Stop Overthinking and Analysis Paralysis. It’s Time to Take Action.

Michael Competielle
3 min readSep 6, 2021
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

“If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there and worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the loss of sleep.” Dale Carnegie

Our bodies have a natural biological clock called Circadian Rhythm. This clock is prewired to follow a 24-hour cycle based on light and darkness. As night begins to fall our clock will release the hormone melatonin helping us fall asleep.

We normally sleep through the night until around sunrise. Our bodies begin to release cortisol the fight or flight hormone beginning around 3 am. Your cortisol peaks mid-morning at around 9 am. If you are waking up at the onset of the cortisol rush you may have increased stress levels or underlying health issues.

For me, it’s anxiety and stress. I’ll awaken and acknowledge the fact that it’s not time to be awake. My breathing will have increased with short staccato breathes. My heart will be pumping faster as I enter overthinking mode.

As I lie there the pounding on my minds gates gets louder and with a bang, the gates open and the thoughts come rushing in. My mind will begin to remind me of every unfinished project. Every possible issue and potentially disastrous outcome. I’ll just lie there, paralyzed by my thoughts and inaction.

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