The day is coming to an end, and you still have an unrealistic amount of assignments left on your to-do list. You realize with horror that you will not have time to deal with everything in time. The heart starts pounding, and the sweat flows down the temples. Every minute you look at your watch, time runs out, but you cannot begin a thing. A familiar story? It is anxiety that stands in your way.
Researchers found that 56% of employees worry about not being effective enough at work. And it does not matter if you are a student with a large school book to read in one evening or an employee doing harsh research. Everyone is exposed to this kind of anxiety. So the question is — how to overcome it?
Reduce the load
Think about tasks you can exclude or delegate to someone else, what help and whom you can ask. Do important things first, including those you usually put off until later. This way, they will not accumulate and cause exhaustion.
If the thought of doing something is unbearable for a student or he would instead focus on something else, reading an essay about anxiety can help. For example, here, you can find essays about anxiety or any other topic needed. Education in college or university is an essential yet stressful thing. You can get your help with anxiety essay and ace the deadlines without feeling overwhelmed by the number of tasks.
Stop chasing perfection
Perfectionism is not just a constant pursuit of perfection. It is also about increased requirements for results. But the desire to do everything without flaws is self-destructive behavior. And accepting mistakes as a normal part of the process, the ability to correct them and learn from them is necessary for growth.
By constantly worrying about the little things, a person experiences a lot of anxiety. To mute this inner-critic, try treating yourself with an equal amount of support you give your friends when they make mistakes. Learn to perceive the work process not as a possibility to fail but as an experience that will make you stronger.
Adopt healthy sleep habits
There is more than one experiment about the effect of sleep on our psychological state. But they all agree on one thing: sometimes it is lack of sleep that provokes psychological problems.
The thing is that our body produces growth hormones during sleep. These hormones handle the restoration of our systems, including the nervous one. So when we do not get enough sleep, our nervous system is not recovered enough to function properly. So more negative thoughts emerge, and our mind fixates on them.
Consider avoiding caffeine in the second part of the day for better sleep hygiene. It is difficult and do not forget to consider yourself a hero for taking care of your sleep.
Refine and specify
Since anxiety increases in situations of uncertainty, you may need to get as many details about the task as possible. Trying to clarify everything along the way not only negatively affects the quality of work but also makes the anxious person feel insecure.
Lack of specifics in the task is stressful because a person does not understand where to start. Thus, contacting a supervisor and clarifying uncertainties would be helpful. Many students, for example, feel uncomfortable asking for clarification and feedback from an academic supervisor during the lesson, but it is necessary. Try to arrange regular face-to-face or online meetings to discuss all the details and feel that you are moving forward.
Make sport great again
It is key to switch from one activity to another — for example, from physical to mental activity. So, when you go in for sports, restoring brain functions happens because of the supply of oxygen.
Try not to be hard on yourself
This is an essential tip yet the hardest one. None of the methods above will help if you berate yourself from losing your performance due to anxiety. It is hardly possible to achieve such a state of serenity when nothing disturbs you.
So learn to forgive yourself for missing a coursework deadline or not reading enough for the course or not visiting the library. You cannot always be as effective as you wanted. And remember: to be productive, you need to be able to have a good rest.
Conclusion
Researchers have determined loads of ways to ease the anxiety problem, and the tips in this article do not form an exhaustive list. But each person is unique, just like one’s needs. So if you use these techniques to face the anxiety and it does not go away — see a doctor. Thus, you can quickly understand yourself and solve internal problems. Do not forget that your health is the most valuable thing and that going to a specialist is an act that you do primarily for yourself.