How I’m Tackling Anxiety in 2024
This simple exercise has helped me through daunting times
Happy late St. Patrick’s Day! How’s your 2024 coming along? Did you know that April (and quarter two) is right around the corner? 😱
Feeling anxious about how much you have or have not accomplished in 2024? Then keep reading — this post was written with you in mind!
Some Personal History
When I was a child, the word “anxiety” wasn’t part of my vocabulary. In fact, the state of anxiety was not something I was aware of until the younger generations took it to the next level in the ~last decade. Of course, the state of anxiety has always existed for humans, but it just wasn’t something that was talked about in my family.
What a revelation it was to discover the existence of this word, this emotion, this state of being that explained so much about my upbringing. Looking back, my parents were very anxious, although I would classify them as “high-functioning.” People outside of our family didn’t realize it.
I was anxious as well. I was anxious throughout my childhood and early adulthood. Now, in middle agedom, I can still have anxious moments, although not as powerful as before.
And I had no clue what any of it was until a few years ago.
When I think back, there were signs. I used to be a chronic nail biter. I fidgeted sometimes instead of sitting still. And it could be hard for me to focus because I was thinking about the endless worries I had instead of what was in front of me.
But I’m like my parents — “high functioning.” People who don’t know me well don’t necessarily know I’m anxious. They see me as a confident, empowered woman who doesn’t dwell too much on the little things. I’ve fooled them all! 😂
Once you name the behavior, though, you can tackle it.
So while doing research for new ways to strategize and plan for 2024, I came across a goal-setting and vision system that handed me a method. I adapted that method to my tastes and tested it out for a month. And now it’s my go-to process for when I’m feeling anxious. Since I’ve implemented that system, I’ve found I only need to use it ~once a month now.
It’s very simple. And it makes use of your planner. 🥳
My “Anxiety Dump” Process
When you’re having a bout of anxiety and need a moment of clarity, use this 3-step method to help calm your nerves. It will take ~15 minutes in total.
Step 1: take 5 minutes to do a full-on anxiety dump
Set a timer for 5 minutes. Grab a pen and paper (or use a computer if that makes you feel more comfortable). I find I only need one side of a ruled/grid/dot page with room for ~20-30 items. I rarely go above 20 items in one sitting.
Start your timer and go! Write a list of every anxiety that’s on your mind. Every worry you have. Every fear. Every thing that’s making you anxious right now.
Force yourself to take the entire 5 minutes for this exercise and STOP when your 5 minutes are up. Do not continue writing. You can always repeat this process.
Don’t worry, this list is for no one else but you. Be honest and true to yourself about your fears.
Step 2: take 5 minutes to turn each anxiety item into an action item
Restart your timer. Now go through your anxiety dump list and classify each item into one of two categories:
Something you can take action on
Something you need to let go
I usually strike out anything I need to let go. But use whatever method you’re comfortable with.
For anything you can take action on, write a little note next to it about what that action step could be. And if it will take a larger-than-usual effort, draft a list of all the steps you might need to accomplish. Or, if that makes you anxious, just make a note of the first step and go from there later.
Step 3: take 5 minutes to record each of your new action items into your planner, and with due dates
Finally, collect your action items and put them into your planner. I’m a bujo girl myself so this is easy peasy. I look through my list and start logging them into the Future Log or into the next week’s/month’s list of tasks. Whatever makes sense for you. You can even create a separate page weekly/monthly where all of your anxiety items are collected in one place so you can look back at them and action them in more detail later.
Make sure each action item has a due date, and it’s preferable if it’s sooner rather than later, as it’s clear that this anxious thing is keeping you up at night. You’ll feel better once you start tackling that fear. Over time, your worry may take a different shape, lessen, or disappear altogether.
Now repeat the above “anxiety dump” process steps 1-3 every time you’re feeling anxious
When I first starting using this method, I completed it every night for the first week. This is what I call my “initial learning process”. I made tweaks to the process. I also figured out how to use the proper words to describe my worries and fears. Finally, the first week helped me figure out how to action most of my anxieties.
After the first week, I felt so much better. I noticed a massive difference in my anxiety levels from that week to the next. I had action plans for 80+% of the things I was feeling anxious about.
Before the first month was over, I felt I needed to do my anxiety dumps only once a week, usually the Sunday night before a new week. The process was granting me more self-awareness and the agency to take control of my own fears.
