Caught by Analysis Paralysis? Break Free with these 5 Tips

Do you feel like you’ve hit a wall? There is that pain in your chest and the same few thoughts keep going around and around in your head but still don’t add up. You can’t seem to figure out the right move to make and are just about ready to crumple it all up and toss it.

Wait!

I know how you feel. Just thinking more about the decision or move you are trying to make is exhausting and is not giving you any real answers.

You, my friend, have reached the point of analysis paralysis. You are literally stuck, unable to move forward because you are caught in a vicious cycle of overthinking.

Whether it be a situation at work or in your personal life, there seem to be too many options or not the right one. So you freeze.

First, a gleam of hope. You will get through this. The answers will come and you’ll be on the other side looking back at how everything worked out. I promise.

But that doesn’t stop your current problem.

The good news is that you can break free from analysis paralysis with these five tips. Using these tips, you’ll manage your overwhelm and identify what gets you in the cycle of stuck in the first place

1. Take a Break

Back away from the computer slowly. Get out of the physical space that you are working in and take a deep breath. Check-in with yourself. Have you eaten? Drank enough water? How’s your breathing? Take inventory of how you are feeling and regulate your nervous system. Come back out of your head and into your physical body.

The 5–4–3–2–1 calming technique is my go-to and it’s simple to do no matter where you are. It is a sensory exercise meant to help be present. Begin by identifying five things you can see and focus on each one. Next, four things you can touch and feel the temperature and texture of each. Then, three things you can hear things near or far, what’s making the sounds? Next, two things you can smell is there a candle nearby, or did you put perfume on this morning? And last, one thing you can taste a sip of coffee or chew some gum. Welcome back.

2. Move Your Body

We know that exercise is good for us because of the chemicals it releases in our body.

I am suggesting it for that reason and because you’re not always in a place where it’s acceptable to scream at the top of your lungs — I’ll leave that up to you. However you choose to do it, the energy has to be released!

You have spent way too much time in your head thinking about the same thing over and over again. It’s time to clear your head by getting that blood pumping.

Go for a walk or run, do some jumping jacks or hop on that spin bike for even a 10-minute session.

Whatever it is, just move it.

3. Make a List of What You Can Control

Often we get caught up in made-up scenarios and those thoughts are what prevent us from acting. There are a few things at play here, perfectionism being one of them. If you are concerned about “getting it right” it’s easy to get stuck in thinking about the best, most efficient, perfect way to do it. Now, it is important to act in alignment with your goals and want to know that your effort is going to pay off in the long run. But you have to move! You are not going to figure everything out by just thinking about it. Staying in the same spot because you don’t know how it’s going to work out or how it’s going to fit in, doesn’t get you any closer to figuring it out. You move, by moving!

If this sounds like you, take a few or a hundred steps back into the present. Ask yourself, what is in front of you right now that you can take action on? Make a list of what needs to get done. Then, add action items to that list. Make sure everything on this list is something you are in direct control of. That doesn’t mean do it all yourself, an item on the list can be to delegate work or ask for help.

4. Don’t Start Scrolling!

If it’s become a reflex to grab your phone, open your favorite app and start scrolling when you hit a roadblock. Pump the brakes! Get off the social media scroll of doom. Because next thing you know hours have gone by and you’ve just zoned out.

I get that social media is a part of our life and can be a great break. I believe in batch-checking email to protect my time, which means that I set aside a few time slots in my day to read and reply to messages and that’s it.

Social media can work in the same way. If Instagram is going to be your break and it helps you feel refreshed, just set a time limit and stop when the alarm goes off.

However, scrolling endlessly on social media is not helpful when I am in analysis paralysis. I know I use it as a distraction to force me to stop thinking and I end up feeling bad that I’ve wasted time. Secondly, I begin to play the comparison game. Suddenly every post I scroll past shows me how everyone is doing what I can’t seem to manage to get together. Just another confirmation that I can’t figure it out. And the cycle of overthinking starts again.

Put it down. Don’t use scrolling to procrastinate or numb.

5. Identify the Emotion:

When you name it you claim it. When you claim it you get your power back.

Now that you have gotten back in touch with your physical body, gotten the blood flowing, and written down a list of things you are in control of, ask yourself, “what’s the feeling?”

What emotion gets you stuck in your head? Is it fear? Is it doubt? Is it insecurity?

This may take going back to the problem you are working through and observing how you feel when you think about it. Do you feel overwhelmed? Why? Scared? Why? Write it all out.

Recognizing the emotion and naming it as the trigger to your analysis paralysis will help you realize that you are in fact capable of doing whatever it is. There is simply an emotion tricking you into thinking you have to know it all before you start.

Naming the emotion will also help you recognize it the next time you begin overthinking. Get in the habit of taking a break when you begin to feel the thoughts spinning and ask, “is this, [insert your emotion here] what’s stopping me?” And stop the analysis paralysis before it starts.

I get that by following these tips your problem is not automatically solved. But you are now in a frame of mind to move forward, which is the point.

Sometimes what you are working on is continuous, like applying for jobs, pitching clients, or working on a big project with a team. So you may repeatedly experience analysis paralysis because of the situations you are living and working in. By incorporating these tips into your daily routine and being aware of the emotions that get you into the cycle in the first place, you can lessen the time spent spinning your wheels.

These habits are built over time and take practice. They are tools meant to help you and are at your disposal whenever you need them.

If you know you’re an overthinker, you reading this is a hint that maybe you are, try incorporating the tips as a part of your daily routine — not just when you’ve hit the wall. Making sure you are present, grounded and feeling good before you start your work will set you up to see solutions and work through problems with ease.

And sometimes, it just comes down to giving yourself a chance. You may not get it right the first time, or the second or third But each of those tries puts you farther ahead than not doing anything at all.

So quiet that mind and trust in yourself!