WHERE’S THE OFF SWITCH? Overthinking

When we think too much, our mind left our wise emotions. Not all our emotions are irrational, some help us to process rational thought.

Overthinking makes people think that they are working on a problem, but not only does overthinking not produce solutions, but it also exacerbates the problem. All that thinking takes up time and energy individuals could spend fixing the problem.

Overthinking is less likely to take action on a possible solution, makes them more pessimistic about the future, and pretty much guarantees a bad mood. It will forcefully drop us into the depression.

It undermines your intuitive ability to solve problems. The same applies to decisions that our Stone Age ancestors faced – evaluating what was edible, who would make good friends, and whom to trust. For such purposes, we have heuristics and mental shortcuts that are superior to rational thought. With complex matters, though, such as investment decisions, sober reflection is indispensable. Evolution has not equipped us for such considerations, so logic trumps intuition.

Investment – we all know that the stock market moves in a cycle. So, when we have invested during the worst time, we have reaped juicy fruits. Overthinking stop us from making wise decision. When the worst arrives, our overthinking inspires us to find out worst can happen from here and we do not think rationally that the cycle can move from worst to great and great to worst.

This entire series will be reviewed with various examples from books which are Thinking, Fast and Slow and The Art of Thinking Clearly.