REDUCING ANXIETY
Lately I’ve been thinking about anxiety and how many people I see in my office that are experiencing intense anxiety symptoms like insomnia, increased heart rate and blood pressure, a daily feeling of worry and not being able to “get it all done”. This culture of multitasking and having it all, just isn’t working for most people. We are tired, overwhelmed and feel little joy.
The changing of seasons can be a transition time and an opportunity for change in our lives. Although change can be difficult, there are small steps we can take that have big payoff in our well-being. The following 5 suggestions are things that I am committing to do more of this fall and winter and offer up to you as a way to step out of the chaos and into a healthier relationship with yourself and others.
- Reduce your to-do list to 3 or 4 manageable items each day (you can have a master list somewhere elseJ)
- Stop multitasking – do one activity at a time and discover how this often allows life to go more smoothly.
- Stop making everything a crisis – recognize what truly is and isn’t a priority.
- Develop small daily skills that you can incorporate into your life that decrease anxiety and stress:
- Take a deep breathe at every stoplight on your commute.
- Schedule some breaks on your phone throughout the day and get up from your desk and get water, walk around the office, talk to someone
- Commit to smiling more in your day.
- Connect more with others – family, co-workers, friends, community.
As we all struggle to feel more connected and present in this busy world the above suggestions are just a starting place. Creating community with others who are also wanting to change can be helpful, finding a guide or a mentor who can support this process or starting counseling to address the roadblocks to change might be needed. The challenge is to just start….choose one thing that is simple and begin.
It really helped when you said that I should practice reaching out to other people like my family and friends and try to establish a connection. I’m not sure if it will help me fight my anxiety attacks, but I guess it would be good for me once I’m convinced that they’re there to help. This might also be the perfect time to look into individual teletherapy services and see how I can benefit from there.