Now I’m doing this exercise only on-demand.
Follow-up Task
There is one follow-on task that I found immensely helpful when I first started doing this exercise. I’m a huge proponent of self-awareness and data collection, and this will help you with your own self-awareness.
Follow-up task: keep all of your anxiety dumps and review them
One of the categories for classifying your fears I asked you to use is to let it go. This is easier said than done. You can’t just flip a switch and get over something that’s been bothering you for some time.
But again, once you name a behavior, you can tackle it. What I noticed during the first week of completing anxiety dumps every night was a pattern. The same set of worries came up three nights in a row. Of course they did, because I couldn’t easilly get over them.
Once I recognized how much space these things were taking up in my mind, I understood what I needed to do.
Depending on what the exact worry is, there will be different ways of dealing with it. I don’t have a one-size-fits-all answer for you, but I can tell you how I dealt with mine.
Two of mine were hurtful things based on how people had treated me. First, I quantified how much time I was wasting thinking about those two situations. I realized I could only control my reaction to them and not change what was already in the past. I also realized it wasn’t worth my time and energy to dissect everything that had happened. I could only learn from them and have a better plan for my reaction to these folks in the future.
Another was a situation that was completely outside of my control. That was easier to get over because I was wasting so much time worrying about something that either was or was not going to happen (and negatively impact my life). I had zero power over it. By the way, it never came to pass. So all that time I spent worrying was truly a waste.
And the final anxiety was one that I’m sure all of you pet owners can relate to. The end of each year marks the birthday of my fur baby. My senior dog is getting old. Each new year fills me with dread when I think about how quickly our time together is passing. Like with all of my fur babies, I worry about the day I will have to say goodbye to her. It’s going to happen. I can’t control it. It’s what we agree to every time we adopt a new dog. I will always have that anxiety in the back of my mind. But what I can do is make the most of our time together. I came up with ways I can better take care of her. Every day I spend quality time with her and ensure her health is the best it can be under my family’s care. She is happy. And I live in that happiness with her each day.
In the end, I convinced myself to let these four fears go. Before that week was up, I had moved on.
I kept all of my anxiety dumps for the first two months before discarding them. It was helpful to review them, find the patterns, and recognize how much progress I’d made.
Good luck! I hope this process helps you! ❤️
My Self Accountability
Alright, another month has passed and it’s time to do a check-in! Quick refresher on what this section of my newsletter is about: I’m doing a low-spend planner year for 2024. My budget for the year is $500.
Another month has passed. How was my unnecessary planner spend in February?
February was interesting. A situation I hadn’t thought of came up and it taught me something new.
What do you do when a once-in-a-lifetime situation comes up? Ok, I’m being a little dramatic. Planners aren’t life-or-death situations. But let’s say something completely unexpected happens and you have to make a timely decision that you couldn’t have possibly planned for?
Well, that’s what happened in February. One of my favorite planner cover makers of all time, LeCow, announced he was shutting his doors this year. Diamond’s family is moving onto bigger and better things. I couldn’t be happier for them.
I had to make a decision. I wanted to secure planner covers in my favorite leather (that no other shop has) in other sizes before his shop closed down. My finances could handle it, but this was a large expense and one that was unaccounted for when I designed my annual budget figure for a low-spend year.
I decided to go ahead and purchase those additional covers since I had the money for it. And I decided not to count that money toward my low-spend planner year budget. You may choose to handle it a different way and I don’t think there’s a right answer here. Because I had the funds to cover it in addition to my $500 budget, this path is what worked for me.
So, taking that into account, here are my adjusted YTD figures:
January planner spend: $64
February planner spend (remember, this was supposed to be $0 🤣): $104
Annual budget remaining: $332.00
February’s purchases were mostly spent on fountain pens and fountain pen ink. What in the world? I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but I rekindled my fountain pen obsession in February and it was for a new-to-me brand, the Majohn a1. I’m in love—these now take over the #1 spot in my arsenal. And they’re less expensive than my previous #1 fountain pen, the TWSBI, costing only ~$25-40 each.
I’m already halfway through March and I can tell you my spend this month is not $0! (because, more fountain pens 😂) But I’ll keep hoping to land a $0 month later this year! Otherwise, I’m not gonna make it. Anyone taking bets?