Overthinking has the quality of usefulness — the sense that you are doing the careful, responsible work of thinking things through thoroughly before acting. This is part of what makes it so persistent and so difficult to interrupt.
But overthinking is not careful thinking. Careful thinking is purposeful — it moves toward a conclusion, a decision, an understanding. Overthinking circles — returning repeatedly to the same questions, examining the same scenarios, without producing resolution or new information. It is anxiety management in the form of cognitive activity.
Overthinking is a form of avoidance. Specifically, it avoids the uncertainty and discomfort of acting without perfect information — which is the only condition under which most significant action ever takes place.
The circular thinking creates the illusion of progress: you are doing something (thinking), so you are not simply paralysed. But because the thinking is not genuinely purposeful — it is not designed to reach a conclusion — it produces no actual progress. It maintains both the apparent activity and the genuine inaction simultaneously.
Overthinking is not the same as:
Careful deliberation. Deliberation is purposeful — it has a specific question, considers specific evidence, and moves toward a conclusion. It has an end point.
Legitimate worry. Some worry is functional — alerting you to genuine threats that require attention. Overthinking typically involves risks that are either very unlikely, very manageable, or entirely hypothetical.
Processing. Emotional processing — sitting with a feeling, working through what something means, integrating an experience — is also iterative but it tends to move toward understanding and release rather than maintaining sustained uncertainty.
If this reflection is resonating, the work goes deeper in the book. Read The Good Girl Delusion →
The decision deadline. One of the most effective interruptions to overthinking: setting a specific time by which you will decide and act, and honouring it. The deadline forces the move from indefinite deliberation to committed action.
The "what is the worst realistic outcome?" question. Overthinking typically involves amplified, often catastrophic assessments of potential negative outcomes. Specifically naming the worst realistic outcome — not the worst imaginable, but the worst likely — often reveals that the stakes are lower than the overthinking implies, and that the outcome is survivable.
Physical movement. The overthinking cycle is strongly cognitive and tends to reinforce itself. Physical activity — walking, exercise, any embodied action — interrupts the cycle by redirecting attention and energy.
The "what do I know right now?" question. Overthinking persists partly by asking questions about the future that cannot be answered from the present. Redirecting to what is actually known, currently, in this moment — rather than what might be true later — anchors the thinking in available evidence rather than imaginable scenarios.
Action as information. The most reliable interruption to overthinking is often simply acting — taking the smallest possible step in the direction being deliberated about — and gathering real information from the real world rather than from the hypothetical scenarios of the overthinking mind.
The Good Girl Delusion goes deeper into this work. Read The Good Girl Delusion →
If you want personalised support, coaching is also available. Explore Coaching →
Related: Inner Clarity Practices for Women · How to Trust Yourself Again · Building Real Confidence as a Woman
Nancy GLO
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