Whether you suffer from occasional, situational anxiety or long-term, chronic anxiety – you know the condition can literally be crippling. For some people, anxiety controls their lives. I used to be one of these people that thought I was never phased by anything. Anxiety was a word I heard other people use to describe situations that I had no knowledge of. As I got older, and life got more complicated, anxiety crept into my life in ways I never thought it could. As our responsibilities grow, so does our susceptibility to the effects of anxiety.
The good news is that no matter how anxious you might be, there are some simple tips to managing anxiety that can help in any situation.
Here are 3 simple, effective things you can do to battle anxiety:
Distract Yourself
One of the easiest anxiety short-term anxiety management tools you can have in your arsenal is to distract yourself. I know this sounds simple, and that is because it is. For instance, when I am faced with a situation that is making me stressed or anxious, I will walk away from it for a minute or two. Sometimes it is simple as walking outside or watching a video on YouTube. Anything to distract my brain even for a few minutes to clear my head. The solitaire app on my tablet is a life saver for this exact purpose.
Don’t Define Yourself
There is a difference is self-awareness and self-diagnosis. Realizing that you are stressed about a situation doesn’t mean that you are overly anxious. It just means that you have a situation in your life that is having an impact. I think the worst thing people can do is define themselves as something. If you convince yourself that you have anxiety issues, guess what – you’re going to have anxiety issues. Be realistic with yourself. Remind yourself that we all have struggles, and this is just another one.
Get Out of your Own Head
Most importantly, for long-term anxiety, you have got to get out of your own head. Take a walk, take a trip, find a way to get away from whatever it is that is causing you stress. For some people, meditation is an effective tool. For others, meditation just gives you an opportunity to focus on what is making you anxious. One great tool for long-term anxiety that I’ve found is to get involved with something that you care about, like mentoring or volunteering.
It gives you an opportunity to focus on something you care about and to really make a difference. This not only gives you something to be proud about, it gives you an opportunity to get away from whatever is stressing you out.
