“Don’t overthink it” – each of us heard this phrase at least once, but most likely continued to diligently think over the same thought that firmly settled and rooted in our head. Well, what else can we do? There are mass protests outside, the pandemic is raging, news about a UFO and an approaching meteorite emerge, and all this thanks to 2020. Our proven tricks will help you escape from endless rumination.
Rumination is obsessing over and continuously thinking about the same negative and disturbing thoughts. This process is usually caused by extreme stress. Cyclical thoughts are destructive – a sad memory, regret about a mistake or anxiety about the future – rumination paralyzes us and prevents us from doing something really important and pleasant. We have put together simple tips that will save you from obsessive thoughts in an instant!
1. Vent on someone
When thoughts bring anxiety and stress, it is better to immediately express them. Share your feelings with a loved one or write your thoughts in a journal. To do this, you will have to put them into words, which means giving them at least a little structure. You’ll see, on paper or out loud, they may not be so scary and hopeless.
In a conversation with a friend, you can reflect on what happened and discuss your forecasts for the future. Incomplete thoughts tend to loop. Bring them to their logical conclusion in a conversation or letter, so it will be easier to let them go.
2. Work
Apply the Pomodoro technique, which is an effective method that helps to get back into your workflow. Set the alarm for 15-20 minutes and promise yourself to devote all this time to work, studying, or solving a tedious task. It will be easy for you to agree with yourself as concentrating on something for 15 minutes is not that difficult. The next thing you know, you may distract yourself a little, and all your unnecessary thoughts will be gone.
3. Get distracted
When thoughts and feelings envelop the mind, and you simply can’t bear thinking about what to do, try to get distracted for a bit. The easiest and most effective way is to escape from reality using books, movies, TV series, and quizzes.
They help take your mind off your own problems for a while. And if everything is clear with the first three methods, quizzes are a relatively new entertainment tool for us, so we will tell you about it in more detail.
How to quiz?
A quiz is an intellectual trivia contest. The quiz does not require encyclopedic knowledge, but it requires excitement and swagger. This game will provide you with a good mood and will inspire and motivate you to increase your erudition level. Take a quiz once, and you will not be able to stop because it’s so tempting to know what kind of movie villain you are or check whether you understand how to read body language.
Don’t be afraid, it’s not a harmful addiction at all. There is a serious scientific explanation for this genuine interest, and it’s the Barnum effect. This cute naivety was explained by psychologist Bertram R. Forer. The professor asked his students to complete a test and promised to draw up an individual characterization of every student afterwards.
In turn, he gave everyone the same text from the first horoscope he came across. Then he suggested that students evaluate the accuracy of the description on a scale of 1 to 5. They clearly did not expect any tricks from their professor, so the average rating was 4.26 points.
Forer concluded that people believe in any characteristics that seem to be written specifically for them. That is why passing tests and quizzes is pleasant and useful. This is an excellent opportunity to get away from negative thoughts, have fun, and find out something new. See for yourself, quizzes have loads of advantages:
- Passing quizzes is fun and exciting, time flies by, obsessive thoughts go away, that’s superb!
- By passing quizzes, you learn something new, because if the quiz is educational, there clearly are right and wrong answers. So, when you make mistakes, you learn.
- Quizzes can vary your friendly gatherings in Zoom. Simply share the link with your friends and compare the results, and then talk about this fun over a glass of sparkling wine or a cup of tea.
- This is also a great opportunity to learn something new about yourself, praise yourself for it, or work on mistakes.
You can check out our selection of quizzes here.
Passing them is really simple: just choose the most suitable option from the proposed answers and click submit to get the result of your efforts.
We warn you: it’s addictive!
