On overthinking/overanalyzing [Archive]

thegnat

11-06-2007, 12:07 AM

let's just say that in most instances it isn't a bad thing -

but when I'm overthinking as in questioning myself because I'm questioning my brain function late at night or something it does end up that I convince myself something is different than it really is. And if my cognitive function was normal, then I would have been able to spit out the answer.

I don't consider thinking 24/7 over-thinking ;) That's an active mind ;)

I suppose the best way for me to describe overthinking is the following:

When I'm taking a test and I question myself and I debate myself even though my first instinct was the best answer. I'll end up getting myself into trouble by putting down the over-thought answer.

I suppose it's more of a "putting to much thought on *simple* things" for me. I mean sometimes I think about the complexity of simple appearing things - but that's different.

What brought this up is that I was at first thinking that something had units of 1/atm because that's what would cancel out and form. Then I was thinking...well, it's an equilibrium constant do they have specific units? Are they unitless? But being unitless would give me a ratio with units, hmm? And I swear I spent like 20 minutes thinking about this. Then I asked someone and they said "well it depends on the reaction". Then I was like oh duh! Of course I have units and then my units for the ratio cancel out and it all makes sense!

orange

11-06-2007, 07:09 AM

I overthink and over analyze amost everything, even if I don't voice it to anyone.

Paul V

11-06-2007, 10:45 AM

I overthink and over analyze amost everything, even if I don't voice it to anyone.

Same. Though I always try to use logic to prevent myself from going into unrealistic scenarious with my imagination. Possibly one of the downsides of being an "N" type.

Bossy Mom

11-06-2007, 12:38 PM

I do that all the time, especially when people don't make sense. I drive my daughter nuts with my over-analyzing people. She insists I get over it and move on, but I can't. I probably should have been a psychiatrist. I told my daughter her ex-best friend has borderline personality disorder (I looked up the symptoms and it fits).

Ijz

11-06-2007, 12:59 PM

Same. Though I always try to use logic to prevent myself from going into unrealistic scenarious with my imagination. Possibly one of the downsides of being an "N" type.
Curious, what is your interpretation of over- analyzing/thinking, I mean at what point do you consider something over- analyzed/thought?

Paul V

11-06-2007, 03:52 PM

Curious, what is your interpretation of over- analyzing/thinking, I mean at what point do you consider something over- analyzed/thought?

I think over-analysing something is performing an analysis of something from all possible points of view, attempting to gather as much evidence as possible, and then running probable scenarios and creating plans using the acquired information.

I consider something to be over-analysed when the resources spent in the analysis cost more than simply staying with your first impressions. Another variant of this is the one I mentioned above, when your plans and scenarios become unrealistic.

logan235711

11-06-2007, 07:27 PM

you can't really ever know what you're going to get out of something by analyzing or not analyzing something. there are too many avenues of analyze that you could never cover them all. all people usually do it cover avenues up to a certain point then stop, over time they usually develop an average that they seem to analyze and stop at. to say you are stopping at some point because it seems that you aren't getting anything out of it is to assume what you would be getting out of it to begin with...which is of course contradictory to the whole point of analyzing to begin with ; ) obviously no discovers would be made to at all if people didn't analyze to begin with and no discoveries beyond those discovers would have been made had people not analyzed those. this keeps going and going. the point being, that if all you do is stop at some point, someone is going to have to pick up where you left off at some point in order to get and further and create new discoveries. so all those moments where you judged something impractical to continue, someone didn't and look what they did with that. that's enough for now :p

Danellian

11-07-2007, 06:12 PM

I like to think a lot, so most people would probably say that I overanalyze things. Like any other personlity trait, and just about anything else, for that matter, there are benefits and drawbacks. I don't like to do anything before I think it through thoroughly. I also like to understand things in depth, and know why they are the way they are; if I have just a 'surface level' of understanding, then I don't feel like I really understand said thing at all. I don't like going off of common sense or what other people say. I also tend to complexify things, so that I sometimes have trouble understanding simple things, because my natural thought processes look at things in a complex manner, I need to see the whole picture before something really makes sense to me. If someone just tells me something is a certain way and can give me no good reason for it, I don't see a reason why it should be that way. All of this leads me to be very indepdendent minded and able to understand complex things, but it makes it difficult to understand simple things and to just go along when sometimes that might be the best way to respond to a situation.

