Sometimes Worrying About The Little Things Is Important

Some say that the devil hides in the details and that is why worrying about the little things is important. It is a way of keeping in mind that sometimes the anecdotal can be more important than we think. Also that the most isolated and singular events hide behind them serious enough realities to take them into account.

Now, there is also an indisputable fact. When human beings worry excessively about these minute aspects of their daily lives, we do not hesitate to say that this will lead to mental states of great exhaustion. Looking at nuances that appear to be minor and insignificant can lead to stress and anxiety appearing sooner or later.

So where do we stay? Is it or is it not good to worry about the little things? Science has an answer: it all depends on our personality. We analyze it.

“Details make perfection and perfection is not a detail.” 

-Leonardo da Vinci-

Worrying about the little things is important to the scrupulous personality

The University of Beijing (China) recently published a study on this issue. Because the truth is that we have been warning for several decades that this need to focus attention on the most trivial aspects of our reality can intensify the cycle of worry. Therefore, the authors of this work tried to show whether this premise is true or not.

First of all, one thing they showed is that caring about the little things is important to the conscientious personality. It is, after all, the way this profile processes what surrounds them. Conscientiousness is a psychological trait that starts from meticulousness and discipline: every detail matters and is transcendent. However, in these cases, there is no evidence of high stress that blocks performance or well-being.

On the other hand, the more anxious or neurotic personalities present a more pathological and less productive mental approach. If they pay attention to the little things, it is for fear that those details will bring fatalities.

Your personality is what determines that something is stressful or advantageous

Let’s put ourselves in a hypothetical situation. You have one day left to present a very important work. Suddenly, you are informed that a small detail must appear in that project that you did not anticipate. If you have an anxious personality, the news is likely to heighten your stress and frustration. Just when you had it all finished, a last minute change arrives.

Now, the scrupulous person sees these unexpected nuances as aspects that must be taken very seriously. Far from losing their spirits, they are even more active to take advantage of it and be meticulous.

Worrying about the little things is important … in some cases

Little things have many forms and come in many ways. It can be an unforeseen event. It can be a misplaced word from a person you love. The insignificant things have the form of a message on the mobile, the delay of a meter, a misspelling in the text that you are going to deliver or a storm that ruins that appointment you had planned …

Whether these things are stressful, annoying or worrisome is always part of the filter with which you look at them. For many they will be innocuous, for others they will be worrisome and for some they will be aspects that must be taken into account in order to understand their own life a little more. Each of us chooses where to pay attention and how to react to things.

What if I am one of those who worry excessively (and negatively) about everything?

Worrying about the little things is important as long as you do it in a healthy way. That is, we know that scrupulous people are attentive to the smallest details because they are perfectionists, because sometimes the most insignificant can be taken advantage of. Now, what if I’m at the opposite extreme? What if I pay attention to the most insignificant things because everything worries me?

Keys to stop seeing small things as threats

The truth is that being a walking worry factory reduces discomfort and can lead to an anxiety disorder. It is important to pay attention to the way we think and how we react to things. Therefore, it is worth taking into account some aspects.

• There is a first aspect that we must consider. Many of us have been educated under the idea that responsible people care about everything. And the more they do it, the more they are worth. We must be careful with this idea because it is dangerous, in the end we carry on our shoulders an excess of useless weights, because living worried is not living, it is living badly.
• Second, it is necessary to deactivate that tendency to always anticipate the worst. The unforeseen, the little things that sometimes arise without us waiting for them, can bring great opportunities. Let’s deactivate the filter of fear to activate curiosity, the openness to the new and different.

• Worries, better one at a time. We can all worry about certain things, but it is better if they are one at a time and not all at once. Only in this way will we better reel off them to find suitable strategies.

To conclude, maintaining a healthy, productive and stress-reducing mental focus to see advantages where others only appreciate problems, can be difficult at times. However, we can all make that change. Doing so will revert to our well-being.