There’s this thing I do in a crazy attempt to control ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE. It’s what I have accurately coined, “freak out for no reason whatsoever.” FOFNRW. Catchy, right?
When something unexpected could potentially happen, I go into this total crazy mode where I need to analyze every aspect of it to somehow act as a psychic and predict the future. I feel like if I talk about it enough, ask enough people for advice, think about it enough, then voila!, I will be in complete control of what might happen in the future.
Emphasis on, “might.” As in, there’s a 50% (or more) chance that nothing at all could happen and most likely it will all work out, so I’ve basically wasted tons of brain power trying to control the uncontrollable. #notpossible #stopdoingthat
Apparently, I hate surprises.
So, don’t throw me a surprise party.
And, by don’t throw me a surprise party, I mean, please do! June 15th, I turn 24. The big 2-4. My favorite color is green and I’d be okay with strippers, but classy ones. Wait, what?
Whoaaaaaa, getting back on track now. #whatthehellwasthat?
Even though the thing I freaked out about was a silly one (and turns out, unnecessary stress), I thought it was something I needed to go further with. AKA: analyze more. What’s up with the controlling nature of my response? What’s up with the preemptive “think about everything that could possibly go wrong” overanalyzing? It’s infuriating.
And, I asked Twitter and a lot of you felt the same way about overanalyzing. This one, though, I liked a lot:
A “strategic advantage,” you don’t say!? I think there’s some truth to it. I wonder if the people who overanalyze and preemptively stress are making better decisions and being more strategic. Maybe they are more successful than those who just “go with the flow.” One of my best friends, Alicia, is a huge proponent of going with the flow. Truly, I have no clue how she even stands being my friend because I’m a die hard overanalyzer, something she takes no part in with her own life.
Does she have the advantage? Is there no right way? Am I just wasting brainpower and time and mental clarity on things I could just flow with? Would it all work out the same? Is there some method to the madness of overanalyzing?
Should I just lay off the coffee and pop a Xanax? Probably. #dontjudgeme
Tell me, does overanalyzing have its benefits? Is preemptively freaking out a great way to navigate through a sticky situation, even before it becomes sticky? Or, is that the opposite of just… living?
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1.) I liked this post in all it’s hash-tagged deliciousness. It had a fun, irreverent tone to a serious subject = #success
2.) I would give you an honest response, but I’m too busy over-analyzing how people will interpret my response.
3.) Maybe I’m grabbing low hanging fruit here, but I think the answer is most simply, “It depends.” If what you’re doing works for you, and provides you with a strategic advantage, then by all means, keep doing it provided it isn’t causing you to lose your insanity. If going with the flow is your disposition (it’s not yours, it never will be), then do that — preemptive over-analyzers will occasionally admire you for that trait.
In the scheme of things I think it’s a lot more complicated than that, and the way you act/react to each particular situation is dependent on the situation itself.
When I’m floating down the river in my inner tube, beer in hand, you can bet your ass I’m just going with the flow (notice I didn’t say Whiskey in hand – in which case I’m yelling at someone), but when I’m working on a proposal for a potentially large client, you bet your ass I’m freaking the fizz about all the potential what-ifs. Obviously those are polar opposite situations and it gets murkier in the middle, by now everyone as a.) got my point b.) stopped reading.
#Ryanstwocents
Ok, so I loved this comment. And, I think you’re totally right. There’s just not a blanket answer for this and I guess I’m just trying to figure out if overanalyzing has any real benefits. But yeah, if the opposite of overanalyzing is going with the flow, then for a lot of situations (mostly business ones) that attitude just wouldn’t work.
Thanks for adding in your two cents – I hope you continue to. Love your insight!
My name is Akirah and I’m an overanalyzer.
And it sucks. I wish I could just calm the hell down sometimes. Right now practically everything in my life is uncertain and I’m having panic attacks left and right. You’d think I’d learn by now that life is uncertain and no matter how much we try to plan, our plans will go awry.
That’s just the way it works.
Hopefully, through all of this madness I like to call “my life,” I’ll learn how to take life as it comes and calm down a bit. Usually, it all works out. I don’t need to know exactly how it’s going to work out six months prior.
Hi Akirah.
Maybe we need OAA. Overanalyzers Anonymous. I’ll join. Or, I’ll think about joining but I’ll analyze myself out of it.
I wonder if the analyzing calms down once we get enough experiences behind us that assure us that, no, analyzing doesn’t help and yes, it will work out. Maybe we need more evidence. Or more faith. I don’t know. What do you think?