Solaris

11-08-2007, 08:15 AM

I was just having a conversation with a friend last night about how we analyze everything. She was asking me for advice on an issue related to emotions. I told her that I was no good for that as I tend to overanalyze (by societal standards, not mine) all that kind of stuff too. I can figure out what's causing the emotion, how it's affecting me, theorize about any other people involved, just don't ask me what to do/how to express it.

I have several journals. These are the places I analyze everything. Then I can review it later, and chew it over some more, or compare what worked/didn't work.

The only way, I believe, something can be overanalyzed is if all the thinking stops you from acting and that hurts you in the long run. Usually, I don't find this happens for me though.

Max T

11-08-2007, 11:04 AM

I think over-analysing something is performing an analysis of something from all possible points of view, attempting to gather as much evidence as possible, and then running probable scenarios and creating plans using the acquired information.

I consider something to be over-analysed when the resources spent in the analysis cost more than simply staying with your first impressions. Another variant of this is the one I mentioned above, when your plans and scenarios become unrealistic.
... and the scenarios become unrealistic (triggering the "over-analysing alarm bells") when they are either illogical as PaulV says or, I find, when the scenarios become reliant on too many unknown variables.

Splitting analysing into 1. divergent thinking (e.g. what could be happening) and then 2. convergent thinking (e.g. what is most likely to happen)... perhaps the J side finds distilling the analysis into a simple explanation and decision a lot of fun. It's a tiny little eureka moment. :)

Paul V

11-08-2007, 11:29 AM

... and the scenarios become unrealistic (triggering the "over-analysing alarm bells") when they are either illogical as PaulV says or, I find, when the scenarios become reliant on too many unknown variables.

Splitting analysing into 1. divergent thinking (e.g. what could be happening) and then 2. convergent thinking (e.g. what is most likely to happen)... perhaps the J side finds distilling the analysis into a simple explanation and decision a lot of fun. It's a tiny little eureka moment. :)

I've read that INTJs have the function that regulates those moments (the "epiphanies", as I call them) the most developed. It's what they do best. Unfortunately, I've come to be dependant of them. I can't understand something until I reach that moment. It's like everything suddenly makes sense, and I can see it all clear.

Max T

11-08-2007, 11:57 AM

I can't understand something until I reach that moment. It's like everything suddenly makes sense, and I can see it all clear.
Yes and yet ironically, we probably understand something only too well, relatively speaking.
But without reaching that 'closure' moment when it suddenly makes sense, it can seem as though we're still not 100% there, only between 1- 99% which isn't good enough.

Ijz

11-08-2007, 12:18 PM

Yes and yet ironically, we probably understand something only too well, relatively speaking.
But without reaching that 'closure' moment when it suddenly makes sense, it can seem as though we're still not 100% there, only between 1- 99% which isn't good enough.
This reminds me of all those times that people told me they understood something. While I knew I was more knowledgeable as them and still I didn't consider myself to understand it. Understanding seems to be very relative and subjective.

Paul V

11-08-2007, 02:19 PM

This reminds me of all those times that people told me they understood something. While I knew I was more knowledgeable as them and still I didn't consider myself to understand it. Understanding seems to be very relative and subjective.

I agree with both of you. It's frustrating when everyone seems to understand something, and you don't; and when you got it, they realise they got it wrong. Or when you explain your train of thought step by step so whoever's listening to you can reach your conclusions.

But I believe that the advantages of over-analysing outweight the disadvantages, if you know when to stop.

