You can use three strategies to help you avoid obsessing about a decision. One is to deliberately distract yourself to take the pressure off.
OVERCOMING OBSESSIVE THINKING
ou can use three strategies to help you avoid obsessing about a decision. One is to deliberately distract yourself to take the pressure off. Another is to exercise or move around, which helps by expending some of the energy that fuels obsessive thinking. And third, it's a good idea to write down some steps or actions you'll take to help you reach a decision.
The first strategy you can use to avoid obsessive circular thinking is to consciously distract yourself.
To do this, try to choose something absorbing. This can be as simple as listening to some music, talking to a friend or colleague, or doing a simple task you've been putting off.
The task you use to divert your attention should be relatively simple and neutral. Because you know you still have an important decision to make, you may find it difficult to concentrate on a complex task.
Consider Leslie, for example. She owns and runs a small company that offers telecommunications solutions to companies. Recently her company has received more requests than it can fulfill. Leslie is trying to decide whether she should expand and hire more workers.
Leslie finds herself paralyzed by circular thinking. She wants to expand so she can take on the new clients. But this requires a big investment, and that's financially risky.
Finally she forces herself to stop going in circles. She shuts the door to her office and distracts herself by listening to her favorite opera. Before long, her mind is cleared from the decision.
Once Leslie has stopped her obsessive thinking, clear thinking can begin. And that's the kind of thinking that will help her make her decision.
QUESTION 1
Andrew is trying to decide whether he should move his business to a new city and has begun to obsess about it.
True or false? To avoid obsessive thinking, Andrew should distract himself with another equally challenging task.
Andrew should distract himself with a simple and neutral task, not another complex one.
Exercising and moving around is another strategy you can use to avoid obsessive thinking. Obsessing about a decision can cause anxiety and build up a lot of excess energy. By getting some exercise, you can expend some of this energy, which helps to calm you down. This can be as simple as going for a walk around the block, or stretching in your office.
Remember Leslie? Once she's taken her mind off her decision by listening to her favorite opera, she goes for a walk to a nearby park. By breathing in some fresh air and walking briskly, she feels herself calm down and her obsessive thoughts begin to fade away.
QUESTION 2
Brenda is trying to decide whether she should fire an employee who has been regularly missing work.
What can she do to move from obsessing about this to thinking clearly?
A good way to think more clearly is to expend some energy.
To think more clearly, Brenda needs to expend some energy. Going for a walk is a good way to do this.
To keep from obsessing more about the decision, Brenda should stop and get some exercise rather than waiting until after she's made the decision.
Brenda should get some exercise immediately to help with this decision rather than making a plan about the next week.
The third step for moving from obsessing to clear thinking is to write down some steps you'll take to help reach a decision.
This step can help you replace your obsessive thoughts with a set of concrete actions. Aim to come up with three or four things you will do. Make sure these are reasonable but not mundane steps that you can take.
If at first you're not sure what to do or where to begin, one of your steps could be to get more information about an aspect of your decision, or to speak with someone with experience in the matter.
When Leslie returns to her office after her walk, she makes a list of steps she can take to make her decision. She plans to begin by discussing the expansion with an acquaintance who enlarged his business last year.
Second, she plans to take a closer look at her accounts for the past three years to see if there has been a steady increase in business or whether the spike has been isolated to the past few months. Finally, Leslie plans to compare what she can expect to earn if she opens a new office with the costs of such an endeavor.
By making this list and completing each task, Leslie is able to think productively about her decision. This helps her reach a conclusion that she's confident about.
QUESTION 3
Matthew owns a chain of restaurants and is trying to decide whether to renovate them so they all have similar décor.
What can Matthew do to turn his obsessive thought process into clear thinking?
A good way to move toward clearer thinking is to distract yourself from the decision with something simple and neutral.
Jotting down steps to help make a decision is an example of moving beyond obsessing to clear thinking.
When obsessing about a decision, it's helpful to list the things you can do to make it, rather than forcing a decision.
Since he's obsessing about the decision, Matthew should try to get away from the circular thinking between the two options, rather than limiting himself to them.
Getting some exercise and moving around is a good strategy for avoiding obsessing about a decision since it uses up energy that might result in circular thought.
I have been teaching and training agents, team leaders, supervisors, managers and admins of call centers and other businesses in BPO related fields. This series, comes as a result of that experience. I have more than 4,000 modules that I plan on sharing here. This is # 005-08
