My anxiety level always peaks about a week before an exam. Thoughts race through my mind: "I haven't studied enough", "I haven't even covered 50 topics yet!", "Everyone else is probably studying so much harder than me right now, I'm so behind".... it goes on and on...
Why do we do this to ourselves? We let the part of our mind called our "Observer Self" run amuck and fill our heads with negative thoughts. Everyone has experienced this phenomenon at some point - the negative commentary going on: questioning what we are doing, how we are doing it, and telling us why what we are doing isn't good enough. Giving in to these unproductive, negative thoughts plays havoc with our concentration, anxiety levels and ultimately, our productivity.
What if we had ways to push these thoughts away? In my experience, when you are able to take control of your Observer Self, you can better control your mood, emotions, energy and efficacy.
Among the hundreds of different techniques to reduce anxiety (hundreds of books have been written on this topic!), here are a few ways that I personally find helpful to control my Observer Self, and therefore my anxiety.
1. The "STOP" sign.
When I'm feeling really anxious, (eg. worrying about a test I wrote and all the "answers I got wrong", ruminating about how the future will look if I fail, concentrating about all the little things that I have forgotten or missed), I find the only thing that will break my cycle of negative thoughts is to envision the word STOP written on my palm, and I envision it right in front of my eyes. It may help to even place your palm up to your face for the first few times, until you can really visualize it.
This may seem silly, but it actually works. What it does is it makes you realize that your Observer Self has taken over. It breaks the cycle, and allows you to think of something else. Now you just have to turn your thoughts around - think of something positive, think of something you have done right. Then move on, try to get on with your work.
2. Deep Breathing or Meditation.
This is also a way to control that inner self. The purpose of deep breathing if to focus on your breathing to break the cycle of negative thoughts. With meditation, the purpose is gradually control your thoughts to the point where you can have a second (even just one!) where you have no thoughts at all. The process is long, but people who have mastered it have nothing but good things to say about it. They report lower anxiety, better control of negative thoughts and even less migraines.
If you want to start with breathing exercises, try visualizing a hill. Imaging the numbers 1 to 4 going up the hill, and then 1 to 4 going down the hill. You should concentrate on these numbers while you breath in and out. Count and visualize 1 to 4 while breathing in, then 1 to 4 while you breath out. Do this a few times, until you feel calmer. Again, this might take some practice.
3. Distraction
When my anxiety gets the best of me, and the STOP and breathing don't help, another thing that works well is Distraction. This is when you stop what you are doing, and do another activity completely unrelated to what is causing anxiety. This may seem counter-productive, but in the long term, it is better to get your thoughts in order, out of the negative cycle, and then get back to work once your anxiety level settles down.
This is the same technique that is used for people who stay up, lying in bed all night worrying about things, whose brains can't seem to shut off. It's best to get up, do something else, then get back in to bed once until you have gotten that "Observer Self" under control.
Distractions can be anything: watching a TV program, reading a book you enjoy, baking, working on a craft project, exercise (maybe not before bed!), taking a bath... Anything that you enjoy doing, that will help focus your thoughts and break that negative cycle. If you can focus your mind enough to read a book and enjoy it, then ultimately, you have successfully distracted your Observer Self.
Reading Harry Potter, Baking Cupcakes and watching British period dramas always help bring me back to reality.
Cupcakes are also a great way to reward yourself after you are productive. Read a couple of chapters - eat a cupcake! Win-Win?
Back to studying...
Cara
xox
[Of course, these are only a few tips to reduce anxiety. If you are having persistent symptoms of anxiety and find that your anxiety is having a negative impact on your personal, social or work functioning, please see your doctor.]
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