10 Undeniable Signs You Are An Overthinker

Claude Piche

1. You analyze every word that you hear.

Whenever you are in a conversation with someone, you try to guess if there’s a meaning behind what they’re saying. You look at their facial expressions as they speak and you wonder if they’re telling the truth, if they mean every word that comes out of their lips, if they know that you’re carefully analyzing them inside your head. Instead of being in the moment with them, you’re busy planning to make an investigation about them as soon as you go home. You’re more concerned with what you’re going to find out about them, rather than getting to know them when they’re in front of you.

2. You spend more time thinking than being productive.

You love to think of ways to improve your skills and be better in everything that you do. You’re good at coming up with fresh ideas, new projects, and detailed plans. But the problem is that you spend so much time thinking that you never get any work done. You always tell yourself that you can do the job later – until you realize that you don’t have time anymore, so you just ditch your task last minute and end up not producing anything.

3. You get way too excited when you’ve done something great.

There’s nothing wrong with being proud of your accomplishments. You’re entitled to celebrate and tell the world your wins in life. But comforting yourself under the thought that you don’t need to make more efforts just because you’ve reached one successful milestone might be a misleading principle. The world changes every day. There’s no guarantee that you’re going to maintain your level of success for the rest of your life. You have to keep working hard and continually improve yourself.

4. You find it hard to forget the people who hurt you.

Sure you can move on from the pain that people gave to you, but you never forget what they did to you. There’s a part of you that’s holding you back from completely letting go. It’s hard for you to repair your relationships with the people who wronged you because regardless of time that passed, regardless of how many times they told you they’re sorry – you will always remember the moments that they hurt you. And no matter what you do, you can’t erase those awful memories in your mind.

5. You want everything to be neat and organized.

It freaks you out when something is not in order. You can’t calm down unless you are one hundred percent sure that everything around you is placed at where it’s supposed to be. You never put yourself in a situation where you’re not prepared or ready. You have to make sure that you are aware of what you’re going to face and what you’re going to deal with.

6. You always expect the worst.

This is not foreign news to you. Thinking of negative things somehow becomes your favorite pastime. When you’re making a decision, going somewhere for the first time, or on the verge of receiving a verdict – you anticipate the worst because you don’t want to be shocked when something doesn’t go right. You want to feel the pain before it actually happens.

7. Your favorite question to ask is: why?

You’re thirsty to know the reasons why things happen. When someone breaks your heart, you immediately want to know why. You want to know if it’s you, if it’s your fault, if there’s anything that you can’t provide for them. You can’t be at peace in your life unless they give you the explanations that you need. The explanations that will put your mind at rest.

8. You get worried when you don’t get a quick response.

As soon as you send someone a message, you’re already keeping track of how long it takes them to reply to you because you’re too worried that you said something wrong. You’re worried that they’re upset at you, and that’s why it seems like they’re ignoring your message. The thought of texting someone first stresses you out because what if they don’t want to talk to you? What if they don’t want to see your name in their inboxes?

9. You always think people are talking about you.

When in fact, they aren’t. You’re the only one who’s giving meaning every time people look in your way. Somehow you forget that the world doesn’t revolve around you. Although you remind yourself once in a while that there’s no reason to be paranoid, you still find yourself wondering whether people are gossiping about you.

10. You are good at picking up important social cues.

Overthinking can be a valuable life skill too. As someone who loves to observe other people, you can develop the ability to read people accurately based on their actions and gestures. You know when is the right time for you to talk more or talk less, agree or disagree, share an opinion or keep your thoughts to yourself, stay or walk away. Sometimes you can get what you want from people because you can read them well. And that is an advantage that you have the privilege to enjoy as an overthinker. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

Angelo Caerlang is the author of Sparks in Broken Lights.

Keep up with Angelo on Instagram, Twitter and theangelocaerlang.wordpress.com

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