I remember a quote from the INTP profile that stated an old fear of mine:

The open-endedness (from Perceiving) conjoined with the need for competence (NT) is expressed in a sense that one's conclusion may well be met by an equally plausible alternative solution, and that, after all, one may very well have overlooked some critical bit of data. An INTP arguing a point may very well be trying to convince himself as much as his opposition.

This is what used to make me navigate through the strangest avenues of thought, making me waste time and energy following possible paths that were not likely to happen. I was so afraid I might fail because I might have overlooked a bit of data. But then I realised that acting and failing was better than not acting at all.

In this way INTPs are markedly different from INTJs, who are much more confident in their competence and willing to act on their convictions.

And that's what drove me from P to J.

deicruxified

11-09-2007, 01:43 AM

I overthink and over analyze amost everything, even if I don't voice it to anyone.
likewise... i do get a lot of remarks like these on my essays way back in college

"highly critical"
"you're analyzing too much"

AresX9

11-09-2007, 09:52 PM

Such a thing (Over-analyzation/over thinking) is really causing my grades to not be as good as they should be in my AP English, Physics, and Pre-Calculus classes. I look for things that aren't really there or dismiss facts as being irrelevant.

I do feel stupid sometimes in Pre-Cal when I changed an answer from my first instinct to a new one that I thought over to get it wrong. It's happening too much in trigonometry right now.

PaulFrancis

11-10-2007, 06:15 PM

The corporate jargon for that is analysis paralysis.

I can be somewhat bad at it, especially with non-work stuff, like relationships.

INTPs are like the kings of analysis paralysis. *In a work environment, that is quite possibly the biggest issue that I have with them. *Well…, that plus they seem utterly unable to meet deadlines, they show up/leave at random times, and socially, they make us INTJs look suave. *Some INTPs can make for awesome rock star caliber software developers though (which is a huge part of what I do at work).

After that INTP rant I suppose I should add that personally I really like most INTPs and they are one of the very few groups of people that I would consider hanging around with in my free time if I decided that I wanted to hang around with people in my free time.

xtremegeek

11-11-2007, 08:01 AM

Is it that INTJs over-think or overrationalize? In my experience, INTJs seem to overrationalize stuff, which is most evident with regards to their weak personal relationships.

PaulFrancis

11-11-2007, 04:04 PM

Is it that INTJs over-think or overrationalize? In my experience, INTJs seem to overrationalize stuff, which is most evident with regards to their weak personal relationships.

That sounds about right.

I suppose one of the major differences between an INTJ (a NiTe) and an INTP (a TiNe) is that INTJs use intuition to solve problems and logic/thinking to validate the solution, while INTPs use logic/thinking to solve problems and use intuition to validate the solution.

The dominance of N over T is likely what make an INTJ a J. Solving a problem using intuition is vastly faster than solving a problem using logic/thinking, which make INTJs come to decisions much faster and with much more ease than INTPs.

Happydayz

11-11-2007, 08:27 PM

overthinking implies a problem, hence the whole "over" part of it. So long as you can translate deep thought into a coherent action than there isn't really a problem. Just be advised of the ol' saying: "inaction is an action", and don't fall into the trap where you use the thinking-through process as an excuse to not actually do anything

ThrowerMatt

01-17-2008, 01:58 PM

Every once in a while I'll completely over analyze something. Then when I tell it to a coworker or friend they look at me bewildered and say why don't I just do it this simple way. Always makes me chuckle to myself, I guess sometimes over thinking is a bad thing...

ScottH

01-17-2008, 02:32 PM

I over-analyze. I know it. I am learning when it's appropriate and when not.

It's part of our tenancy to see a world of possibilities. It is a good thing; it's what will allow us to out-think, out-plan and see beyond most others.

But, it will also make us slow to decide in situations where snap-judgments are most effective.

