5 Anxiety Hacks When You’re Worrying Too Much

From anxious to crippled to calm in five minutes? Believe it. The last thing you need is to feel hopeless or give in to your fears when you’re feeling anxious. It’s easy to overwhelm yourself with worry and doubt, which can make it difficult for your mind and body to relax without a bit of help from a few hacks.

1. Catch your thoughts

Observe them as though watching from outside of yourself. Be curious about what might be going through your head that might be making you anxious. What’s that voice trying to tell you? What is the worst thing that could happen?

2. Make a decision to see what happens.

Be the one who takes action, not the one who just reacts. Remember, it’s just your thoughts. Everything is okay. Do something or get up and do something instead of sitting there contemplating.

3. Worry Break

Whatever you’re doing, you schedule a 15-minute break to worry about every hour or two. This is a great way for some people to get it out of their system and refocus on what they’re doing. For others, it just makes the problem worse. This is one of those things that can work differently for everyone.

4. Take deep breaths and focus on your body

This really helps with anxiety because you have to stay present in the moment rather than in your thoughts about the future or the past when you do this.

5. Count to 3

This is a great way to just center yourself and take a step back from the situation. Just shut your eyes and count to three on your fingers, pausing at three.