Managing Anxiety

10 TIPS FOR COPING WITH ANXIETY

• Accept that experiencing some anxiety is a normal part of life.
• If you are feeling anxious about a particular task or situation, work to prepare yourself in advance.
• Become aware of your internal self-messages about success, confidence, and overcoming obstacles. Challenge yourself to cultivate a growth mindset.
• Determine if time management issues are contributing to anxiety. If so, work to create a schedule and plan ahead.
• Ensure that you are getting enough sleep, engaging in healthy eating habits, staying hydrated and exercising regularly.
• Stimulants increase anxiety—minimize caffeine intake.
• Consider relaxation strategies such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga, and progressive muscle relaxation.
• Anxiety lives in the future. Practicing mindfulness and self-compassion can help you cope with anxious thoughts and feelings by allowing you to stay present in the here and now. These practices can help you create a new relationship of nonjudgmental acceptance so you can disentangle from anxious thoughts and feelings. It is about noticing, not fixing.
• The most important aspect of applying coping skills is allowing anxious physical or emotional discomfort to be there and let time pass. Coping skills can contribute to making anxiety worse if they are done in an attempt to get rid of anxiety. Avoidance fuels anxiety. It is the approach, not the technique, that makes the difference.
• Remember that managing anxiety often requires increasing our ability to tolerate uncomfortable emotions until they begin to decrease on their own – trying this new approach takes time; it’s important to be patient with yourself along the way!

ANXIETY RESOURCES

Self-Guided Courses on Anxiety Management
Strategies for Anxiety Relief
Living with a Sticky Mind