Building things up in your head.
Do you build things up in your head – make things harder than they are, or run through countless scenarios of past, current or future events?
You are not alone.
Overcomplicating things or creating imaginary scenarios/narratives are natural human occurrences. They are how our brains make sense of the world. However, our brains are very creative and can get carried away at times.
Our minds are wired to make situations more complicated through something called complexity bias. Our brains crave complexity, so we are more suspicious of simple things. It can’t be that easy, right??
We also have a hard time processing random happenings; instead, we tend to believe there must be a pattern or reason for an event, and we spent hours figuring out what it might be.
On the positive side, this aspect of our brains can help us solve problems and innovate by exploring different perspectives and possible solutions and their outcomes. It can foster empathy and understanding by considering the perspectives and feelings of others and lead to more careful communication (thinking twice before speaking to avoid hurt). It can also contribute to increased preparedness like being proactive in coming up with alternate ways of doing things or contingency plans.
On the negative side, this aspect of our brains can lead us to overthink - analyzing something excessively and adding imagined layers of complexity. We might weigh every possible outcome of a decision to the nth degree to ensure the perfect choice. This can lead to indecision, confusion, inefficiency, unnecessary stress and anxiety. The self-imposed complexity fuels worry and procrastination, wasting time and energy that could be focused on productive tasks.
So, how do we keep ourselves in check?
Take things at face value. Deal with each thing as it comes up to the best of your ability at the time. Try to stay in the present moment. You can’t change the past or predict the future. Time spent ruminating in these areas is usually wasted energy.
Limit information intake. When you have too much information, it can be difficult to process or make sense of it all. Avoid overload by limiting the amount of resources you seek and focusing on the ones you trust most.
Trust your intuition. If you have an overactive imagination or tendency to overthink, focus more on making decisions from your gut feelings and experience.
Accept imperfection. We can’t wait for the perfect moment to start. If we do, we’ll be waiting forever. The best time to take action is now. Stop wishing for everything to fall into place and take the first step today. It’s really about progress, not perfection.
Practice simplicity. Make an effort to simplify your thinking and actions in everyday situations. Have questions: ask. Don’t like something: speak up. Missing someone: call them. Want to meet up: invite them. Want to be understood: explain. Want something: ask for it.
Challenge negative thoughts.
Investigate validity. Jot down the thoughts swirling in your head and investigate how valid each one is. What proof do you have that what is causing you distress is true or will ever happen?
Explore worst case scenarios. Sometimes jumping straight to the worst case will make you realize that it’s not likely to happen, or if it does happen, it really isn’t as bad as you are making it out to be. Or, it might not even be in your control and therefore not worth worrying about in the first place.
Look at the bigger picture to put things in perspective. How will your current situation affect you tomorrow? A week from now? A year from now? 5 years from now?
Flip the script. Replace “This is going to be a disaster” with “I’m going to give it my all and hope for the best.”
Take a break from your thoughts.
Distract yourself by doing something you enjoy and look forward to – doing something nice for someone else, shopping, cooking, exercising, reading, learning a new skill, taking up/working on a hobby, volunteering, watching your favorite show, etc.
Practice mindfulness- pray, meditate, walk in nature, ground yourself or breath deeply to calm your body and mind.
Write down what you are grateful for or your successes this past week, month and/or year. Look at all the positivity in your life and savor it.
Knowing that we naturally complicate things, let’s strive to go against the grain and be the simplifier of things. Let’s strive for thought patterns that are productive rather than unproductive. Let’s be honest with ourselves and use the tools above to stay in check. With some effort, we can switch our minds from a bias of complexity to a bias of simple action. Just think of the difference it will make not only in our own lives but in our workplaces, communities and beyond!