Overthinking is Not a Creative Superpower, So Here’s How to Break the Cycle

If you’re anything like me, you overthink literally everything. So much fun, isn’t it?

For creatives, this isn’t an uncommon experience. If you’ve ever spent more time thinking about your ideas than actually developing them, then you get it. You know it can be a tough gear to be stuck in. It’s difficult to escape, and that’s because we tend to disguise our overthinking as intuitive intelligence or crucial preparation. The reality, however, is that it just blocks our creative flow.

Overthinking comes in many forms, including:

• endless planning (usually a disguise for perfectionist tendencies)

• second-guessing every decision or direction

• brainstorming with no followup action

• obsessing over whether our ideas are good enough.

The hard truth? None of those are helpful.

WHY WE OVERTHINK (AND THE COST OF DOING SO)

(a person sitting on a sofa with their head in a cardboard box)

Put simply, our creations expose our deepest self, and so we fear the repercussions of genuineness and being emotionally vulnerable. We don’t want to disappoint, but we also don’t want to be judged. The potential for failure sends our nervous system into a stress response and intensifies our feelings of self-doubt.

Past experiences don’t help, either. If you were ever told to “get it right the first time”, it can have you planning and perfecting before you even begin creating. (That’s not to say those things I like to call “pre-craft” aren’t important parts of creation, because they are!)

So, what can something like this lead to?

Creative paralysis. Never actually starting. Loss of momentum. Diminishing self-belief and self-worth. The crippling weight of self-doubt. Your creativity could even become a performance rather than self-expression (at least then there’s a layer of protection between you and your work, right?). The list is massive . . . which is why it’s so important to shift away from overthinking and towards more reasonable practices.

CREATIVITY THRIVES ON MOMENTUM AND COMPROMISE

(a small pile of stacked rocks against the background of a raging river)

The hardest lesson with creating I’ve had to learn so far is this: done is better than perfect. That’s because done is achievable, and perfect is illusory. The sooner we grasp that as creators, the easier the process becomes. Creative flow lies in imperfection and surrender.

Our ability to create is intimately entwined with movement and iteration. Sometimes, our best work is borne out of spontaneity, momentum, or the inspiration driven by our soul and soul alone. And that doesn’t mean we need to “think it through” first. We can’t overthink away its authentic form without losing our own unique voice in the process.

MY GO-TO PRACTICAL TOOLS

(a creator's space, complete with camera, phone, planner, laptop with countdown timer, and mug of coffee, all atop cream-colored bedding)

Here are some of the methods I use to build and maintain momentum in my projects while avoiding the nefarious “overthinking” trap:

The Timer Trick (I use YouTube for this one)

Set a timer for 5 minute intervals spanning an hour. Do 5-minute segments of fast, messy action to bypass the inner critic and the desire to overthink. Here’s a link to the timer I use.

Activeness First

Start with some form of movement instead of thought right out the gate. Think walking, dancing, stretching, or vocal exercise. All of these relax the body, promote the flow of blood and oxygen, and work out a bit of stored energy.

The 80% Rule (essential!)

Allow yourself to stop when your creative energy is 80% spent for the day. Then, pick up where you left off the next time. This keeps you from running out of energy entirely and gives you the opportunity to ease back in as you bridge the previous day’s work.

Regardless of how it feels in the moment, overthinking isn’t the insightful trick we like to believe it is. It’s just interruption and delay. The next time you find yourself in a spiral, stuck on a minor detail or question that doesn’t need to be answered right then and there, tell yourself to step back and away for a minute. Just lean into what the inner you is saying, and run with it. You won’t be disappointed, trust me.