Anne Bogel runs my favorite bookish podcast „What should I read next“ and has written two other books that I have enjoyed before, so I was excited to read this one to get 2021 off to a good start.
The writing style is delightful, conversational, and makes you feel like you’re having a cup of tea with a very knowledgeable friend. The tone is warm and understanding. There is a well balanced combination of personal anecdotes, and scientific facts as well as question sheet for your own guided reflections.
I thought this book was both helpful and relatable, I loved this book and will definitely pass it on to others.

I immensely enjoyed this book. Anne has an easy way about her writing that I have always enjoyed in her past work. However, this book hit home in so many ways and her words were very relatable. I learned a lot from this book and immediately ordered copies for my friends as gifts after finishing. This will be a book I return to many times when I find myself in a rut of overthinking everything.

I am so glad I received an ARC, because I don’t think I could have waited until March to read it! As an Enneagram 1 and chronic overthinker, I constantly found myself agreeing with her, laughing at her stories, and scribbling down all the great tips and tricks. I will be coming back to this book over and over again... it will be great for overthinkers, those who know an overthinker, and everyone in between!

This powerful little volume explores the cycle of overthinking, particularly how it relates to decision making, and how pervasive it is for women especially.

I read this book at just the right time, but not for the reasons that would be immediately visible. On the surface, I’m not (at the moment) struggling with a big decision. However, there are a couple of things that have been weighing on me from an emotional-energy perspective. Things that I have no control over, but that I’ve been ruminating on. Bogel talks about what we give our attention to being what our life is made up of, which was a great wake-up call for me to change what I can and move on. She gives practical advice on making big and small decisions, and how to identify and pull yourself out of the overthinking cycle. I particularly loved her writing about value-based decision making, the more you can identify decisions as being aligned to your personal values, the easier those decisions become. I also so appreciated the section on building rituals, which aligns to some of my core values. She quotes the film Sideways with, “You know, the day you open a '61 Cheval Blanc... that's the special occasion.” A perfect quote that sums up both my love of wine ;), and my personal belief in doing something special just because.
I was lucky enough to get a digital ARC for this book, but I pre-ordered the physical copy months ago and can’t wait to get my hands on it. Yes, it’s a beautiful little book but I know I’ll turn to it again and again for strategies to help me whenever I start to feel a little stuck.

I've turned to this book over and over since I read it earlier this year. Full of practical advice to keep you on track. Don't get stalled in a loop of overthinking again!

Ooo, this one is like salve to a busy mama's heart. It provides commentary that feels like something I would say to a friend or even myself.

This book really spoke to me, as a constant overthinker, when I first read it.  The timing of reading this title was perfect, as the pandemic that followed the publication was a prime time for me to overthink.  I was able to put some of the practices detailed in the book into practice, and I truly feel like they helped me be more present with my family and feel more peace with the decisions I made and with the flexibility in planning that has been necessary during 2020.  I have already gone back to this book multiple times, so I am glad I marked it up with book darks after reading.  Don't Overthink It was a very helpful, practical book, and I am really thankful it fell into my hands at just the right time.

I didn't think I was much of an over thinker until I read this book. Wow! There are so many ways we overthink things without even realizing it. Anne is spot on with her details, her understanding, and her in depth explanations of this problem we all have at one time or another. Other reviewers have called this book "life changing" and it is. I even shared it with my husband! It's on his nightstand and he's just starting to dig in. I know it will be helpful for him too (and us a a couple).

It is not just for those who want to feel good about themselves. It's for everyone who wants to address this issue head on and learn how to deal with it. Anne shows us the  everyday energy-sappers like decision fatigue, technology overload, and self-sabotage disguised as data collection. Who knew?? I get bogged down in data collection. And now during this pandemic, Anne'’s advice  to  build in margin for the unexpected is perfect and timely. Again, who knew???

This should be a required book in high school so kids could get to know themselves better before heading off to college. It could really help them moving forward!

Love this book.

Anne Bogel does an excellent job of describing everyday situations that we spend too much time debating.  She provides a series of logical steps to help get through each situation .  She gives readers a variety of options on how to approach problems from what to have for dinner to whether or not to travel.  This was particularly helpful during the stressful times of the pandemic.  I highly recommend it.

