Making Anxiety Productive: 6 Tips

Abraham Lincoln had it. Vincent van Gogh had it. Barbra Streisand has it. Whoopi Goldberg has it. Paula Deen and many more famous people have it. Anxiety is actually the most common emotional problem in the U.S. today. Anxiety is an off shut stress, affects more than 40 million adults, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America and sometimes progresses into panic disorder. Benzodiazepines, the medication for anxiety, are the most prescribed drugs for anxiety. Benzodiazepines are also the most misused and addictive drugs in America.

Types of anxiety

Social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder are the two most common types of anxiety disorders. Social anxiety disorder is the persistent fear of one or more situations where they’d be exposed to people they don’t know or possibly be judged by others. Generalized anxiety disorder is having excessive doubt, thoughts, or worry about everyday situations happening where there is no indication of something is about to go wrong. Studies have shown that 99% of all anticipations, doubts, worries as well as projecting into the future thoughts or over anticipating fears of the future from anxiety never come to fruition. 

Different study findings in France have revealed that the brain devotes more processing power to social situations that signal threats — especially in anxious people. In fact, anxiety is apparently the “sixth sense” for sensing danger, a possible threat or indicating when something is not right. 

Anxiety is being constantly nervous and afraid of things you can’t foresee or control. It is creating a mental shortcut to the worst possible scenario and intense, overwhelming anticipation with a strong need to control the future. Anxiety feels as though as if you’re living in a world of “what ifs.” By definition, an anxiety attack is experiencing a brief episode of intense, excessive, overwhelming anticipation, doubt, negative thoughts, or worries.

   

What are the Symptoms of Anxiety?

As a result of experiencing anxiety, your symptoms can be increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, trembling, sweating, stress, exhaustion, and adrenaline rushes. If you think about it, these are also some symptoms of experiencing excitement.

Anxiety is not a problem but a blessing.

Let’s change your mindset about anxiety. Anxiety can be both a curse and a blessing.  

Turn Negative Thinking Around

When anxiety is harmful, it leads you to project into future situations or upcoming tasks that you are fearful of and are experiencing feelings that you are no good enough to complete them. When you think your future looks bleak, your thinking will turn negative and cause you to decide not to go forward. 

In fact, anxiety causes you to get stuck in thought looping about future Scenarios and what will happen instead of living in the moment. You end up miserable, feeling overwhelmed, stagnated on reflecting on how situations in your past went wrong in the past, and ignorant of possibilities that are another way. 

Positive Thinking

On the other hand, when anxiety is a blessing and recognized as one, you become filled with motivation, desire to put tasks or projects in your life into action and drive to complete. Anxiety can help you to be more focused. Not feeling stuck or trapped and looking forward to things changing for the better. Anxiety should cause you to look toward the future. To help you to plan a time when all of our goals, problems, projects, and tasks will be completed and out of the way. If you think things will get better, things will get better. Like when you start a new job, when a goal or project will be completed, or when you are able to pay off significant debt. It is anxiety that gets you to do what you need to do. Not stop you. The higher the level of stress you experience the more your inner self is beseeching you to make a decision, stop predicting and make a move in what is going on in your moment.

Change your mindset about anxiety, change your life. Change your view of anxiety as a productive tool, not a pathological burden. Anxiety can be a blessing that can be then taken advantage of for you personally and your life. Anxiety can be a useful mechanism and make you more have drive, motivation and mostly more productive.

Anxiety is a natural pathway for your body to message you.

Actually, anxiety is a message from your body, mind, and spirit that you need “to do something.” Anxiety indicates that you are either stuck, trapped, not performing or procrastinating on life things you need to do or deal with.  Anxiety is telling you that you are in a situation in which you need to make a move, something is going to happen soon in the moment, or something important is coming up which you need to prepare for, not avoid. Anxiety is actually imploring you to not ruminate, doubt, or just worry about something that will probably never happen in the future. The anxiety message is strongly encouraging you to “do” rather than “not do.” You have the ability, intelligence and strength to make a significant change in how you relate to your anxiety. Maybe it is as simple as shifting your mindset.

A significant part of all this learning is to make your anxiety productive and positive. Listen to your body. Learn to trust the information you anxiety is attempting to send you. Understand you can’t be whole and productive unless your head and body are connected. Without the connection can’t you can’t mentally receive the message from to your anxiety.

Productive Anxiety can increase and benefit your:

Mindfulness

Fluidity and Clarity of Thought

Creativity

Open Awareness

Enhanced Emotional Health

Positive Attitudes

Focus

Alertness

Improved Performance

Intuitiveness

Afterthoughts

Here are 6 tips to help you make anxiety productive and positive:
    
  1.  Just stop what you are doing and take two deep breaths.

  2.  Stepping back and distancing yourself from a negative 
       thoughts, overwhelming issues, difficult tasks or burdensome
       problems will help you to clear your head of anxiety, doubt 
       and worries.

  3. Take a time-out. Practice yoga, listen to music, meditate, 
      get a massage, or learn relaxation and breathing techniques 
      to assist you in determining how to be in the moment.

  4.  Get in tune with your body (through physical exercise,                     meditation, or intuitive exercises) and invest in doing 
       healthy things.

  5.  Remain open to messages when you experience anxiety.  

  6.  Take stock of yourself right now in the moment.                    

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         Coach Bill