Sadiel Almanza's Blog

What is Analysis Paralysis?

Analysis Paralysis, in simple terms, means to overthink/overanalyze. It comes at you in silence, slowly accumulating excess information in your mind, and before you know it, your brain is too crowded with unnecessary information. Have you ever felt that? Actual weigh inside your head from all your thoughts? You are not alone; it happens to us Thinkers, readers, students , and anyone who dares to use their brains! Which means everyone. Some people just aren’t aware of this problem. I’ll expand a little more on this problem and share the solution that worked for me, along with others that might work for you.

The source of your overthinking.

In my opinion Analysis Paralysis is linked with the Paradox of Choice. Our unlimited access to information makes it way harder for us to choose something because we tend to be afraid of making the wrong choice, and that causes us to go down this road of endless possibilities full of detours called “What ifs?” that leads us nowhere but a state of paralysis. This happens to me all the time when I decide to start a new project or take on a new challenge like building a webpage, learning new software, choosing a new workout routine, choosing the next book to read, and so on…

See, when we overanalyze a particular situation, we crowd our brains with so much information that we, unfortunately, limit our abilities to actually do creative thinking, do the task at hand, and be productive. Picture your brain as a vehicle, and you are the driver; if you start filling your car with garbage and boxes, eventually, it will be uncomfortable to drive or even unable to drive. You need to empty your mind, or atleast be aware of the information you store in there.

For us thinkers, dreamers, and creators, it is very easy to fall into this trap. With whatever we try to do we try to analyze every single thing in our heads and imagine all the possibilities before we even actually take the first step into completing whatever we set out to do ( I say “we” because I hope someone out there is actually going through this same thing as me!). It is smart to prepare for what you set out to do, analyze certain obstacles that might arise, and plan possible solutions for those obstacles; this is strategic. But beware of overpreparing, overanalyzing obstacles that might arise, and over-planning possible solutions for problems that don’t even exist yet!

I will end this section with a quote from one of my favorite stoics and philosophers,

“We suffer more in imagination than in reality”

Seneca

Don’t let your imagination stop you; use it to achieve what you desire.

The Solution.

Let me be clear and state that this does not mean I don’t fall into this trap. Those who know me on a deeper level know that I tend to overanalyze certain things, if not all things. That being said, I am aware of this and when I notice myself in this rut my go-to is to write things down. Writing helps me organize my thoughts and serves as an outlet for all the information I store inside my brain. I have multiple notebooks & journals, each with its own purpose. Caution! This approach can also lead to Analysis Paralysis, especially if you are like me and are interested in many topics, leaving the door open to falling into a spiral of endless notetaking. One of my favorite approaches to getting out of paralysis mode is leveraging your subconscious mind. I won’t dive deep into the subconscious mind in this article because that is a whole article on its own, but in short, your subconscious mind is basically what your brain does while you are not conscious, hence the subconscious. Your subconscious is constantly working towards your goal and it constantly works with all the information it has received in its lifetime to provide us with our ideal end result. I would recommend reading “Psycho-Cybernetics”, by Maxwell Maltz if you want to learn more on this topic.

Basically what I do is , I write my goal/problem down and work towards it, but if I see myself going down a rabbit hole and in a state of paralysis, I take my awareness away from it and let the subconscious do its work, I promise you it will not fail you if you let it work.

If you do not want to let your subconscious take over (which, at some point, you will have to) you can try to create systems to get through your day. This means setting an outline of how you want your day to look like, and what things you will consume, both mentally and physically. Knowing what choices you are going to make in certain scenarios prevents you from wasting mental energy pondering what to do next, what to eat, what to watch, what time to leave, etc… preventing something called “decision fatigue.”

Try the following :

• Go for walks
• Let the subconscious do the work
• Plan your day
• Limit information consumed
• Exercise
• Meditate

It never ends.

We are constantly exposed to new information, which leads to new thoughts, which leads us back to our little problem if not careful. The key is to be aware, be aware of everything that you do, think , eat , watch, everything. By being conscious of your actions you don’t mindlessly store unwanted information in your mind but rather those that you allow in.

It never ends, and I think there is beauty in that. If the problems never stop, the thoughts never do, and the learning never stops.

Next time you feel overwhelmed when you are about to start something like a project , a diet, a new routine, or anything “big,” remember the following quote –

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”

Zig Ziglar

Take the first step; Things will align along the way. Trust the process.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope it was of value to you.

If you want to dive deeper into this topic, I highly suggest reading this article :

https://todoist.com/inspiration/analysis-paralysis-productivity