After back-and-forths with some Thinking Labbers, I’ve got a lead to what causes some people to bog down in thinking about issues and never get into action. It’s popular to say that such people are “overthinking” and need “a bias for action.” But inaction is a symptom of the problem, not the problem per se. I would never recommend someone have a “bias” for action. A “bias” is like a prejudice. So, a “bias” for action implies that it is proper to jump into action as soon as you see an opening. But a moment of reflection to validate the action is always justified. That is a necessary step in the thinking process. “Overthinking” can’t be solved by avoiding thinking! It needs to be solved by changing how you think so that you can spend an appropriate amount of time on thinking, given the situation at hand.

Here’s my conclusion: “Overthinking” is a symptom of a mistake in grasping what a logical thinking process is. So far I have spotted three basic mistakes in understanding logical thinking — any of which could bog you down in “overthinking” and inaction.

Mistake #1: A floating thinking goal

Thinking is a purposeful process of figuring out something you didn’t know before, using information that is already stored in your memory and perhaps some new observations. It is by integrating past and present observations that you can reach new conclusions. But this requires that you have some idea of what kind of conclusion you are trying to reach. You need a thinking goal.

Are you trying to make a specific decision? Are you trying to solve a particular problem? Are you trying to explain something you know to someone else? Are you trying to decide what your goal will be? Are you trying to figure out the steps to achieve that goal? Any of these could be valid thinking goals, but only if they concern some real-world issue.

The #1 cause of thinking bogging down is that there is no clear, real-world goal to which it is connected. For example, sometimes Thinking Labbers get caught up thinking about old baggage they’ve discovered. It’s easy to get into a loop of self-criticism and despair if you just rehearse past mistakes and hypothesize their causes. Moreover, it can go on indefinitely. (This is the problem with psychotherapy that focuses entirely on trying to find the “problems” in a person’s psychology and the origin of these problems.)

A real-world issue sets the standard for success in the thinking and provides concretes that are relevant to it. It is proper to think about any old baggage you have only if it is impacting pursuing the goal you set; otherwise, old baggage is just a distraction.

Mistake #2: Failing to activate an appropriate context

To think effectively, you need to access your stored knowledge and values. You want to have the most helpful, most relevant information at your mental fingertips.

This takes deliberate effort. When you start thinking on a topic, you might be blank; you will need to warm up what you know on the topic so you can generate ideas for it. Or you might have a little tunnel vision — an assumption regarding what you can or should do; you need to deliberately validate any assumptions, and that often requires stepping back and considering a wider context.

The general point is that at any time, much of what you know is completely out of awareness. What gets triggered into awareness is a result of what you pay attention to. Setting a purpose (which requires attention on the purpose) will start triggering relevant information. But so will every thought that you formulate. You need to pay attention to the words you are using and the ideas you are focusing on to ensure they are helping you access the best information that you have.

I don’t recommend you micromanage the thinking process because that will stop thinking in its tracks. But when you notice you are bogging down, you can go back over the words you used to see whether you are activating relevant or irrelevant information. (This is one of the main benefits of doing difficult thinking as “thinking on paper.” This review process is easy because you can just re-read, judging the sentences you just wrote down.)

For example, here is a fictionalized example of a thinking process similar to what I’ve seen:

I need to figure out how to start that exercise program. But I haven’t had any success on this in the past. I keep on setting goals and it never happens. I don’t see how this is going to be different. I’m a loser.

If you are trying to start an exercise program, complaining about your past failures is not directly relevant. What you actually need to think about are questions like:

• What do I think were the concrete, specific obstacles in the past?
• How might I avoid or overcome those this time?
• What would be a source of positive motivation that would help me make it different this time?

These questions might be difficult, but any answers you get to them will be useful information you have activated. Incidentally, it is common for the first thoughts to be generalized complaints. In Do What Matters Most, I teach a “complaining” tactic that starts with complaining (which is easy) and uses that to bootstrap a more productive thinking process, which activates more helpful information.

Mistake #3: Focusing on the details instead of the essentials

A friend of mine told a story of making an important point in a serious conversation. In response, her friend criticized the grammar she was using instead of addressing the point she was making. The grammar was a detail, not the essential in that situation. Focusing on the details instead of the essential will send a conversation off the rails. The same thing can happen in your thinking.

By essential, I mean that the issues you are focusing on are fundamentally related to achieving your current purpose.

For example, in preparing this newsletter, I saw a lot of issues I would like to think about and potentially explain. This turns out to be a big topic. But in the course of my thinking, I reminded myself that in my context, my purpose was to get an article out. I don’t need to solve all of the problems or figure out every interesting detail. The essential is to make some helpful points and carry on.

So that seems like a good place to end. Ship it!