Anxiety management

Do we actually listen or spend more time 'thinking' about our reply to that person? 

 

Do you mind if I highlight some of the areas you could be faced with that are 'bothering you'? 

 

PRODUCTIVITY GUILT 

Now more than ever. there is so much noise available at our fingertips; social media, friends whatsapp groups, the media & news outlets. 'Do it this way, this persons doing this, don't do it this way'. Quite frankly, it's overwhelming to say the least. Sometimes I just want to be able to wake up and not feel the pressure of having to 'do' and more just go about my day. 

 

I'll be the first to admit, I have a big fear currently in the fact I simply have more hours on my hands during the day and week overall, I've gone from 40/50 hours coaching sessions per week, not to mention the other hours of running the business, classes, mentoring calls and so on. This has been a hard pill to swallow for me that I'm now having to think about spreading some of the work out over these hours and creating new project ideas ready for when we re-open. I'm almost having to justify to myself that it's ok to have time to walk the dog, to finish an hour earlier, to train a little longer. This is a hard pill to swallow that out there somewhere, someone is working a lot harder than me! 

 

The same applies to you, you're probably seeing these people absolutely smashing lockdown 3.0, training every day, tracking their food, dropping body fat and you can't even decide what you're having for tea tonight. Remember, it's ok to not have a plan straight away. 

 

Try this: 

Structure your day into 4 sections 

-Work/job / Health and fitness / Personal Development (studying, headspace, chilling) / Social/family. 

 

Apply your tasks to these days. What do you have to get done today to make progress 1 day at a time? 

-Home schooling / 10k steps / Plan the days meals / Track food / Read your favourite book / Work / Watch some netflix with the fam 

 

Make a list of no more than 6 things to achieve for that day. Too much and you'll lose focus and interest. Setting small, realistic and achievable tasks are way more beneficial than setting 15 and losing your s*** by 11am. If you get anymore than 6 done then great, I call this under promising and over delivering. 

 

Remember this, you're doing what 'you' can do. Everyone's situation is different. Don't forget that. 

 

STRESS/EMOTIONAL EATING 

We're in an environment right now that ultimately takes away any instant gratification or rewards. What's actually going on that we have to look forward to or get immediate rewards from? Nothing really, apart from food perhaps, or alcohol? Now i'm not saying we shouldn't have these things, however realise they are right now what seem more desirable than anything else, let alone a good situation. 

 

The trigger could be the onset of negative thoughts, fear, lack of daily structure, no clear path of where the end is. As humans we need something that's going to give us that gratifying feeling to help ease that fear and pain. What better way to do that than with some lovely food or drink? 

 

I'm not saying don't eat these things, I'm saying manage what amount you consume of them. I specifically programme 200/300 calories into my day to account for these sorts of foods. Not just for trigger reasons, I actually enjoy them & I want to be able to eat them whilst still dropping body fat. 

 

If you feel however this isn't possible and you'll over consume and not be able to control yourself, highlight that these are what we call 'hyperpalatable' foods. The ones you can't stop eating once you start. Make sure you don't buy it in, make sure it's out of sight or thought if it is in the house. 

 

Breathing techniques work an absolute treat. Try this! 

Get yourself comfortable, sat down or laid in bed, keep your eyes open and have a soft focus in the room; take a breath in via the nose for 4 seconds & slowly exhale for 4 seconds, repeat this 10 x. When on the 3rd exhale, slowly close your eyes and repeat for the rounds set. How does that feel? Worse, no different, or better? 

 

SOCIAL ANXIETY 

Are you worried about how you're going to be able to slot back into normal life once restrictions are lifted? I certainly am! 

 

I find myself not being able to give eye contact on family facetime calls, what's that about? 

 

Find yourself something that will still make social aspects of your life more bearable. We are longing for human interaction, for late night talks, drinks with friends, eating out. All the good stuff and in reality we just can't have it. We have online interaction at our fingerprints right now. Make use of it. Facetime, facebook groups, whatsapp groups, instagram stories, zoom, teams. Make use of them. Get social and talk. 

This isn't going to last forever, although right now it seems like it. 2/3 months from now we'll be heading back into some form of normality and that's what we have to look towards. In the meantime, this is what we're dealing with. Why not make use of it to progress and improve on the things you wish you could? 

 

Look at the situation from a different perspective. Rather than seeing all of the bad, what does the good look like? Don't tell me you can't find any. How good does that feel to think about something happy? Do more of that! 

 

Take your time, take it day to day and remember, you're doing your best.