Know your thinking habits
- Dr Daniel Farrant
- Aug 27
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 27
It's helpful to be able to think about the past and future, to have mental shortcuts to process complex situations, and to analyse and solve problems with our minds. But when these processes get out of hand they can become unhelpful. Noticing and naming our thinking habits can help.
The first step is awareness, and being able to name broad thinking patterns. By grouping our thoughts into 'genres' we can step out of the endless flow of thinking CONTENT, and notice the PROCESS of thinking. This give's us a little more choice in what to do next, before the thoughts go on to influence other thoughts, and our emotions and actions, more than they need to. By noticing what our mind is doing, and trying to be open to our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations, less helpful thoughts may have less impact.
Below you will find a list of thinking styles. These have been called other things like ‘automatic thoughts’, or 'cognitive biases'. They are automatic in that they can come up frequently and can run in the background. They are biases because when we get caught up with them they colour our view of ourselves and the world. They have been called ‘unhelpful thinking’ because when we get caught up in them they can impact on our thoughts, emotions, and actions in unhelpful ways. These ways of thinking aren’t wrong, but they can cause problems if we aren’t aware of them and we get caught up in them for too long.
As you read through the list below, ask yourself:
How often do I experience this kind of thinking?
How caught up do I get in these kinds of thoughts?
Ruminating on the past
Not being present because you are reviewing the past.
Thinking about the future
Not being present because you are focusing on the future. In anxiety this can include 'what if...?' thinking, anticipating problems.
Analysing / problem solving
Spending a lot of time lost in thinking about how to figure out issues.
Mind reading
Imagining we know what other people are thinking, or getting caught up wondering what other people are thinking.
Fortune telling
Trying to predict, or thinking we know, how the future is going to turn out.
Catastrophising
Tending to jump to catastrophic interpretations when something unexpected or unwanted occurs (or when anything happens), or making disastrous predictions about how things are going or how they might turn out.
All or nothing thinking
Also known as Dichotomous, or ‘Black and White’ thinking. Things are either all right or all wrong. This is very common in perfectionism.
Shoulding & musting
Always thinking, or saying “I should, I shouldn’t, I must, I have to, I can’t…”
Personalisation
Taking all the blame, when other people, or factors, might have played a part.
Over-generalising
Something goes wrong, so we start thinking that everything goes wrong all the time.
Magnification
Making the things that go wrong (or the things we think are wrong about ourselves) bigger than they are.
Minimisation
Making anything that goes well, or successes we have, smaller by thinking or saying “it was easy”, or “anyone could have done it”. Not giving ourselves any credit for some of the good things we do.
Mental filter
Only seeing evidence that fits with the idea we aren’t good enough. Not letting in any other information.
Disqualifying the positive
Thinking positive events are down to chance, not our efforts.
Labelling / judging
Telling ourselves “I’m … [ugly / stupid / lazy / disorganised / boring / pathetic / slow…. etc]”. Usually these judgments and labels aren’t nice. However getting caught up telling ourselves “I’m … [amazing / incredible / fantastic / perfect … etc]” can also cause problems.
Emotional reasoning
This thinking style is about getting caught up in emotions and looking through the logic of emotions. For example, being angry about something that happened at work, and that anger influencing what we are thinking about our friends or family or partner. Or thinking something bad is about to happen because we are feeling nervous.
Now you have taken the time to read through this list, take note of the common thinking styles that come up for you. With that list of key thinking habits, consider choosing one at a time, and spending a day noticing and naming it when it comes up.
Remember, we all experience these kinds of thoughts, and it isn’t about getting rid of them. It’s about getting better at noticing them, so you can see them earlier, and not get so get caught up in them throughout the day.
REFERENCES
Centre for Clinical Intervention: http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/minipax.cfm?mini_ID=14
Psychology Tools: http://psychology.tools/unhelpful-thinking-styles.html
Westbrook, B., Kennerley, H., & Kirk, J. (2011). An Introduction to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: Skills and Applications. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
