Get Out of Your Head!

4 Ways To Maintain a Healthy Sports-Life Balance as an Overthinking Athlete

By Daesha Harper|Updated on June 27, 2023 (originally published on November 28, 2022)

Being characterized as an athlete and an overthinker comes with its battles–it can feel like your brain is going a million times an hour with no breaks in between. When entering a new environment where feeling anxious about every little thing becomes another personality trait, it can feel overwhelming to think of nothing but your classes and sport. That's why developing a balance between your life, studies, and sport is vital to staying healthy mentally. Here are three tips to help you generate that symmetry in your everyday life.

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Create a Routine

The quickest way to stress yourself out as an athlete is by overcrowding your schedule and not setting a routine. As overthinkers, we typically already have a million things on our minds. The best way to sort it out is by building a list of the necessities. This can be a checklist of what you need to get done for the day or a nighttime routine to help you unwind before bed.

Since overthinking usually stems from feeling out of control and overanalyzing situations. Creating a to-do list on your phone or planner can help you keep track of your schedule while providing a visual of when breaks are needed, which can all help ease your anxiety.

Set Boundaries

As important as it is to create physical boundaries like taking snack breaks, doing homework, recovering from practice, and sleeping, you should also set mental boundaries. You can do this by reminding yourself how important it is to focus on the things you can control. You can control your mindset for the day, your effort at practice, and the time you give yourself for homework. You can't control your assignments, your coach's attitude, or your teammates in and out of the classroom. The key to setting boundaries is to control the controllable and generate a realistic plan for your situation.

Generate a College Bucket List

A great way to ease an overthinking brain is by distracting it with something fun. You can do this by creating a fun bucket list each year of things you want to do before the next grade. Unfortunately for college athletes, the majority of your time is spent on the field, court, training facilities, and the classroom which sometimes doesn't leave room for you to have a social life, especially during the season. However, there is a special time of the year when you have more free time: the off-season. Athletes can use this time to their advantage by exploring their new city, getting part-time jobs, piling more classes on their plate, or taking more naps throughout the day. Plus, having something to look forward to all season has mental perks as well.

This bucket list can include exploring a famous museum, painting at the beach, attending a comedy show, riding scooters in the city, or chilling at a popular park. Whatever it is, make sure it is something that you see as enjoyable because the goal is to distract.

Find Your Mental/Emotional Release

The key to maintaining a healthy mindset when your mind tends to overthink is to find a way to release all those continuous thoughts. It can come in the form of journaling, venting to a confidant, listening to music, dancing it out, going to your safe place, or even screaming at the top of your lungs. The more we keep things bottled up inside, the likelihood we are to continue stressing ourselves out and feeling anxious. Finding a release will allow you to remove any negativity that takes up space in your brain. It does not have to be an everyday thing, but something you do weekly. This way, you can start the week with a fresh perspective and be ready to attack your classes/sports with a different mindset.

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