How I Will Use Don't Overthink It
I got a lot of ideas from the book but I'll just share three of them here...
Problem: Decision Fatigue
Solution: Limit Yourself to Free Yourself
My Action: Don't we all feel like we're having to make decisions ALL.DAY.LONG?! Not just that, but there are so many choices out there that I can feel overwhelmed. Anne talks about ways you can limit some of those decisions including looking at what you're wearing. I'm not quite ready to have a 'uniform' like Steve Jobs with his jeans and turtlenecks but I'm really intrigued by the idea of Project 333 from Courtney Carver where basically for 3 months I will limit myself to 33 items. Fewer choices = easier decision making! I've been thinking about doing this for awhile and this book gave me the motivation to go for it (I'll write about my experience here in a few months!).

Problem: How Do I Decide Where to Spend My Time & Energy?
Solution: Decide What Matters
Action: One of the biggest 'ah-ha' moments for me with this book was tying together decision making with my values. Once I know what really matters to me then the decisions can flow from that. Something I'm working on is putting together my priorities for the year and I'm not talking 20 different things, that doesn't narrow it down! I'm looking at the top 3 so I really put my focus and energy into those and once that's set deciding how to spend my time (or where NOT to) should be clear. I'm using the tool/goal planner Cultivate What Matters but really you can use a pen and paper.

Problem: Enjoying Simple Abundance
Solution: #buytheflowers (this will make sense in a minute)
Action: I LOVE Anne's story in the book about being in Trader Joe's and deciding whether to buy flowers or not. Haven't we all sat there and asked ourselves 'should I or shouldn't I'. I love that this book is saying...You Should!!! So here's my equivalent: Chips and Guacamole. I love Chips & Guac but here's how my mind works when I see it on the menu:
-Are tortilla chips gluten free?
-I really want that but is it too many calories?
-Aren't avocados good for you? It's healthy fat, right?
-Maybe if I only have a few and save some for later?
-Who am I kidding, if I order chips & guac I am going to inhale that whole thing.
ARGH! If I get them I feel guilty, if I don't get them I feel like I have deprived myself.
So here's my decision, if chips & guac are on the menu I AM ORDERING THEM! There, my decision is made so now I don't have to decide whenever I go to a restaurant (don't you want to go have dinner with me now :)

An excellent and progressive way to consider decision making and daily life. Anne writes like she is talking with her best friend and today, that is you. You will pick up great tips on how to improve. I particularly liked the exercises at the end of each chapter to help me work through and remember the tips. This is a great book for most everyone in your life as we all overthink in some area or another and I have not seen anyone else tackle it in such an easy to read and fun way.

Anne Bogel runs my favorite bookish podcast and has written two other books that I very much enjoyed, so I was extremely excited to get an ARC of this with my pre-order bonus. 

There’s not much to say, and in testament to everything I learned from this book, I’m not going to overthink this review. Her writing style is delightful, conversational, and makes you feel like you’re having a cup of tea with a very knowledgeable friend. The tone is warm and understanding.

What I love about this book is that there is science behind it, but since Anne isn’t a scientist, she explains things in a way that the average reader can understand. There are anecdotes galore, and everything is so relatable, whether you’re male, female, in your 20s or in your 60s. I loved this books, and will definitely read it and pass it on to others. 

Many thanks to Anne Bogel for offering such a great pre-order bonus, and to NetGalley for providing the ebook.

We all know how overthinking can not only take away our precious time, but also wreak havoc on our emotions. Don't Overthink It is a great book full of tips and suggestions for learning to be more in control of your thoughts and lessening the amount of time spent overthinking. This book is so fabulous and so down-to-earth! I found myself nodding along with so many of the stories and then having my mind blown by the incredibly smart and totally doable suggestions for ways to change our overthinking bad habits. I'm recommending both of my book clubs read it. If you've ever caught yourself in a completely unproductive thought loop or rehashing a past situation over and over, this book is definitely for you!

Don't Overthink It was such a helpful, hopeful, and practical book in assessing the challenges of overthinking and anxiety about decision-making. I really loved the author's different approaches and strategies towards. decision-making for different personality types and the overall diminished stress I felt after reading the book.

