Thinking Too Much Takes Away Our Happiness

Most of the time when we surrender to thinking too much, this act generates a mental overweight that takes us away from happiness. This mainly occurs when these thoughts, ideas and reflections are of poor quality. In other words, toxic and harmful ideas that poison our self-esteem, hope and projects.

In this way, few things can be more necessary for our well-being than cultivating more relaxed, peaceful, and focused minds.

The mind is a tireless machine. Neuroscientists show that people have an average of thirty thousand thoughts a day, and about 80% of them are useless.

That is, they are simply repetitive ideas, memories brought to mind, and, in essence, cognitive processes that do us no good.

However, as we well know, every flow of ideas, judgments, memories and phrases can also act as veritable poison arrows. These are states that intensify an eventual malaise and that throw us into spaces of great psychological unhealthiness.

Therefore, the question behind all this is not precisely in the greater or lesser amount of thoughts we can have, but in their quality.

Let’s see more data about it.

thinking too much drains the brain

When an athlete sets out to do an exercise, he knows that the most important part of his body to do it is his brain. Thinking too much could affect your performance, or even cause an error.

Therefore, the best strategy in those situations where we get nervous or feel anxious is to work on concentration, stay calm, and focus on the goal.

Thought, like most of our more complex cognitive processes, is located in our frontal lobe. It is in this area that we plan, that we compare information, that we make inferences, reflections and analyses.

Now, each of the processes performed require a good amount of energy. So we must know when it’s worth putting this gear to work, and in which situations it’s better to just let life flow and simply trust…

The brain in times of multitasking

Most athletes learn at some point the importance of training the mind, taming the thoughts and directing attention to a goal.

Now, achieving this control over mental processes is not exactly easy, especially in the context of our current society, clearly dominated by multitasking.

• Cognitive psychologists like David E Mayer of the University of Manchester indicate that while our brains have the ability to do many things at once, they have a limit.
• Aspects as everyday for us as driving while listening to the radio, we think about what we have to do when we get to work, what we will do tomorrow, what we should have done and what we shouldn’t have done, generate high mental stress.
• This stress, sustained over time, ends up undermining our mood.
• Thinking too much every day not only brings a state of high mental exhaustion, it also makes our brains, whether we like it or not, inefficient.

The most efficient brains and their curious neurological activity

We may think that people who are more adept at doing something have a more active brain. However, the truth is not about having a more active mind , but a more efficient mental focus.

• Therefore, it is not a question of thinking more, but of thinking better, of generating more productive, direct and useful thoughts.
• Now, it is necessary to comment on another interesting aspect. On average, people with higher IQs do not present precisely more efficient thoughts.
• It is common for these people to apply what is known as branched thinking. In other words, one idea leads to another, a doubt invites them to generate several hypotheses and, from these, new ideas…

This is why they tend to take longer to issue responses, and also why this tendency to think more than they should cause a certain amount of anxiety and discomfort.

Think less and better to be happy

Thinking well is synonymous with living better. However, how can we train our focus and our mind used to feeding on tireless thoughts and fears?

Albert Ellis, father of rational emotive therapy, explains in his work that what affects us most is not what happens around us, but how we interpret what happens.

The key is, therefore, to be kinder to ourselves, to judge things differently, to allow the mind to slam on the brakes and rest from time to time. Let’s look at some strategies to get there.

4 steps to stop thinking too much

• Since the rise of cognitive psychology, we have known that we can change our moods if we change what we say to ourselves. Thus, one way to reduce thoughts is to treat ourselves better. We have to reduce the negativity, the weight of fear, the pain of anguish.

• There is another technique that can be of great help in managing our emotions. One way to succeed in thinking less is to convince ourselves that we are safe, that we are okay, that there are no imminent threats that could harm us. We have to work on internal calm.
• Furthermore, practices such as mindfulness can allow us to reduce the buzz of the overactive mind. Practices of this kind will help us to focus our attention on the here and now, which is essential for reducing the burden of worry.
• We must have time to think and time to relax. There are times when it is necessary to reflect, analyze, seek options and conclusions. All of these processes allow us to make better decisions. But doing this too much can be counterproductive. Remember that there is a time to think and a time to get carried away…

In conclusion, one way to gain well-being and happiness is to control our thoughts and their quality. Achieving this goal isn’t exactly easy, not when we’re so used to rigid mindsets that start with “I have to”, “maybe”, “should do”, “would be better than”…

Letting go, enjoying the moment, not paying attention to worries and fears is an art in which we have to start little by little to improve our daily lives.

Thinking too much wears us out, especially if those thoughts generate a rumble of negativity and a taste of hopelessness. We must avoid this mental burden and direct our attention to calm and balance.