8 things that help you stop overthinking & actually get things done
I know you’re here because that “thing” has been annoying you for a while now. You keep going back and forth on the same decision.
“Should I just do it?” “But if I do this, I’ll lose that.” It’s the same thought spiral in your head, just in a different context.
Don’t worry, there’s a way out. I’ve been there, and because I’ve been there, I know exactly how to help you figure things out. There was a phase in my life where I kept spiraling over whether I should make a career change.
I’d been laid off by my previous employer and took it as a sign from the universe that I needed a new career. It wasn’t.
The real fear wasn’t the layoff — it was not knowing what to decide next. Figuring that out is what got me clarity.
So, without wasting any more of your time, here are the 8 things that helped me stop overthinking and actually get things done.
1) Decide before you feel ready
Whatever is bothering you right now exists mainly in your mind. You don’t actually know how things will turn out. Overthinking usually comes from trying to reach 100% certainty before taking action, but the truth is you’ll never feel fully ready.
Even so, you should commit firmly to whatever decision you make. Most decisions don’t require certainty — they just require a reasonable next step.
Here’s a pro tip: give yourself a decision deadline. Whatever is bothering you, make a decision by midnight.
Gather as much information as you need to decide, and once you’ve decided, move accordingly.
2) Turn the thing into a ridiculously small task
Let’s say you want to learn how to play guitar. It’s been sitting in the corner of your room for a while now. You keep deciding you’ll start on your day off, then forget about it. Instead, pick up the guitar and play it for 5 minutes today.
And every single day. The best way to start ridiculously small is by just tuning the strings on day 1.
Whatever task you want to do, start small — as small as you can — and do it for just 5 minutes a day. Stop jumping to the final result and start small.
3) Stop planning and start testing
This is the worst mind trap — you think you’re being productive, but it’s actually taking you nowhere. I practiced for interviews for 6 weeks without applying for the job I wanted, and by the time I finally felt ready, the position was no longer available.
The only way to know if you’re ready is by actually trying and testing. It can be as small as sitting alone in a café and having breakfast by yourself.
The first time you actually go and do it, you’ll realize how empowering it feels to not need a companion every time you want to go somewhere.
Planning can disguise itself as productivity, and you’d never know it. You can spend three weeks researching the perfect career, course, gym, business idea, or strategy without actually doing anything.
Instead, try testing and experimenting, and let reality give you the information that thinking never can.
4) Give yourself a time limit
I didn’t know how well this works until I actually tried it. Remember sitting in an exam hall with exactly 3 hours to write your paper?
Some of us feel pressured by the lack of time, while others actually unleash the best part of our brain in that window. I never understood how I passed a subject I had zero interest in, until I realized it was the exam time limit that made me productive.
In that time, one thing I’d learned turned into fifteen decent points on paper, because long, detailed answers were rewarded — and somehow, it worked.
Next time you sit down to do a task, set a timer and see how it works for you.
Open-ended tasks invite procrastination. Instead of “I’ll work on this today,” say “I’ll work on this from 7:00–7:30.” A defined window makes the task feel finite, which is why you feel relieved after an exam ends.
Pro tip: use 20–30 minute focused sessions, and give yourself permission to stop when the timer ends.
5) Make starting your default
Before we start doing something, we by default look for motivation. You always want a reason to start.
Don’t depend on motivation — if you truly want to succeed in life, motivation is a trap.
Instead, create a predictable trigger:
Day 1:
After breakfast → write
After coffee → study
After 7 pm → gym
After dinner → guitar
Do this on Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5. Unless you repeat the same thing multiple times, your brain will keep finding reasons for you to NOT do it.
This also gives you an advantage — it saves you tremendously from decision fatigue, since you already know what you’re doing and when.
The less you have to decide, the less opportunity you have to overthink. Attach the task to something you already do every day.
6) Put friction between you and your distractions
You don’t need me to tell you what’s been distracting you. For most of us since 2020, it’s one thing: Instagram. I’ve been off it for six months and I feel more alive for it — mostly because everyone around me is still stuck in the scroll I used to live in.
I didn’t delete the app. Deleting doesn’t work — you just reinstall it in a weak moment. What worked was friction:
before opening it, I set a 15-minute timer on my phone first. That tiny pause is usually enough to snap me out of the impulse before I even open the app.
The problem usually isn’t that your work is too hard. It’s that the distraction is too easy.
If Instagram is one tap away and your work requires opening a laptop and finding where you left off, your brain will pick the easier option every time. Add friction, and you tip the odds back in your favor.
7) Finish badly before you improve it
Here’s an uncomfortable one: perfectionism is fear wearing a productivity costume. It turns action into endless preparation, and preparation feels safe.
You won’t know how to make something good until you’ve finished a version of it that’s bad. So post the imperfect draft. Share the rough paragraph, the shaky demo, the resume you’re not sure about. You can’t improve what doesn’t exist yet.
This isn’t just a vibe, either — perfectionism has been shown to make people more anxious and less likely to act, not more successful.
What you see online is the finished, filtered version of people who also started imperfect — they just didn’t stop to show you that part.
8) Give yourself evidence that you are someone who acts
The way our thoughts keep revolving around other people’s opinions is really distracting. If we put even 10% of the effort we spend trying to prove ourselves to others into proving things to ourselves instead, life would become so much easier.
We usually overthink because we’re insecure, anxious, restless, confused, and most of the time, afraid of taking action.
But have you ever noticed how good you feel when the person you’ve been trying to please actually appreciates your effort?
You feel seen, secure, and confident that you made the right choice — but that feeling fades quickly, because it’s temporary when it’s done for someone else.
Try being selfish for just this once and please yourself. Do that thing that’s been on your mind — the one thing you’re still here reading this for.
Do it today and see how good you feel. That’s the evidence your mind needs to see.
Here’s a pro tip: when your brain is spiraling, focus on your breath for 10 minutes and see what actions you take. That’s the moment you’re truly aware, and it’s when you tend to make decisions in your favor.
Final thoughts:
Write these 8 things down and put them somewhere you’ll actually see them — your desk, your mirror, wherever.
Your brain runs on repetition, and even after you get through this spiral, you’ll hit another one eventually.
That’s not a failure; it’s just how minds work. Uncertainty isn’t a bug to fix — it’s the condition you’re always deciding inside of.
To not miss the next one , you can consider subscribing to the newsletter. Thank you for reading this article, and I hope it has or will help you make better life decisions as and when needed.
If it does, I would love to know your side of the story. The comment section is open, and so is my heart and mind.
One last reminder — you don’t need to think your way into becoming someone who takes action. You become that person by taking one action before you can talk yourself out of it.