Reading “Don’t Overthink It” by Anne Bogel was like reading a book about myself. How comforting to discover that I am not not alone in a world where I lie awake at night obsessing!

I don’t read many self-help books, but I found this one immensely useful. I have recommended it to so many friends, and it has opened up a whole conversation about my family about how we think and what we need to spend our time thinking about.

Anne Bogel’s newest book is an intelligent, thoughtful, and charming guide to the many ways in which we tend to needlessly overthink things, and a collection of ways which we can break this unhealthy habit. I have gotten to a place in my life where I feel like I am unable to make decisions anymore. Even the simplest of tasks, like packing, leave me feeling overwhelmed and anxious. I procrastinate in every area of my life because I simply cannot make a decision for fear that it will be the wrong one. Her words have helped me to take a closer look at the my thought patterns and to realize that I am not captive to my thought spirals. Don’t Overthink It made me not only feel seen, but also gave me some simple and practical tools to break the downward spiral of overthinking everything to death. I highly recommend this book to anyone who even slightly struggles with overthinking, worrying, dwelling, or frequent anxiety form feeling overwhelmed by the day to day decisions. I am already implementing some of her ideas.

I am the Queen of overthinking. I think things into the ground. I think about everything. My mind is constantly spinning, it’s never at rest. I can never make decisions, even simple ones. So this book really resonated with me. 
I think this is one of those books that I need to read again and again. All the ideas sounded like great ideas to help me stop overthinking but now I’ve forgotten them and I’m still overthinking. So don’t think you will read this and magically be done with overthinking. 

HOWEVER, The advice was very good advice. I just need to read it again and make a list I can hang up to remind me. With any self-help book, just reading it isn’t enough. You have to enact change. She gives lots of examples from her life, of overthinking she does, and decisions that are hard to make for her. I really appreciated that because sometimes you can feel like no one else obsesses about things like you do. It was refreshing to see that even accomplished writers overthink too.

Please note this is a Christian self-help book and so mentions God. If this isn’t your thing, it’s not overly Christian and I think you could still benefit and just overlook the Christian parts but personally I find asking God’s help with overthinking to be beneficial.

Anne Bogel is brilliant and she definitely showed her intuitive understanding of human nature again! I loved it and will return to it again for sure!

I am an overthinker, I always have been. In my 23 years, I've developed strategies to combat my overthinking, and I think many overthinkers do this themselves too. I thought the premise of Anne's book was so interesting, maybe she'd have some insight in additional ways to stop overthinking! And she did, kind of. Except, this could have been a blog post or a series of blog posts. The questions she asked at the end of each chapter were thought provoking (but again, can be done in a blog post). Then, there were the repetitious stories. By halfway through, I was so sick of "I'm an overthinker, here's an example of me overthinking and how I handled that" and when she didn't have an example for her overthinking - she shared how her friends overthink. We didn't need that many stories, and we didn't need that many chapters. The book felt like was covering the same concepts over and over again, and just talking about herself, and AGAIN this could have been a "here's xx steps to stop overthinking, and some questions to really get you thinking about your overthinking patterns and how to overcome them". I do not recommend this book, unless you are truly STUCK in an overthinking pattern and want some tools to get out of it (and then just skim it - or google and see if someone has just made a list).

In "Don't Overthink It" writer (and professional reader) Anne Bogel uses her experience as a recovering chronic overthinker to help readers break their own bad overthinking habits. I knew this book was for me early in the first chapter when I read one of Anne's definitions of what overthinking looks like: "Sometimes it looks like worry. We might feel stuck reviewing something we've done in the past or imagining something that might happen in the future. ... We might lie awake at night wondering what our friends think of us or if a loved one seems tired of us or if our library fines are getting really and truly out of control." After reading this, I immediately wondered how it was possible for Anne to have looked inside my head! Anne's book reinforces an idea I have found to be true: that our thoughts have a huge effect on how we live our lives, and we must "learn to tend our thoughts with care." If, like Anne and me, you have found yourself losing sleep at night over a short email from a colleague or boss; stood in an aisle at Target for an inordinate amount of time trying to decide between two brands of granola bar; or put flowers in your cart at the grocery store, then put them back, then picked them up again all while debating their $5 price tag, then your life will be changed for the better by reading "Don't Overthink It."