Decisions are exhausting. Overanalyzing is a deep, dark hole that’s easy to get sucked into. It’s not surprising because we are taught to examine things from all angles, to consider all the facets of a problem, to think critically. Individually, all of these are great skills. The best problem solvers can look at problems from multiple angles, consider different views, thinking critically. The problem is we often overanalyze decisions we could make quickly and under examine decisions we should be engaging with further.
The solution isn’t to just stop overanalyzing. Cold turkey doesn’t work. The remedy is a focus shift – rather than making decisions into problems to solve, it’s about clarifying what it is you really desire. Once you are clear about what you really desire (to be loved, to be accepted, to be seen) it becomes easy to discern the next right step (which is really all that we should be thinking about when making a decision).