It’s true. I overthink things waaaay too much, and as a result, I often don’t accomplish what I set out to do. It’s unfortunate, but I’ve come to realize this in both my personal and professional lives. And I’m sick of it. I find myself coming up with things to write about, or ideas for projects to do or things to try… and then I don’t follow through. Heck, I almost didn’t write this post because I was worried about not having it be long enough or filled with enough useful information.

It also doesn’t help I’m so indecisive. They don’t call me Mike D. Branski for nothing! It takes me so long to come to a decision on just about anything, even the menial stuff that most people just decide on and not think twice about. It’s quite annoying, I can assure you!

So, what happens when you tend to be indecisive, or overthink things? You don’t get anything (productive) done! You sit and mull over the options, or weigh out ways to do things, and end up getting a whole lot of nothing accomplished, save maybe frustrating yourself (and others!). So, how does one change that?

How to Become More Decisive

Thinking things through certainly isn’t bad, but this can definitely lead to a case of “too much of a good thing.” You have to focus and drill in on what you’re truly trying to accomplish. Does it really need to be drawn out into a big ordeal, or is it something you could decide on now, and deal with the possible (and often unlikely) consequences later? Chances are, whatever you decide can be dealt with or remedied later if it’s decided that it wasn’t the best choice. Most of the time it’s not a life or death decision, so stop overthinking it, and go with your instinct.

Trusting Your Gut

Have you ever been faced with a situation, come to a decision, then proceeded to think about it for way too long, only to end up going with what you thought in the first place? Often times your gut instinct – what you think of off the top of your head at a moment’s notice – is a good choice. Sometimes your mind gets in the way when you really should trust your gut reaction. There’s a good chance it’s right.

Be Bold

Now is the time to stop being so indecisive. Quit overthinking everything. Am I telling you to throw caution to the wind? Of course not. But for the things that really don’t need to be thought about that hard, stop it! For everything else, ask yourself: is this really that important? If so, do I actually need to spend this much time thinking about it, or can I go with my gut now, and adjust later? If you’re honest with yourself, there’s a good chance it’ll be the latter more often than not. So go ahead, trust your instincts, and start making decisions!