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6 Strategies for Dealing with Overthinking

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In this article, I look at overthinking (and its cousin, anxiety) from an evolutionary perspective and offer some practical strategies that have helped me deal with them more effectively.

As far as I can tell, overthinking is largely a modern problem. In evolutionary time, it’s only been a blink of an eye since we’ve mastered our environment to the extent that we have. Although there are many people who still face survival-related problems on a daily basis, most of us live in relative comfort compared to our hunter-gatherer ancestors.

One of the many unintended consequences of our massive ecological success as a species is that because it happened so quickly, our brains haven’t had a chance to adapt accordingly. As a result, we’re no longer certain what to worry about.

Our brains are still running the same “survival software” that helped keep us alive for millions of years. That software continues to look for problems, even when there are none…

The 4 Principles of Effective Learning

Being an effective learner means understanding information at multiple levels and being able to recall it at will in order to solve problems. Most of us aren’t taught the principles of effective learning in school. We are taught what to learn but not how to learn. In this post, I outline the 4 most important principles for remembering more of what you read.

Finding Common Ground Between Different Philosophies

I love figuring out where different worldviews overlap. I find it fascinating to identify the common ground between seemingly disparate ideas, people, and ways of thinking.

There are many different lenses through which we can view the world and make sense of it. Often, we do this by using frameworks.

For example, let’s say you wanted to learn how best to live in the world and interact with others. You could internalize the principles of Buddhism then go out and use that framework to make sense of the world. Alternatively, you could study the findings of modern psychology and use that framework to make sense of the world.

Although these frameworks vary in their details and levels of resolution, each does an adequate job of explaining what it sets out to explain. And both will help you achieve a similar goal in the end…

The "One" Idea That Could Change Your Life

I am curious by nature. I love learning new ideas and concepts. Especially ones that cause me to see the world in new and novel ways.

This love of learning new things is generally a good thing...except when it’s not. Sometimes too much information can be counterproductive.

Consuming information is pointless unless you use it to better your life or someone else’s. By constantly seeking new information and failing to take the time to fully digest what you've already consumed, you neither fully absorb it nor use it. It's like chewing a nutritious meal and then spitting it out before swallowing. You don't get any of the benefits.

What's important is not the sheer quantity of information you consume but rather how much of it you retain and actually put to use…

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