What exactly is overthinking?

Think about (something) too much or for too long:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/am...

to spend more time thinking about something than is necessary or productive

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/englis...

Analysis paralysis or paralysis of analysis is an anti-pattern, the state of over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome. A decision can be treated as over-complicated, with too many detailed options, so that a choice is never made, rather than try something and change if a major problem arises. A person might be seeking the optimal or "perfect" solution upfront, and fear making any decision which could lead to erroneous results, when on the way to a better solution.

The phrase describes a situation where the opportunity cost of decision analysis exceeds the benefits that could be gained by enacting some decision, or an informal or non-deterministic situation where the sheer quantity of analysis overwhelms the decision-making process itself, thus preventing a decision. The phrase applies to any situation where analysis may be applied to help make a decision and may be a dysfunctional element of organizational behavior. This is often phrased as paralysis by analysis, in contrast to extinct by instinct (making a fatal decision based on hasty judgment or a gut-reaction).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_paralysis

I think people use it to mean two different things. One is, on a simple enough question like what's for lunch, you don't want the guy to head off to the library to research nutrition science and all that - just, WTF do you want for lunch already.

Second use is when a thing is really an emotional issue, a felt thing, and someone gets into a loop about trying to figure it out intellectually. It's a useless exercise because it's an emotional thing. How do you FEEL about it - quit trying to "think" up an answer - that's not where those answers come from. They come from your feelings.

I think people can mean either thing when they say that about overthinking.

I see it as going hand in hand with indecision. Sometimes, when someone tries to figure every angle before they decide, they get bogged down in weighing the pros and cons; they might not be able to pick out the one or two most important details upon which they should be basing their decisions because they have so many thoughts complicating the situation in their heads. They may be trying to predict what is going to happen three or four steps ahead when they should be trying to take one step at a time. They may be shooting themselves down in their imagination and giving up, thereby assuring failure, when they should be taking on their obstacles one at a time, letting things play out, and giving themselves a chance to succeed.

Thinking about something to the extent where you over-exaggerate and complicate the importance of an issue, the actions, thoughts and feelings of a person involved and it's consequences and effects.

Giving too much thought to something, to the point of thinking of lots of irrelevant information and hypotheticals.

Also thinking so hard that you draw exaggerated implications from simple information.

What you are doing now is overthinking.

Reading stuff into people's motives.

Over selling; over doing it

Burnt out

Thinking about something too much, that you convince yourself of impossible or unlikely scenarios occurring.

Your question answers the question!