Learning more about anxiety management is critical in today’s busy world. When we are stressed we tend to be more reactive and behave in less considerate ways. This can have a serious negative impact on interactions with clients and colleagues.
Therefore it is important to make some conscious decisions regarding anxiety management.
Be more conscious of your thoughts
When we are under pressure it is very easy to fall into negative self-talk: “I don’t have enough time”, “Things are just not working out”, “I won’t get the support I need”, etc. Before we know it, we have programmed negative thought patterns as an instinctive reaction.
So stop and take time to become aware of what kind of thoughts you have. Do you continuously focus on the negative? Do you continuously have inner arguments with yourself or others? Do you only notice what may go wrong or not work?
It is easy to fall into negative thinking. All this succeeds in doing is making us even tenser!
Therefore make a conscious and concerted effort to make your self-talk positive: “I have all the time to get everything done”, “I will gain the support of others”, “Somewhere there will be an opportunity for a positive outcome”, etc.
Positive self-talk has a definite constructive and helpful impact on anxiety management.
Deep breathing
When we are tense and under pressure we breath in a shallow way. Less oxygen reaches the brain. As a result our emotions tend to dominate as opposed to our thinking brain. This makes us so much more susceptible to react in an emotional way to situations. When we are tense we are in hyper-alert mode.
Deep breathing is one of the most effective tools in anxiety management. An easy breathing technique is the following one: breathe in through your nose for the count of 4. Hold your breath for the count of 7. Breathe out through your mouth for the count of 8. Repeat this a few times.
As soon as you find yourself tensing up or becoming irritated and worked up, focus on your breathing. Deep breathing brings more oxygen to the brain which calms the emotional side of the brain. Breathing deeply brings greater balance between the rational and emotional sides of the brain. It has a distinctly calming effect on our mental and emotional state.
Timeout
When we are feeling pressurised we are inclined to believe we are running out of time to get our “Things-to-Do” done. It is in fact our thoughts that make us believe this.
As challenging as it may feel, it is important when you are under stress to take some timeout. What does this mean? Sit back and reflect. Take time to think about what needs to be done. Determine the true priorities. Become a witness to your life and observe what is going on. Do you need to approach your work differently? Do you need to learn to say “No” to certain tasks or projects? Do you personally need to be involved in all the things you are?
When you sit and ponder in a quiet setting and contemplate your life and job, what insights do you gain? Timeout enables us to get off the activity treadmill and to get in touch with our inner wisdom. It also brings a different perspective on our life and activities.
In our quiet moments we are better able to hear our inner voice, our intuition. Timeout is a crucial strategy for assisting with anxiety management. It may seem like a real luxury or a waste of time. But when you start to take timeout you will begin to experience the direct benefits.
Enormous demands are being made on us and our time. With this, it becomes our responsibility to become more conscious of what we want to be involved in. We need to manage situations more actively.
If you would like to explore more around anxiety management and approaching work in a more balanced way, life coaching would be of great value.