Anxiety affects more and more people every day. People are constantly in “busy mode” and often overwhelmed in their daily life. It can be so hard to break that cycle of Anxiety when everything seems impossible.

I just wanted to share a few simple tips that I have used in the past.

Let me know in the comments what has worked for you.

1. Breathe

This is the most important thing you can do. When we get anxious, we have a tenancy to take short breathes. This is depriving your body of the oxygen that it needs.
A great little exercise, that you can do anywhere, is the 4-7-8 breath:

Close your mouth.
Breathe in through your nose for a count of 4.
Hold that breath for 7.
Exhale slowly through your mouth for 8.

This will slow down your breathing but will also have a calming effect on your system.

2. Talk, Talk, Talk

This is so important. Explain to someone how you are feeling about the situation. There are so many times when what we are worrying about that is not a bad as we think. Talking to someone can help you to look at it in a different light.
The person may see a solution that you didn’t think of. As they say, a problem shared is a problem halved.

3. Step back

Sometimes when we are so focused on the problem, we find it hard to see any solution. By stepping back from the situation. It allows you to look at the issue with fresh eyes. It may be that you are tired and returning to it after a rest may be just what you need.

4. Laugh

This may sound like an unusual suggestion when its the last thing you want to do but when we laugh we release dopamine and endorphins. Increasing the levels in your body will help combat that anxious feeling in the pit of your stomach. I often look at comedians on Youtube to start my day with a laugh. Use your commute to work for you. I watch comedians on youtube during my commute each day. Every down and then it can be very hard to hold in the laughter on the bus but you start the day with a smile on your face.
[adsense]

5. Celebrate your Wins

When we are anxious we have tendency to only look at what we feel we can’t do. We often forget about all the great achievements that we already achieved.
Write down a list of 5 things that you are proud of in the last week.
It doesn’t matter how small, or big for that matter, that achievement is. Write them all down and look at all the great things that you are capable of.

7. Prioritize

Get out pen and paper and write down all the tasks that you need to compete. I use a great app called Keep to keep track of all the tasks that I have. When you get what we are worried about out of our head and onto paper, it may not seem as insurmountable as you thought.
We often worry because we are trying to juggle to many tasks at once. When you have them all written down give each task a number, from the most important down to the least important.

8. Give yourself a quick Win

Do the tasks at the top seem so big that you don’t know where to start?

Then pick one task that you could complete in less than 10 minutes. This will give you a quick win and give you the confidence to tackle something bigger. Its is so much easier to tackle those bigger task when you “are on a roll.

9. Break down Large tasks

If something seems so big that you don’t know where to start then break it down. Don’t look at all the work you need to do to get it completed. Is there a way to break it down into a number of steps that build on each one? You can then look at what one step you need to take to get you started not what you need to do to compete the whole thing. We always say that the first step is the hardest, well make that first step as easy as possible!
[adsense]

It goes without saying that we are not medical professionals and any advice that we provide is always based on our own experience. We would always advise to seek professional help if you feel you need it.