actually do that. To actually do use a tool that will help you.
00:13:29
Speaker
and It can sound easy, but that's super hard.
Taking Action
00:13:35
Speaker
The moments when you are really anxious and you are stuck in this overthinking loop, you can even think about that, oh, actually, I need to use ah ah one of my tools. I need to go for a run. I need to write down. You can really understand that you need to do that.
00:13:55
Speaker
But it can be so hard to actually do that. And you need to force yourself. There is no other way. It's not going to be... and You're not going to enjoy doing it immediately. You need to force yourself. You need to understand that it's worth it. You need to do that. You need to force yourself to do that.
00:14:21
Speaker
and Sometimes I really, really don't want to do that. Sometimes, you know, this misery when you're stuck for a long time and it becomes comfortable, you know. and but But you need to take action.
Self-awareness and Breaking Patterns
00:14:40
Speaker
And what I notice is that, yeah, when I take actions,
00:14:46
Speaker
i I'm always grateful afterwards that I actually did that.
00:14:53
Speaker
And I think that over time you will start learning a lot of interesting things about yourself when you do that. so You will start to analyze what you know what what what kind of situations lead you to this overthinking, you will start to notice the signals that usually go before and the overthinking loop. And ideally, you you will even start to know
00:15:35
Speaker
break your action patterns before you get stuck in the overthinking. so yeah it's It's all about really experimenting. There is no perfect tool. It's not always enjoyable. It's quite often not enjoyable.
00:15:59
Speaker
but The goal is always you. The goal is always to be better a version of yourself.
00:16:10
Speaker
And yeah, always take action. so The action, think about that action is what really beats overthinking.
00:16:27
Speaker
overthinking is the biggest enemy of action.
00:16:34
Speaker
I also remember that, you know, the I found myself overthinking what kind of tool should I use? and It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Really, you just need to acknowledge to yourself that you are avoiding action. And you need to use any tool. Just any tool. You don't need to decide the best tool. There is no best
Choosing the Right Struggle
00:17:04
Speaker
tool. you just the the The best tool is action. Whatever action, it's not that important. Do exercise, write down, go for a walk,
00:17:16
Speaker
well Listen to some music, just stare. I don't know, just focus on your breathing and do something. And and that will be pretty helpful.
00:17:34
Speaker
Anything that's at the end, It's really important to understand that the struggle is inevitable. so
00:17:45
Speaker
You just need to choose what kind of struggle you want. But really, the struggle is inevitable. It's never going to be that there is no struggle. So there are always going to be problems. And you can't really solve all the problems because by solving one problem, you will come up with another problem. There are always going to be problems. it It's just our nature. and And it's never going to be easy. So the struggles, they all they' are always going to be there.
00:18:15
Speaker
And what you really need to s think is what kind of struggle do you want? Is it the struggle of not taking action? Not making a decision? You know, the struggle of regret?
Risk of Inaction vs. Taking Action
00:18:33
Speaker
Or do you want to actually the struggle of taking action? The struggle of making a mistake and learning from it?
00:18:43
Speaker
the struggle of trying something new.
00:18:47
Speaker
It's all you know risky. It's always risky. You just need to really think about what kind of risk do you want to take, risk of not doing anything and just sitting and thinking endlessly, never taking action, then regretting, never taking action. Or do you want to take a risk of, you know, feeling damp or, you know, being embarrassed or failing in something?
00:19:29
Speaker
It's all up to you, basically. It's all up to you. it's a Nobody is going to you know decide for you. Nobody is going to push you. And the only person that is going to really support you and push you ah ah is you.
Progress over Perfection
00:19:52
Speaker
sometimes you just need to sit by yourself and think about you know where you are and to what are you going to do. And action, that the progress ah always always beats perfection. Take actions.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:20:19
Speaker
At the end of the day, it's about choosing progress over perfection. Overthinking steals our most valuable asset, which is time. And yeah.
00:20:33
Speaker
Take action. Peace.