Chidozie ChimaI was supposed to run an ad campaign today. Nothing fancy—just a simple ad. Pick a headline, slap in some images, write a bit of copy, and hit publish. Should’ve taken 30 minutes, tops. Instead, I spent hours obsessing over every detail.
Was the wording right? Would people like the images? Should I tweak the CTA? What if the ad flopped? What if people saw it and thought, “Wow, this guy doesn’t know what he’s doing”? I kept going over it again and again, tweaking, adjusting, second-guessing myself into oblivion. And guess what? I never actually launched it. Because by the time I had everything “just right,” I was too mentally exhausted to care.
This is what overthinking does—it convinces us we’re being productive when, in reality, we’re just standing in our own way.
The Illusion of Control
Overthinking is a trap. It makes you feel like you’re solving problems when all you’re really doing is creating new ones. That email you’ve rewritten five times? The client will skim it in three seconds. That design choice you’ve been debating for hours? No one’s looking at it as hard as you are. That ad campaign I agonized over? The people seeing it would probably scroll past it before I even finished my cup of tea.
We trick ourselves into thinking that if we just think a little harder, we’ll unlock some magical, perfect decision. But perfection doesn’t exist. There will never be a moment where everything is perfectly aligned, risk-free, and guaranteed to work. And even if there was, no one would care as much as you think they would.
The Cost of Overthinking
The real cost isn’t just wasted time—it’s wasted opportunity. Overthinking slows everything down. It stops progress. It keeps you stuck in this weird limbo where nothing ever actually gets done. And what’s the point of obsessing over an ad, an email, a design, or a decision, if it never even makes it out into the world?
In web design, in business, in life—action beats perfection every time. The people who get ahead aren’t the ones who sit around debating every move; they’re the ones who take the leap, figure things out as they go, and adjust when needed.
Just Hit Publish
So here’s the real solution to overthinking: just do the thing. Hit send. Publish the post. Launch the site. Run the damn ad.
Yes, it might flop. Yes, people might have opinions. But so what? You’ll adjust, you’ll learn, and you’ll move on. Most of the things you’re stressing over won’t matter in a week. Hell, they probably won’t even matter tomorrow.
So whatever it is you’re overthinking right now—stop. Take a breath. Hit publish. The world will keep spinning, and you’ll finally get out of your own way.