How Does Writing Influence Overthinking Patterns?

Insights from a Harvard experiment with 44 anxious women

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In my last Medium article, I mentioned how writing consistently has helped with overthinking.

This wasn’t something I intended or hoped for when I started sharing my thoughts here, but it has been a pleasant surprise.

I tend to overthink—not to the extent that it completely consumes me or makes me unproductive, but definitely enough that it’s not healthy.

My day typically involves waking up, getting ready, going to work, overthinking about work during the commute back home, and then overthinking some more about life in general before bed.

While my overthinking is spread throughout the day, it peaks in the evenings on weekdays and persists throughout weekends. Clearly, there’s a relationship between free time and overthinking.

I usually realise I’ve crossed the line from reflecting to overthinking when I start creating scenarios in my head or imagining all the things that could go wrong in the future.

That’s when I know I’m being unreasonable – when negative thoughts overpower neutral or positive ones, and my mind takes over reason.