Interesting question. Let me think about it, and I'll get back to you.

I am fed up of this habit of mine!

I have this issue for sure!

Yes. I fall prey to this often and I think many highly intelligent people suffer this same affliction. I have, in the past, had the tendency to over analyze to the point that it became a negative. Anything, if done to an extreme, is unhealthy, more likely than not.

It was basically the same for me as it was for you. I am still OCD to this day and that is connected to my inability to stop and relax my mind, keep it from racing as it does. Most of my friends are of high intelligence and we All speak of this dilemma. We overanalyze. We cannot help it.

I began to realize I was losing out on So Many Experiences in life because I could not stop analyzing and finding reasons and ways to sabatoge my own peace of mind and of happiness. If i wanted something, I would find a way to discourage myself as easily as i Could encourage myself, but usually the latter was even more difficult in the battle of me against me... my mind won't let go sometimes. It will push and push until I give In to its Stupid illogical logic... it feeds into my own fears and from there, my own fears tell my overanalytical mind exactly How to cockblock myself. In doing so, I lose. Period. Plain and simple.

Instead, once I recognize what I am doing, I stop and think, again... "Why am I doing this? Is it not so easy to simply make a decision and to stick by it? I can take Everything apart to peices and assume a million different things, a million different ways, when the truth is, in reality, the Actual experience of going Through most things we overanalyze is Vastly different than what we Thought it was going to be from the point of view on the other end. It is Much Wiser, Much Easier to just commit to it, to go into it, walk Through it... why Build up the fear? Why take it apart? Some times things just Are and there is No reason to dismantle them. We do it when we overanalyze. We do it when we Must push to keep spinning the rubix cube.

It comes To You in Time. It comes To you and you cannot simply Believe you can think your way around it, analyze it to save yourself time, headache, money, stress, pain, loss, gain... There are tiems you Just Do for the Sake of Doing and you Stop spinning it around and around. Trust me... the Process itself Will Be Different than what we Assume it is from the angle of Analysis.

It can be a crippling poison if you let it. It can prevent you from Joy, From Truths, From Experiences, From Knowledge... From Your Potential Self.

Tis better not to overthinkg.

I have huge dreams and seem to wing it on the regular. I need some of what you got!

I always say, like you, I often over think to my detriment. I'd prefer to over think than to under think even though it often comes with unnecessary anxiety. Paralysis by analysis is pretty spot on

In certain contexts analysis is useful. However, over analyzing every little detail of some future appointment seems to me to an exercise in futility and only occupies the mental space available for it's contemplation.

I often give more thinking to things that aren't really worth a great deal of thought, or that are not really important. Other times, I fail to give enough thought to things that I should. Sometimes I vacillate a lot, and I have a great deal of difficulty in making a decision. One thing I have to remind myself of, that there are times when there's not really any good choice.

I've had a few jobs where this has been a problem for me at times.
I would get some sort of project dropped in my lap and told to figure out a solution and do it quickly.

I'm fairly good at picturing things/designs in my head, but I pick them apart, adding or removing pieces that will or won't work before anything is physically done.
This almost always takes longer than expected, but when I start welding I don't need to stop and change things mid-job.
This way the assembly goes quickly and the results are good.

Absolutely. It's one of my biggest faults. I'm the guy that when presented with a situation and needing to decide a course of action, I try to think about it from every possible perspective, consider all of the possible outcomes, try to predict how every possible action on my part might impact the situation, try to evaluate every possible outcome of every possible action to determine which one is the action most likely to lead to the most positive outcome, and obsess over what I might not be thinking about that I should be thinking about.

Often times, once I finally decide upon a course of action to take, it's too late. Either the situation no longer exists or has changed to the point where the action no longer makes sense. If I haven't completely blown the opportunity to take action, then the whole thing starts over again because the situation isn't the same as it was before.

After many years, I finally got to the point where I will cut myself off and just go for it, but it's not easy to force myself to stop analyzing.

Definitely.

A good friend of mine calls me The Procrastinator.

Yes.

I'm an agoraphobic, need I say more

always to the point of leaving my tv on when I sleep to keep my mind occupied.

Absolutely! I think I need to stop that, but then think about why I shouldn't. Vicious circle.

Absolutely; and sadly it has only became worse the older I get and the insomnia it brings on is brutal!

Sometimes; and I've been called on it here in this forum. That's why I'm here, personal growth (well, one reason).

My motto is to: Be Prepared. But not to the point of paralysis. I am a good planer/prep per, but I have to be able to prepare and survive my decision, and learn from my mistake. The moral is my mistake is usually insignificant. Although I am dealing with with some big issues now, and I fear a mistake could be way past insignificant I guess we all have to have a first?

I’m over analytical too, but it comes with the job.

People tell me I dwell on things too long. I tell them I like to thoroughly understand the situation. I like teaching myself from books or other sources like videotapes I have even taken some online classes these kind of things I could dwell on it doesn't bother anybody. I don't think it's a bad thing to be that way.

You mean besides trying to figure out how to answer this question? Not much. Only a decent part of everyday

Yes to the point of not making decisions in a timely manner.

This is not unlike the affect of meth on many people. A hundred projects started, but due to the intensive over-thinking and making changes, nothing ever gets finished.

I'm very much the same: vacillate between options, second-guess decisions, slow to take action.