1. Monitor your anxiety. Anxiety is more than just a feeling. There are physiological, cognitive and behavioral changes at play. Ask yourself, how many times do you feel anxious a day? What are the most common triggers? And what physical symptoms do you experience? How does it affect your behavior? Jot down your answers and keep track of your stress.
2. Make an accurate assessment. When something bad happens, we tend to one, overestimate the likelihood it will happen again and two, exaggerate the intensity of the problem. Identifying your individual fears and filtering them will help you make an accurate assessment. Make a list of what you fear the most and cross off what’ s not realistic. Then make a list of coping skills or options you have.
3. Maintain Optimism. Focusing on the present, rather than the future or past can help you remain optimistic. Expending energy anticipating negative outcomes only eats away at our sense of control and hope. Accept the unpredictability of life and stick with what’ s going on right now. Being grateful and focusing on the positive in your life will also help you see the bright side of things.
4. Assign a worry window. Consistently worrying is no good. But avoiding your problems isn’ t either. It’ s important to confront your problems head on, which proves to yourself that you are capable of handling it. So assign yourself a worry window, say from 9:00am to 10:00am, where you have permission to ruminate and focus on your problem. Then when the window is over, lay your problems aside.
5. Disengage your mind from the problem. Did you know that most people believe worrying is helpful? Many believe worrying leads to better answers, provides greater insight, or offers you greater confidence in your chosen course of action. When in fact, too many negative thoughts cloud our judgment. Your mind is incapable of thinking about more than a few things at a time. No amount of worrying will give you a better outcome to a bad situation.
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