Anxiety of course, is a complex condition, and can present differently in everyone.
But learning what brings you the most anxiety on a daily basis can help you determine which habits you need to develop or eliminate from your day to day life to help you manage your anxiety.
So what is anxiety?
We all feel anxious from time to time, but that doesn’t mean we have an anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder is when a person feels amounts of anxiety disproportionate to their circumstances on a regular basis. So, feeling nervous for a big work presentation doesn’t mean you have an anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder is when the normal feeling of anxiety becomes so overwhelming that it interferes with daily functioning.
Talking to a medical professional about medication to help manage anxiety, and making an appointment with a therapist are great ways to being to deal with an anxiety disorder. They are both important steps for your own mental health and self care, but taking a look at our daily routines can be a helpful exercise in learning how your environment and habits contribute or exacerbate your anxiety.
Today, I want you to think about how your routines & environment interact with your mental health.
Do you have any daily habits that help your self care? Does your environment allow you to relax & grow as you need to? Or are you hindered by the habits & routines you’ve created?
Taking time to understand how your habits and environment engage with your mental health (positively or negatively) is an important step in taking care of yourself.
And while seeking therapy is a great step to help you, pairing it with improved daily habits can help you feel more in control of your life & stop your anxiety from running out of control on a daily basis.
Here are a few things to get you started:
- Take a few minutes to clean: a cluttered home or workplace increases stress. While we all live busy lives, if you can set aside even five minutes a day to clear up some clutter, you’ll really start to see the difference & you’ll feel it in your mood! Then when you’ve sorted through all the clutter, keep the habit of cleaning up for 5 minutes a day to keep your space organized.
- Move more (when you can): Exercise is good for reducing anxiety and improving your mood. That doesn’t mean you have to go out and join a gym–but look for ways you can add a little movement to your life! Can you park a little further away and walk more? Or take a walk on your lunch break? Can you start your day with some stretches?
- Keep your phone away from your bed: Reducing screen time can be huge for managing anxiety. Being plugged in 100% of the time skyrockets anxiety. Unfortunately, in this day & age, lots of jobs require us to be plugged in the majority of the time. But one place we can stop staring at screens is our beds! Make your bed a screen free zone. Go back to a good old fashioned alarm clock if you use your phone to wake you up, and force yourself to stop taking your screens into bed with you.
- Make sleep a priority: Getting enough sleep is majorly important for physical & mental health, anxiety included. How much sleep do you usually get? Probably, like most people, it’s not enough. Start slowly going to bed earlier, little by little. First maybe ten minutes earlier than you normally do. Then twenty. Then half an hour. Then 45 minutes. Keep going until you find the time that gets you to bed early enough that you’re fully rested by the time you get up.
- Start the day with deep breathing: Starting your day off right can have a huge impact on your mood! Set your alarm so that you have a few extra minutes to take for deep breathing before you get your day started. That way you can immediately get yourself into the right head space when your day starts.
- Reduce caffeine intake: Caffeine can really exacerbate the feeling of anxiety. But, lots of us are already in the habit of starting our day with coffee or jolting ourselves in the afternoon with soda. So swap out one cup of coffee or one soda with something lower in caffeine like tea. Even a small reduction can help!
“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest taken between two deep breaths.” – Etty Hillesum
Alyssa Mairanz, LMHC, DBTC
Alyssa Mairanz provides counseling and therapy services for life transitions, relationship issues, self esteem, depression, anxiety, and DBT and Psychodynamic therapy in a NYC group practice in the Flatiron District near Madison Square Park. She also serves the Village, Chelsea, Union Square, the Financial District and the surrounding areas.
Empower Your Mind Therapy’s mission is to helps our clients build the life they want and find more happiness and satisfaction.