I’ll need to think about this for awhile…
which is to say, well, maybe I don’t even have to say it.
The only real disadvantage I’ve found in living this way for nearly 50 years is that every now and then, and I mean very rarely, I find that things happen requiring immediate responses that I never imagined. Very rarely, mind you, but enough to have really bothered me at the times.
You see, thoroughly analyzing possible futures does help to make things work out best for you. The flip side is that you get used to it, and when things go wrong because you weren’t prepared, it’s kinda hard to take.
Aaaah, the immediate responses. Sometimes those are really hard to make for people who are chronic overanalyzers. It’s hard to trust an immediate reaction because we haven’t analyzed it enough.
I find that when things happen quickly and I don’t have time to really think about what happened, it makes me stressed out. Like, really stressed out. Yet, at the same time, I know I have missed out on opportunities because I’ve analyzed myself out of situations. Maybe it was for the best, but at the same time, I wonder if I thought myself out of just living and having fun.
Ahhh, analyzing the reasons and consequences of overanalyzing is mindblowing!
I think the habit of deep analysis makes us usually able to handle those sudden movements better. Analysis is a skill and a practiced artist will nearly always do better than someone new to the idea.
As for security, we gazers at the unseeable probably all come to the same conclusion: security is, to a large degree, an illusion we hope will last. Maybe embracing the insecurity is the only way to be really secure? At least then we aren’t necessarily destroyed by sudden changes…
And fun? Hell, I started saying this and meaning it when I was a kid. I’ve lived my life by it:
If it ain’t fun, it ain’t worth it.
I’m an over-analyzer, BUT my boyfriend pointed something out to me a few weeks ago that was interesting. He mentioned that he admired how I’m always happy with my decisions (whether something big, like where to live or work, or small, like buying shoes). So maybe a little bit of freaking out, research and reflection help us make better choices.
I totally understand where you’re coming from, because I am an expert overanalyzer as well. It’s not so much of a control thing for me as a fun combo of second guessing/overthinking/worrying. I agree with Ryan that whether it’s good or bad depends on the situation. I think it also has to do with the degree to which you overanalyze and therefore the amount of unnecessary stress it causes you. It can definitely pay off to make well-thought out, educated decisions, but only if it’s not at the cost of your sanity. Great post!
One of the reasons why I decided to live in Asia was that I (and I really don’t know why) thought it might make me more ‘go with the flow’ and laid back. Instead, it’s actually had quite the opposite effect, as now there are just more things that I know could go wrong.
But there again, I know that, should I ever be stranded in the wilderness, myself and several companions would probably be able to live off the contents of my handbag for sometime.
All you overanalylizers leave really long ass comments!!
Something to think about.
I loved the post with the hashed tags. and no, I don’t think it’s a good thing. It takes living out of life.
Oh, I dunno, I think it’s just the way we live life.
Geez, you’re a Gemini! No wonder I thought you were more than eccentric (off-center)!
jrandom42 reads your blog, Jamie. Like, even if it’s not on Brazen? That’s so cool.
I wish I analyzed stuff more. But I married an analyzer, so that kinda makes up for my lack of analyze-skills. I seriously don’t know how y’all do it. My brain would die if I thought that much.
FOFNRW is a habit of mine–and your cute way of putting has made it sound fun–but we both know it isn’t! I’ve found that this is actually a habit–an over sized neural pathway in our brains. Once upon a time ago. we were rewarded for our behavior and we began to use it on similar situations. Now its an ingrained habit. Hard to break, but relieving to find alternatives too.
To Marie: Sometimes my brain goes so much I can’t sleep! But see, unlike Jamie–getting all kinds of stuff done–I say screw it all and walk away.
We are very similar.
I don’t think over analyzing really has too many benefits. The cons seem to outweigh the pros. The only positive thing I can think that over analyzing can bring is preparedness. At the very least you have considered all possible outcomes to a certain situation and are mentally prepared for any of those outcomes to occur.
Other than that, it seems to be more of an anxiety inducing process. Right now I’m going through this anxious feeling after having had an interview for a company I’d really like to work for, and now I’m just waiting to hear back. UGH.
holy crap ive read all of these comments and i finally realize why ive been such a freak. haha i over analyze things so much to a degree of me freaking out. Its bad when you have a girlfriend and she makes a sudden statement or action and it just leaves you biting your nails in anxiety about what she meant about it or how she feels