Myrak

01-17-2008, 05:32 PM

overthinking/overanalyzing
...separates the body from the mind!
Sorry, the thread title reminded me of Lateralus. :P

But yeah, I too overanalyze stuff. If someone asks me to do something (especially a computer related problem), I usually try to figure out the best way to do something so it works and I don't have to come back and fix it again. Meaning I usually take the long way of doing something, putting in multiple failsafes. Pays off most of the time though.

Provoker

01-17-2008, 05:51 PM

yeah, I have done that still. Its definitely an INTJ trait. You turn simplistic into complex, then complex into simplistic. Now, for most people its one or the other; thats it, no all of the above.

Mind_wander, I've been writing on and off for the last few years and I said nearly the exact same thing (word for word) in one of my works. I wonder if you heard that somewhere or came to that on your own? At one part in Thus Spoke Zarathustra Nietzsche speaks through the voice of an evil dwarf claiming that "everything straight lies, all truth is crooked, time itself is circles". The idea Nietzsche brings forth through the mouth-piece of the dwarf is that modernity and progress isn't linear but is cyclical. The idea that everything is bound to repeat itself eventually and that nothing is progressive or original. In The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan Karamazov has a similar experience in his nightmare with the Devil. In it the devil says that the world has already existed an infinite number of times before right down to the very last detail. In effect, these ideas are disturbing. I don't think anyone wants to die knowing that they never lived, that they were just a puppet of fate with no say in the matter. Interesting stuff.

vaguely dissatisfied

01-18-2008, 11:27 AM

My mother used to tell me......"You think too much." I think that for those personality types who are not 'thinkers' an INTJ does over-analyze. But for an INTJ there is really no other choice.

Zilal

01-18-2008, 11:44 AM

I do this. Trying to kick the habit. I don't think deeming it "overthinking" or "thinking too much" really helps though... they're too vague as descriptions. Just consider when you're ruminating on a problem whether you're being efficient (are you really turning up anything new at this point?) and whether there isn't in fact something more fulfilling you could be doing. Analyzing stuff seems really compelling when you're doing it, but when you get your attention caught up in something else that's fulfilling... playing frisbee, or writing, or making out... there's no comparison.

stasis

01-18-2008, 03:08 PM

but when you get your attention caught up in something else that's fulfilling... playing frisbee, or writing, or making out... there's no comparison.
I have found it possible to make out and analyze a variety of things simultaneously...

Uytuun

01-18-2008, 07:07 PM

I analyse for uni, literature. And I analyse in my spare time. And I too am "guilty" of overanalysing. You can literally analyse a problem to bits if you like...or be totally unproductive. E.g. do a huge amount of research and analyse it from all possible angles and then not have enough time to incorporate all of your interesting insights into the actual paper you're supposed to write. Even though I'm J, I have a tough time saying anything conclusive (at least in the world of theory). To me, other interpretations are always possible and even welcomed.

It's a strength and a weakness, I guess.

Antares

01-19-2008, 02:47 AM

yeah, I have done that still. Its definitely an INTJ trait. You turn simplistic into complex, then complex into simplistic. Now, for most people its one or the other; thats it, no all of the above.

Too true. Sometimes, even when the solution is staring at me in the face, I insist on letting my mind wander and finally reached the SAME solution. I have trained myself to always first try or consider the simplest approach. Sometimes I over-simplify matter. Maybe I can get the fundamental and essential structure of the problem right, and it would've worked out, I just don't take all aspects into consideration and only focus on what achieves more overall.

In English 9 right now, my class is doing novel studies and we are required to find symbolism, flashback, foreshadowing etc. I overanalyzed it (mainly because I can't find any because I'm so 'uninsightful', 'unintelligent', 'shallow' and all that, quoth my beloved teacher, so I exaggerated and wrote a load of trash based on the littlest hints). I was so driven to find the symbolism because I believe that there is one in this passage, and we are required to find something, I made up stories and let my imaginations run wild over little things not worth a mention. And now you can all tell me what kind of grade I got for this essay.

