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5 Ways to Reduce Anxiety

Anxiety is part of our life. Don't walk away from it, learn to easily and effectively manage it with these simple tips

By  Charlie Field

There are ways to reduce anxiety. But the most important thing is to recognize that it's not just anyone's normal state, no matter how turbulent our times maybe. It's a disorder. And you can take care of yourself.

Anxiety: another century's epidemic

Have you ever experienced negative thinking? Something bad was going to happen… tomorrow you might have an accident…the negative self-talk.

This kind of thinking is a symptom of anxiety. It puts you in a state of negative anticipation. We feel overly nervous and restless and tense.

Anxiety: negative thinking

When we're facing a challenge or a major threat (a tiger is about to attack you), that anticipation is a natural response, the fight or flight, the red flag we have all experienced. But if the event per se never comes (there is no tiger) and you're always on red alert, your health starts to suffer. People with anxiety report annoying psychological and somatic signs and symptoms.

Glimmer of hope

You can control your anxiety. It may not be easy at first, but it's about respecting a set of rules and having discipline. These five guidelines for reducing anxiety can help you mitigate its adverse effects

1. 1. Be your own boss

Reducing anxiety start with committing to yourself

You have to be a leader in what you do. That means you have to set up goals for yourself and stick to them. Not to impress others, but because it's a commitment to you.

2. 2. Fighting anxiety is fighting procrastination

Procrastination means anxiety, fight it back!

Anxiety builds up with situations at work or because of obligations and decisions. It expresses itself through fear of starting to do something that might go wrong which then leads to procrastination. And that feeds more anxiety. It’s a vicious circle you need to break. Do the difficult stuff first and you’ll enjoy the rest of the day. It takes some powering through but it’s totally worth it.

3. 3. Small steps

Baby steps to reduce anxiety

Actually cooking is much more effective than thinking about cooking. If you want to make sure that what needs to be done is done without anxiety acting as a brake, there is nothing like cutting the most complex tasks into short sequences.

If you have to write a report, for example, the first task can be as simple as turning on the computer and opening a text editor. The next sequence should start from there and also be very short (writing the first paragraph, for example)

4. 4. Take five

Use of your rest periods wisely to combat anxiety

Do you think you'll work better for not taking a nap? Fighting anxiety is about making sure that we make good use of the time we spend resting.

It is worth being methodical with the rest periods and using them to help work towards your objectives. Schedule in and take regular breaks instead of cutting a task short and peeking into the fridge or switching on the TV at irregular intervals.

5. 5. Don't push yourself: anxiety won't go away just because you say so

Meditation for anxiety release and management

Reducing anxiety is not something you can do with more anxiety. You will not achieve spectacular results by focusing on your anxiety or constantly thinking about how to make it go away.

In those cases, meditation techniques offer a good solution. It’s better to let those moments of negativity go naturally, without focusing on them. Just acknowledge them and let them go.

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