Don't Overthink It

I was given the opportunity to read an advance copy of Don't Overthink It by Anne Bogel.

Anne is one of my favorite book podcasters (What Should I Read Next?) and has written three books now. Her third, Don't Overthink It, is a manual on how to break the cycle of ruminating on decisions that should be made instead of debated and debated and debated... At first I didn't really know if this book was for me, because I honestly can be very decisive. I didn't hesitate about getting a new cat when my beloved Mittens died, and then I didn't debate about getting my second boy; I just knew we needed to. When we found the apartment we live in, as soon as we toured it and found out that it was in our price range, I was good to go. When Matt suggests a vacation destination, I usually just agree because I want to go everywhere I haven't been, so I don't make pro/con lists. I just start trying to learn Norwegian or Hungarian.

But then I realized that it's not the big things I overthink. I get lost in the weeds on the little stuff. How should I phrase this email to a parent? Is this really the healthiest cat food for the boys? I can't go on that hike because I haven't printed the trail map yet and the printer is out of ink but the one I do have printed isn't where I want to go today because I don't want to drive all the way to that park so I lose 30 minutes deliberating and I'd already almost be there by now...

I know I need to meal prep but I can't make decisions on what to cook because I start getting lost in things like proteins verses carbs versus fats, and what's a good carb, and what's a good fat, and when the recipe calls for a sweet potato, how big should that potato be, exactly? And then I decide to put off the thinking until tomorrow and just order Chinese food.

Anne lays out strategies for freeing up your brain space and just making the choices. My favorite chapter is the one called "Small Shifts Toward Simple Abundance," in which she lays out the decision of whether or not to buy herself some flowers when she's grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. She goes on to talk about the little things that make life richer, like a small square of dark chocolate after dinner or writing with a high-quality pen. I'll admit that I already tend toward letting myself have the little things, so I agree with all of these sentiments! For me, it's not flowers; my little cat will eat them and poison himself. But it's books and yarn, for sure. I have to limit myself because I love to treat myself to that new best-seller that's all over Instagram or that gorgeous color combo I found at Michael's. I've learned to tame it down a bit by taking pictures with my phone of the books and yarns that I really like and revisiting them. If I read a bunch of the books I have in my house already and rehome them by June, then I can buy more books. If I finish a few of the projects I'm currently in the middle of, I will have space for new yarn.

Finally, something that I plan to write down and keep on my desk at work is this quote:

"We can be creators of justice, love, joy, compassion, and peace. But when we take a look at the world around us, it's clear that these things don't just happen; we have to think about them - and then act on those thoughts."

As a teacher, this is a very important statement to keep in mind.