I've heard a story of a man who is trapped in a room with a steel door, no windows, no tools whatsoever with steel walls. There is one way out, and the man did not find it. Little did he know, the door was never locked.

Camelopardalis added to this post, 7 minutes and 29 seconds later...

My mother used to tell me......"You think too much." I think that for those personality types who are not 'thinkers' an INTJ does over-analyze. But for an INTJ there is really no other choice.

Yes. My mother is telling me that these days. "Your thoughts are too intense, too broad, too sophisticated, too heavy and sometimes grim and depressing. If you don't lighten up, it'll be hard for you to feel true bliss and joy, because what if, even when you do feel such things, you analyze that as well? Life is too short to think about so many things. Sometimes it's ok to know/feel some things without completely understanding it." I guess that's true to some extent. Why analyze happiness if you're feeling it? Or in my case, why analyze love? I've read some scientific explanation of love and I can tell you all that it's quite unromantic, and my mother says it will hinder my ability to enjoy it when it comes my way.

True, it'll not be fun if one first falls for someone only to think: Oh. It's serotonin, stage two. And when they finally get married: Right now it's stage three and Vasopressin is working its magic.

Learning

01-22-2008, 01:51 PM

Anyone else over think themselves into trouble?

Like I was just making a problem way too complex. And it was so easy. But it took me so long! I just over-analyzed it to bits and pieces!

Yes. For me, it's personal decisions that get me. I want to plan for the best life possible, and I get stuck in the decision making process because I want ALL the information possible. And I want an excellent outcome. (Which with people is hard to predict -goes w/o saying.)
I also hate when I come up with a right/good answer/idea for something, but I don't act as quickly as someone else because I'm still chewing on it! :irked:

But without reaching that 'closure' moment when it suddenly makes sense, it can seem as though we're still not 100% there, only between 1- 99% which isn't good enough.

This is exactly what I'm talking about!

interjerator

01-22-2008, 02:03 PM

Curious, what is your interpretation of over- analyzing/thinking, I mean at what point do you consider something over- analyzed/thought?

It might be that 24/7 thinking.

One advantage of overthinking/overanalyzing is that you have the answers to many situations on your mind all of the time.

Solaris

01-22-2008, 02:08 PM

I love that NTs analyze our analyzing. It's ironic and hilarious to me, especially since I do it too. :D

Richard0612

01-22-2008, 03:33 PM

I am always thinking about at least 5 different things, ranging from the mundane to the universal. The thing is, I often look at all the different ways a situation could develop, and frequently dwell on the worse [albeit unlikely] outcomes instead of the more plausible ones!

Avenger

01-22-2008, 04:31 PM

I have a habit to analyze the way people talk to me and so on. Listening to their tone of voice or choice of words to try to find out what they want, if they are insecure or lying and so on.

But it's probably just a side effect of me having a hard time to trust new people. :)

blueeyedsusan

02-05-2008, 10:07 AM

I over-analyze then I realize a decision needs to be made. From past history I learned every time I procrastinated making a decision I got hurt.

youngblooded

02-05-2008, 09:13 PM

I've constantly have this problem of over-analyzing too and it has led to many situations where my teachers thought I was stupid or something when I couldn't do or understand simple questions. Then again, I also frequently second-guess myself. I'm always asking myself "Is this question really that simple? Perharps it is a trick question"? and my thought process goes on from there. I tend to ask myself are things really what they seem and thus, I will think further.

lancelot

02-06-2008, 10:33 PM

The way things really are, is no where near as important as the way I think they are.

yondyr

02-06-2008, 11:25 PM

"I've heard a story of a man who is trapped in a room with a steel door, no windows, no tools whatsoever with steel walls. There is one way out, and the man did not find it. Little did he know, the door was never locked."
But..but..you used the word 'trapped'. :)

JTG

02-07-2008, 12:48 AM

Ah, but trapped is a state of mind. I know plenty of people trapped in bad relationships. Nobody's forcing them to stay :P

Race

02-08-2008, 11:11 AM

I told by everyone, parents, teachers, random people, that I think way too much.

American Quest 1983

02-09-2008, 09:40 AM

I have a tendency to overanalyze problems. An in depth analysis of most situations was always a trademark of my personality. Most of the time in school and work I was known as an informative or detailed individual. In some settings it could be a good thing. Some people have criticized me for that however.

Cognoverant

02-09-2008, 09:43 AM

I have often been criticised for over-analysing everything. This includes being asked questions like 'do you ever stop thinking?', and being told to 'stop treating people as an exact science'

httc1978

03-03-2008, 10:25 AM

I was pondering whether if there was such a thread.. and I am glad I have managed to find it.

I can't decide whether it is good or bad and I believe a lot will have to b judged on the context which overthinking is being applied. I am quite aware (and even surprised) of the fact that I can rationalise things even beyond the need for me to do so.. I think about stuff.. and from something simple include tiny bits and details to add to the complexity... just so that all the bases are covered... all contingencies are provided for and that things can move in one way or switch to another. i don't like to be caught by suprises and i will be pretty upset by things that i missed out.. esp if i could have thought longer and harder about it. sometimes its overkill.

but as intj's its quite an intrinsic call to think of things in more dimensions and really be on the safe side. everything is well-though out, well-laid out and just generally well done..

the only problem that i have with overthinking is perhaps the time that i could have saved. but you can't really have your cake and eat it ya?

deepFlow

03-03-2008, 12:59 PM

I have never been a snappy decider, but where overanalysis really kills me is in my creative life. I long for a personal creative process where I can just unhinge the overthinking and do stuff for a change. It doesn't seem to happen, though.

Hard to carve off such an integral piece of me, selectively.

Creatively the problem is that I think a possible activity absolutely to death before even starting it. I mean I really wring it out until it's sitting there, dessicated lump of once organic material, at which point I decide I am sick of the thing, am not that interested in it after all, would not like what my creative voice would say in that media or context, and I might as well not go there. "Why waste time? I already know that it sucks or I suck at it."

I've been reading a cool book lately called "Free Play" (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.), and it's been very interesting.

Of course, I have read many creative and otherwise self-helpish books before. I always imagine they're going to unlock the steel door leading out of the shed of my creative blockage, but it never happens that way. :)

I get myself in tight little mental loops, way way way too much thinking, not nearly "enough" doing. No doing at all, often.

The indecision and overthinkage seems to be very gradually infecting my professional life as well. But at work there are usually hard goals and hard deadlines to snap me out of it. Plus I am more on guard about the time wasting because other people depend on me. So I seem to be keeping it at bay there, for now...

lancelot

03-03-2008, 06:15 PM

The way an INTJ thinks would be disturbing to the average person.

Meyer

03-04-2008, 12:44 AM

I think we tend to overthink because we think about the deeper questions in life. A strong distinction should be made between that which is openended and that which is known. :cheesy:

deepFlow

03-04-2008, 01:54 PM

I've been discovering lately that part of what makes the overthinking unbearable at times is the monkey-chattering verbality of it. And so, one way to give myself a break seems to be to try to spend some solid time in completely nonverbal thought processes. Usually involving some non-word-related creative activity. But simply singing/humming to myself along with lyric-less music seems to help, too! :) Yesterday I was getting all piled up onto myself, then I took a long drive by myself at lunchtime, with a CD playing, and that worked wonders for the rest of the day.

noirartist

03-04-2008, 03:17 PM

I think things through deeply, but I try to add a bit of action. Implementation tends to cut back on the natural tendency to overanalyze. Thinking alone can be a very passive activity.

PRBori

03-04-2008, 08:20 PM

It is normal for me to over analyzed things, even simple conversations. Sometimes is good, but others times can be very annoying.

Not to mention, my lack of sleep this days is due to overanalyzing and over thinking on how to solve my problems and perform my work in a manner that will allow me to succed in my path to reaching my goals.

meaniehaha

03-04-2008, 09:02 PM

Bossy Mom, where do you live? We could have a lot of fun together because I do the very same thing. ;D

Now, back to topic!

aok

03-08-2008, 01:10 AM

I think my overanalyzation has produced a deliberateness and hesitation of action where instinct would yield the more positive results in many situations...I think it has produced an ambiguity towards my instincts...it never seems beneficial in dealing w/ the opposite sex- but that doesn't prevent me from continuing in the same pattern- I'm kind of addicted to the process of overanalysis itself- and get a bit annoyed at others irritation or exhaustion as a result of it...

lancelot

03-11-2008, 04:54 PM

I think we tend to overthink because we think about the deeper questions in life. A strong distinction should be made between that which is openended and that which is known. :cheesy:

I am not sure what you mean excatly, here is something to think about:
It was once "known" that the world was flat and the earth was at the center of our solar system.

Solaris

03-11-2008, 10:07 PM

deepFlow

03-12-2008, 05:38 PM

Witchyamelia

03-12-2008, 05:55 PM

lordrrr

03-12-2008, 06:00 PM

My last test I overthought it and ended up getting a bad grade :/

lancelot

03-13-2008, 08:59 PM

I just overthought so much that I now have a tension headache. Neat. I imagine this is not uncommon for others. If I am annoyed by something, and I get thinking a lot about it, or if I just think deeply about several important topics, I sometimes get tense, and clench my jaw in the process. This, of course, leads to a headache. Or, maybe I'm just crazy, that's possible I suppose. :undecided::p

...Over thinking results in delayed action, it also results in high achievment..

When I took swimming in college I was afraid to dive into the deep end of the competition size pool; However, once I felt confident, I did out swim everyone in the class in a distance competition. When I finished and popped my head up, the swim coach gave me a prize and asked me to join the swim team.

......I would think many INTJs have done this kind of thing before................

Solaris

03-13-2008, 09:58 PM

...Over thinking results in delayed action, it also results in high achievment..

When I took swimming in college I was afraid to dive into the deep end of the pool; However, once I felt confident, I did out swim everyone in the class in a distance competition. The swim coach, when I popped my head up, gave me a prize and asked me to join the swim team.

...........We(INTJs) may start weak but we finsish hard............................

Darn this developing my introverted side last year. I can't get rid of it now, and Ti and Te both going in high gear are killer. Gah!!

However, even when I think I'm being introverted, I'm not exactly. I have to write things in a journal to get them out of myself and gain perspective. I write the things in there that I'm too private to share with others in my rambly conversations. NT privacy ftw!

lordrrr

03-13-2008, 11:41 PM

...Over thinking results in delayed action, it also results in high achievment..

When I took swimming in college I was afraid to dive into the deep end of the competition size pool; However, once I felt confident, I did out swim everyone in the class in a distance competition. When I finished and popped my head up, the swim coach gave me a prize and asked me to join the swim team.

......I would think many INTJs have done this kind of thing before................

Oh God yes this is just like me. I'm so home at this forum.

Though I think this is moreover about taking your time, something I do, and not overthinking. The two arn't exactly the same. Taking your time ensures less room for any hiccups in a procedure or something, and seeing as we INTJ's strive for perfection, my prediction is that most of us take our time on things.

aok

03-14-2008, 04:39 PM

I have an addiction to overanalysis. Maybe because I get a little high from the process of doing it.

Blaze2000

03-16-2008, 02:22 PM

I don't think over-analyzing is a big deal in itself. After all, we want the whole problem described right? It can get in the way sometimes on the simple stuff, but save your ass on the complex. Who wants to be guy that caused the loss of a 2 billion dollar spacecraft because he forgot to convert from metic?

green eyes

03-16-2008, 08:51 PM

I have an addiction to overanalysis. Maybe because I get a little high from the process of doing it.

Oh yes...I know that high....
I don't seem to feel satisfied until I've analyzed things "to death".
It can still be overwhelming sometimes, though. It's an addiction that I wish I had more control over.

Meyer

03-16-2008, 10:08 PM

I am not sure what you mean excatly, here is something to think about:
It was once "known" that the world was flat and the earth was at the center of our solar system.

Yeah. But how is the answer to those riddles gonna help me to grow, suceed, learn etc...If you want to solve those problems then please do and do it well. I wish you luck and give support.

apresmoimelle

03-17-2008, 12:17 AM

AgentofGaming

03-18-2008, 04:44 PM

Being cautious and analyzing helps decrease errors.
However when doing a project and someone adds one thing, I can waste hours analyzing the possible impacts and possibilities. That's overdoing it.

A lot of thinking and little action for me.

The worst place for overanalyzing is when I socialize. There I am assessing the other person, setting social limits, anticipating what they'll say and all that. Sometimes I'll assume something negative from my analysis and so I'll avoid the person out of something I made up in my own mind. I guess that probably makes me self-conscious to a crippling extent at times. Big problem.

lancelot

03-24-2008, 04:26 PM

Yeah. But how is the answer to those riddles gonna help me to grow, suceed, learn etc...If you want to solve those problems then please do and do it well. I wish you luck and give support.

It's just means we build on what we know to find out what we need to know.

malefide

03-24-2008, 08:27 PM

I definitely have a tendency to over-analyze, whether the object being analyzed is an academic assignment or a real-life situation (a relationship, some logistical problem, etc.). Sometimes what I in frustration conclude is "over-analysis" actually turns out to be useful. But often I think simple problems are more complex than they are, and this causes me to take longer to solve it.

So though an analytical nature is of course useful, over-analysis often causes problems.

malefide added to this post, 2 minutes and 39 seconds later...

The worst place for overanalyzing is when I socialize. There I am assessing the other person, setting social limits, anticipating what they'll say and all that. Sometimes I'll assume something negative from my analysis and so I'll avoid the person out of something I made up in my own mind.

This is exactly what I do. It's one of my many social problems.

deepFlow

03-25-2008, 02:56 PM

I am realizing that the overanalysis mode I go into, is a way of eternally second-guessing myself. It's kind of reached a chronic intensity lately, and now I'm just trying to sort it all out, as it has infected everything I do.

lancelot

04-11-2008, 09:44 PM

I have a huge issue with this. I can never accept comments, situations, or events as they are. For example, there is no way I can let something that someone has told me slip out of my mind. I sit, think about why they said it, what their intentions were when they said it, and I wonder if they were thinking about what they said for the longest time. I do not consider it wrong at all. I don't think anyone should think they're causing trouble unless they are intentional overanazlyzing things to be disruptive.

I do this sometimes, I find it helps when people fail to validate me, or if someone gives an inapporpriate response; I have also learned not to waist time with them.

It's like someone telling a beautiful woman she looks ugly, someone who talks like this is not worth spending time with.

acyckowski

04-11-2008, 09:59 PM

Being an English major helped me get "over" overanalyzing. I learned to write to keep an audience's attention. Be-laboring a point...over analyzing to the point of exhaustion, will lose the reader, they tend to stop caring...I applied this theory to my tendency to overanalyze. INTJ's like closure...I like the closure of a reaction, that someone will "get" my analysis...so I learned to cut to the chase. :thumbsup:

Public speaking is another example in the same vein.

In my career, I have had two things repeatedly serve as forcing functions. The "3 B's" of public speaking--be brief, be brilliant, be gone--and a requirement to perform complex tasks in an extremely time-constrained environment.

What I've taken from this is that there is a time for analysis, and a time for decision. When it comes time to make a decision, you have to trust your analysis and move on. You can't worry about it, there will be plenty of time later to analyze what happened.