Daily Tips for Living with Anxiety
Anxiety, let’s talk about it.
I don’t think there is a sole definition for this term. It is unique and personal to each person who experiences it. However, there are some solutions that I've found to work for many people in my life and I’d like to share. To get to the root of my anxiety, I had to ask myself many personal and hard hitting questions. It was wildly uncomfortable, but I found the root of my anxiety to come from fear. Whether it was in a social, professional, personal or public situation, that’s what triggered it.
Once I realized that, I started focusing on ways to build up confidence, that way, even if the anxiety wasn’t gone, it was controlled. This looked different on a daily basis but I began to incorporate a lot of positive self-talk into my routine. Your brain is the control center to anything your body does or reacts to, making sure that it’s treated well and encouraged is crucial for your overall mental health as well as consoling your anxiety. Affirmations, complimenting yourself or even just observing your negative thoughts and turning them positive throughout your day can make such a difference in your headspace and overall mood. This is a solution specific to fear-induced anxiety, let’s get into some more general life hacks.
Typically your mental health reflects your physical health, and vice versa. So, if you can’t exactly figure out what’s going on mentally, start by observing (and correcting if needed) your physical habits. A big thing that’s helped me is making sure my body is fueled by nutritious food and tons of fluid. Your body needs a certain amount of nutrients in order to function correctly day in and day out. Paying extra close attention to what is going into it can help clear your head without doing too much extra work. Starting and ending each day with two to three cups of water has made immense changes to both my anxiety and insomnia, and it’s so simple!
My last tip is arguably the most self-explanatory. Observe your media intake A.K.A. reduce your phone screen time. The highest anxiety-causing machine is our cellphones whether we accept it or not. The amount of time we spend on social media and screens controls our moods, affects our sleep, and has the power to affect our mental health drastically. Obviously going completely cold-turkey is not an option for most people. We have jobs and school to commit to, which is why I came up with something I (and many people) call: ghostmode. Dramatic, I know but that is what it really is!
Ghostmode has evolved over the past few years of my life and looks different as my life keeps moving. But the point is to start and end my days with a few hours of media detox. Starting with, not charging my phone in my bedroom. Our phones are our constant plus one’s, wherever we go, they follow. In order to break that and stop starting each day scrolling through my social media, I began to leave my phone charging in my bathroom overnight. This boosted my sleep, morning productivity and made me want to keep my mornings to myself. At the end of the day, I began to look forward to putting my phone away a few hours early and having my nights to myself as well. It has made me more grateful and present throughout my days because I look forward to my ghostmode time and can truly feel the benefits.
To close off, I’d like to propose a challenge.
In an effort to really detox, this past December I deleted my social media apps off my cell phone for two months. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made, it showed me the level of dependency and obsession I had with these apps and how unhealthy it was. Now, every couple of weeks when I feel I need it, I take a week or two off of social media. It has really helped me get in touch with myself/feelings and know when I need a break, regardless of how entertaining the apps may be.
That being said, I challenge you to delete your social media for as long as you can. If you do, get in touch with me and let me know how it made you feel. Was it harder than you thought? Easier? How long did you last? Did you learn anything new about yourself? Let me know.
Anxiety is something no two people experience the same ways, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some simple, universal solutions that can help keep it under control. These are some of mine, I hope you enjoyed them and see if they work for you!