The Overthinking Spiral: A Journaling System for Racing Minds
If you're reading this, chances are you know the feeling. That moment when one small worry becomes a tangled web of what-ifs, replaying conversations from three years ago, and planning for scenarios that will probably never happen. Your mind becomes a hamster wheel spinning faster and faster, and you're just along for the exhausting ride.
I didn't always notice how much overthinking was ruining my day. One thought would lead to ten, then twenty. Suddenly, I wasn't present at all. I was just replaying and rehashing. And the more I did it, the heavier it felt. Overthinking didn't solve the problem. It only stacked more weight on my shoulders.
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. And you're not about to break. You're just human with a very human brain that's trying to protect you in the only way it knows how; by thinking through every possible angle until you're dizzy from the mental gymnastics.
The Fixer's Trap
I thought the answer was to control every thought. That's what I do. I'm a fixer. But nothing gets fixed when there's no room for clarity. So I had to make room. Let the messy out, unedited. One page in my journal without judgment.
The breakthrough came when I stopped trying to think my way out of overthinking. Instead, I learned to create space between me and the spiral and not by forcing thoughts to stop. That's like trying to hold back the ocean with your bare hands. I needed to give the thoughts somewhere to go.
The Five-Minute Reset: A Soft Landing System
When my brain starts looping, I start the timer. Five minutes of "worry writing". Let every thought pour out. When the timer ends, I close the journal. My system isn't perfect, but it's enough to soften the spiraling.
Making Room for Messiness
The magic isn't in the contents of the writing. It's in the permission to be messy without consequences. Your journal doesn't judge. It doesn't offer solutions you're not ready for. It just holds space for the chaos until you're ready to breathe again.
Building Your Own Reset Ritual
Your version might look different. Maybe you need seven minutes instead of five. Maybe you prefer typing to handwriting, or speaking into your phone's voice notes. The timer isn't sacred. It's just a boundary that says, "This worry session has an end."
What matters is creating a container for the spiral. A place where overthinking can exist without taking over your entire day. Where you can witness your thoughts without becoming them.
The Soft Landing
Recovery from overthinking isn't about never having racing thoughts again. It's about building a softer place to land when your mind starts spinning. It's about trusting that you don't have to solve everything right now, in this moment, with this level of mental fog.
Your overthinking brain isn't your enemy. It's trying to keep you safe. But safety doesn't come from thinking through every possibility. It comes from knowing you can handle uncertainty, one page at a time. The spiral may come back tomorrow, or next week, or in ten minutes. That's okay. You'll be ready for it. Not with perfect solutions, but with a timer, a pen, and the radical act of giving your thoughts somewhere safe to land.
Because sometimes the most productive thing you can do is nothing at all. Well, except make room for the mess, set a boundary around it, and trust that clarity will come when it's ready.
If you would like more resources, here's a free download you may enjoy. Overcoming the Blank Page: A Gentlewoman's Archive.
You are not alone. Join us in The Glow Circle community. Let's leave our mess behind...together. We saved you a seat.