Stop thinking so much and overcome analysis paralysis

Singer songwriter Paul Simon wrote a great song called 'Maybe I think too much' which must resonate with anybody who spends a lot of time in their head trying to think it all out. You've probably noticed that spending too much time thinking results in not a lot of doing - or even being. But once you've got in the habit of analysing everything, it can be tricky to get out of analysis paralysis.

Thinking can be very useful

It seems obvious at first sight that thinking about things in depth and detail is a useful thing to do. What else are brains and minds for? Surely if you want to understand the world, you have to think about it? Surely if you want to understand people, and what they say and do, you have to analyse what their words and actions mean? And, of course, this is true - up to a point. Just not always and everywhere.

But too much thinking can be counterproductive

Our brains have other ways of comprehending and responding to the world than analytical thought. If we don't, for whatever reason, use these other modes of comprehension, and come to rely purely on analytical processing, we run into the problem of diminishing returns. This means that, past a certain stage, the more you think, the less benefit you get. It becomes counterproductive, even though it still feels useful.

The costs of over-thinking can be high

Too much thinking eventually makes it very difficult to take decisions. Too much thinking gets in the way of taking action. Too much thinking can take the heart out of relationships. Even just normal everyday interactions with other people, work colleagues or friends or family, can become a minefield of uncertainty and ill-feeling if too much worrying, dissecting and analysis goes on unchecked.

How do you go about 'changing your mind'?

But even if you are fully aware of the downside of over-thinking, changing a long established pattern of worry and analysis can seem a pretty daunting challenge. After all, your brain will have become set in its patterns of thought, and you can't just tell it to start behaving differently (though no doubt you've tried).

Interestingly, you really have to use the other parts of your brain to bring about this change. The 'analytical' part itself (what they call left-brain thinking) has already played its role by alerting you to the existence of the problem, but the solution will come from the non-analytical part (the right brain). Of course, this left/right dichotomy is an over-simplification, but it serves the purpose here.

Accessing other modes of thinking

How do you gain access to your non-analytical, non-rational mind? It's easy enough to do this by going to sleep. Every night, when you dream, it is the unconscious, non-rational part of your mind which generates your dream life. Dreams have been shown to be the mechanism by which the brain establishes and maintains instinctive responses, and processes the effects of emotional arousal in the mind/body system. (1)

Going to sleep, beneficial as it is, is not quite the answer here, however. What's required is a way to activate 'dream function' in the brain, and to use it in the waking state. And the best way to do this is to use hypnosis.

Hypnosis can help you overcome analysis paralysis

Stop analysis paralysis is an audio hypnosis session designed specifically to activate and utilise the unconscious processing power of your brain. When you sit back and listen to it, you will notice a sort of 'stereo' effect. That is, as a highly analytical person, you will find that you are aware of listening analytically on the one hand, and also absorbing a new perspective holistically, or synthetically, on the other.

This approach has been used deliberately in Stop analysis paralysis to make it easier to 'get' the deep change of perspective on life that it generates. You will find it both enjoyable and deeply relaxing to listen to, and the more regularly you listen, the more comfortable you will feel about letting go of excessive analysis, while knowing that your analytical tools remain available whenever they are truly required.

Download Stop analysis paralysis and let your life really take off.

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(1) See Dreaming Reality: How Dreaming Keeps Us Sane, or Can Drive Us Mad, by Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell