I’ve been charged.

I’m guessing you have too, or you’re on the other end and you’ve charged someone with overthinking and overanalyzing. Stop doing that.

As I was preparing this content, dictionary.com didn’t even have “over-analyze”, “over analyze” or “overanalyze” in its system. “Overthink” was defined as, “to spend more time thinking about something than is necessary or productive”. The keywords to me in that definition are necessary and productive. (Yes, I researched, reviewed, and ruminated on the dictionary definitions of those too.) “Necessary” and “productive” are both relative and subjective.

Critical thinking looks a lot like overthinking… from the outside.

Stop charging yourself (and everyone else) with the derogatory jest of overthinking if you haven’t the time, skills, and rapport to understand what’s going on in their mind on a deeper level.

The main distinctions between overthinking and critical thinking are in the purpose of the thought patterns and the results of them. It’s getting stuck in a destructive pattern of processing the same things over and over, letting your mind run rampant and uncontrolled, and inserting passionate emotions into the process that becomes overthinking.

Most of the time when I’m charged with overanalyzing the person on the other end leapfrogged a whole host of details and decision-making points. Critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and intention REQUIRE deep thinking, methodical processing, and consideration of many unfamiliar perspectives. When we shut down deep thinking, emotion processing, and perspective exploring by charging others (or ourselves) with overthinking, we’re jeopardizing profound realizations, innovation, and creativity.

So again, stop doing that.

For someone who is prone to overthinking, you might need firm boundaries. Like cattle grazing in a grassy, flat pasture with a fence. You need hard stops because your emotional intelligence and self-awareness aren’t developed enough to keep you in an objective, processing, consideration state. When thinking critically, your pasture might be bound by rivers, tree lines, and ridges. Could you go into those areas? Sure, nothing firm is standing in your way. You also know that as you inch closer to them, the scenery changes and the path to come out isn’t as easy as the path that took you in.

My mind used to be a pasture bound by fence posts. Flat, grassy, and repetitive scenery that needed firm boundaries to distinguish one area from another. Now, dynamic mountain peaks, fresh streams, sunny hills, and mysterious forests offer natural shelter and rest when I respect their purpose and place.

Cultivate your (and others) ability to think critically, problem-solve creatively, and expand your thought patterns by practicing identifying your own thought patterns. Keep me posted on what you observe! And, don’t assume my mind (or anyone else’s) works just like yours.