If you’ve experienced overthinking, or are a chronic overthinker like myself, you’ve probably had this urge to stop thinking instantly, all at once, because:

1. It doesn’t make you feel good.

2. You’re wasting your time remunerating on something that doesn’t make you feel good, and;

3. Someone else might be suffering because of your lack of attention or poor executive function when they need something from you.

Let me tell you this: we, as humans, have been thinking for our entire existence. If you really look into it, the thinking doesn’t really stop, not unless you’re dead, of course. You’re either taking in or putting out, and that’s all thinking. You’re not overdoing it. You just have poor quality of thoughts, therefore, experiencing negative effects from it.

You can train yourself to elevate the quality of your thoughts.

Let’s start with input. As a writer, I always say this: what you eat is what you shit. Not literally, of course. The medium and content you consume directly affect your output (the stuff you create, what you materialize, what you show to the world). If you focus on short-form videos, viral clips, rage baits, and generally any poor quality content out there, you bet you won’t be shitting any. However, if you focus on media rich in layers, in symbolism, one that is so thick that you can analyze it for days on end with endless possible combinations of perspective, philosophy, and psychology, then you’ve found yourself a good quality content to take in.

Hone your senses – your taste – in these things. That’s the only way you can learn how to stay no and not spend time consuming shit quality media. Remember that anything you eat, you shit. Might as well make it quality glittering shit.

Next is output. We’ve already covered the input part, so if you did that, the output part is already half the battle. I say half because the output part covers the thoughts we have whenever we’re not taking in any input. For the case of overthinking, the unnecessary remunerating of intrusive and negative thoughts becomes the default if we choose not to do anything about it. Pull out the weeds before they spread in your garden. We solve this by turning it into something material or physical. Whenever you find yourself overthinking, write them down. Not digitally, as this makes the idea of what you’re writing still an intangible concept. Use a pen and paper to write longhand. You’ll see the words that make up your thoughts. They’re no longer inside your head, running on the wheel like a hamster trying to run away from an invisible threat. Tire it out, and you’ll see your thoughts for what they truly are.

Then, level up the quality of your output. Turn it into anything creative. Make stories, create poems, write a song, paint, or draw. It doesn’t have to be good at first, and you can always improve it. You just need to spend enough time with your thoughts so that you understand what it is, realize it for what it truly is, and hopefully get to the bottom of what’s triggering these thoughts.

Sharing is optional, but it does pay to find like-minded people who share the same predicament as you.

We’ve been thinking since we developed brains capable of doing so. The problem now is that there’s a lot of shit quality media vying for your attention by hacking your behavior. Make yours impenetrable by having impeccable taste. Watch your thoughts transform that; regardless of whether you’re thinking or not, you’ll find it comfortable inside your head.

(Over)Thinking is not the problem. The quality of it is.

10/20/2025