6 Ways to Stop Obsessing Over Your Work Mistakes

6 Ways to Stop Obsessing Over Your Work Mistakes In a professional context, two types of mistakes can cause serious problems. The first is a legitimately huge error that can derail progress and endanger your job, like missing a major deadline or blowing a crucial presentation. The second and the mora common involves a small whoopsie that triggers overthinking on your parte, which can cause the issue to snowball and become a much greater concern than it should be.If you catch yourself mentally blowing your small mistakes way out of proportion, these six strategies can help you put these situations in perspective and find a productive way to move forward.1. Identify your triggers and come up with a plan for how to handle them.In a recent article about mistake obsessions, Harvard Business Review refers to the tendency to overthink as rumination. When you feel your thoughts about a minor work mishap piling up in a distracting manner, try to figure out exactly what prompts these inner r eactions.HBR explains that you cant quell rumination without noticing that youre doing it, but people arent always able to spot it in themselves. A great way to get better at this is to think about what has triggered you in the past. Notice if the dominant pattern of your rumination is blaming yourself, or blaming others. Most heavy ruminators lean towards one or the other of these.Next, come up with a game plan for smoothing over these triggers and making them more manageable for you going forward. For instance, if you find that youre triggered by collaborations with people you dont trust, it may be worthwhile to spend some off-the-clock time with your colleagues so that you can get a better sense of them and how they operate.2. Provide yourself with some psychological distance from these errors.Since rumination is an obstacle existing entirely within your own head, re-scripting your thought processes can counteract their negative results and help you move on in a productive fashio n. First and forefruchtwein, its important to give yourself some psychological distance by looking at the stressful situation from an external perspective.One way to start to get this distance is by labeling whats running through your head as thoughts and feelings, a tactic described in this article on emotional agility. So instead of saying Im inadequate, you might say, Im feeling like Im inadequate. You can even be more light-hearted about it Oh, thats just my ruminating mind overheating again, HBR advises.3. Remember that obsessing and problem solving arent the same thing.Dont fall in the trap of assuming that overthinking your mistake will inherently help you correct it. You dont need to do penance for your work-related sins by mentally tormenting yourself about them. Instead of dwelling on the issue itself, frame your thoughts to focus on concrete steps you can take to fix any residual damage from the mistake, or to help you prevent similar errors in the future.To shift from ru mination to improvement mode, ask yourself, Whats the best choice right now, given the reality of the situation? Start by taking one step, even if its not the most perfect or comprehensive thing you could do, recommends HBR.4. If you find yourself dwelling on a mistake, find a healthy form of distraction.Sometimes, the best way to get yourself out of a mental rut involves a simple distraction. When youre once again circling the drain with thoughts about your mistake, get up and take a brisk walk through the neighborhoods, take a yoga class or give your kitchen a deep clean. An engaging activity that focuses your thoughts elsewhere will help you gain necessary distance and helpful perspective.5. If youre truly concerned about the after effects of your mistake, discuss it with your manager.Youve figured out what sparks thoughts of your mistake, youve come up with a plan for preventing its recurrence, youve taken a long jog to distract yourself... and yet, you still cant shake the sens e that your minor error could have larger implications for your professional goals. If you really believe that the problem wont be corrected without directly addressing it, then go ahead and schedule a sit-down meeting with your boss to talk through what happened and put a plan in place for repairing the damage. By proactively stepping up and showing your determination to fix your mistakes, you establish yourself as a capable and responsible employee.6. Give yourself permission to forgive the mistake and set it aside.And finally, we bring you the most difficult part of this process at some point, you have to forgive yourself and let. It. Go. Obsessing over a mistake doesnt help you and it doesnt help your company, and investing your energy in this manner can impede you from taking on new tasks and giving the proper amount of attention to other aspects of your work. It never feels good to make a mistake, but all you can do is acknowledge it, put a plan in place for preventing it in t he future, clean up any residual damage, and keep on keeping on.