Anxiety tends to exist in many of us simply as a subtle bias toward negative thought - this bias reinforces itself psychologically and environmentally until both are ruined, and there is no visible way out for the sufferer, who might also have to cope with panic attacks and other exhaustive physical symptoms. Any sufferer will understand the psychological claustrophobia that comes along with extended periods of anxiety. Normal tasks can seem gargantuan, and time appears to fly past to the point where you're left feeling helpless and unable to see any way out.
As someone who's dealt with anxiety for a long time, and suffered many of its side-effects - poor appetite, lethargy, neglecting responsibilities, clouded thinking, muscle tension, insomnia etc...I've come to develop many strategies to help offset its influence on my life. That said, the biggest realization I've ever made regarding my anxiety was that its cyclical nature is its weakness.
Therefore, you must exploit this weakness cyclically.
As in, take some time every week to carry out certain self-maintenance tasks that will help make your life much easier, so the cycle of anxiety is unable to perpetuate itself for that week. Eventually your "anxiety reservoir" will grow empty, and you will find yourself in a much more commanding position.
But where does one begin?
That's the problem right there - it's not that many of us don't want to fix ourselves, but that we simply don't know where to start - I'm talking right now. That's why I decided to write this piece in the first place, as something like this might have helped me out a lot during some of my worse days. So here they are, 10 self-maintenance steps to taking back control of your week.
Surrender - acknowledge that these are essential tasks. Acknowledge that in your compromised state it is better if you surrender yourself to this tried-and-true formula, because the fact is that this is how everybody else does it - those people who seem to have it all "together" are people who have mastered a similar routine over time, whether it be through teaching themselves or having good parents who instilled these habits into them as children.
Get off the sofa/out of bed and open the curtains - This is a simple one but an excellent starter. The change to your surroundings that open curtains brings will help your brain switch gears and hopefully accomplish all of the tasks on this list, and will help offset the urge to procrastinate.
Put down the junk food/drink - Take that can you're holding and pour it down the sink, then go fill a glass with water and a few ice cubes, and drink that instead. Personally, I've cut caffeine and added sugar out of my life altogether; it is poison to the anxious mind.
Go take a shower - showers can seem laborious to an anxiety sufferer, and at times I've spent longer than I'd like to admit without bathing purely because it seemed like too much work. But no, it's an essential and underappreciated task in anxiety recovery and the first thing you should do when you begin to feel your anxiety rearing its ugly head. This will become much easier over time, and after a while you'll understand that the soothing effect a warm shower can have far outweighs the work that goes into it. Also, remember to cut your nails
Put on a pair of clean, fresh clothes - Clean t-shirt, underwear, socks, the whole lot. This, combined with having taken a shower will help relax your body and mind further with the full peace-of-mind knowing that your body is clean. Also, who doesn't love the feeling of fresh clothes after a shower?
Do your laundry for the week Pick up enough clothes for the entire week and wash them - 1 complete outfit per day, Monday through Friday, and maybe some extra just in case. It will be a load off your mind knowing that there are clean clothes waiting for you each morning, and will help you maintain a good appearance.
Change your bedding - Fresh sheets, duvet covers and pillow cases will help you not only get a better sleep, but I find that even during the day, knowing that I have a clean, comfortable place to sleep is extraordinarily reassuring. Seriously, just go to the linen press and do this right now.
Set your alarms for the entire week - Doing this in advance means you can essentially forget about it - your phone alarm is your master now. You wake up when it wakes up. Decide on your alarm times according to whatever plans or responsibilities you may have during the week, but always try wake up at the same time every day.
De-clutter your surroundings - I'm not talking about a full scale cleanup (although I encourage it by all means), but grab a garbage bag and go round your room/dwelling and pick up any clutter that may be around such as food packaging. You can do this a few times during the day, and if you succeed in making a habit out of this it means your surrounding (and therefore your mind and body) will stay cleaner for longer, and require far less effort to give a good clean when the time comes around.
Go to bed early tonight - REALLY early - I'm talking 8-9pm; get yourself into that bed. Hopefully you're feeling much better after having taken care of the previous items, and have expended a good bit of energy, so getting to sleep should be much easier than usual had you spent all day sitting in front of the tv.
Thank yourself - Even if these tasks seem small you've just done a great service to all aspects of your being, but just because you're feeling better doesn't mean you can go rewarding yourself with sugary cola and junk food again, oh no...Your rewards need to start coming from within,
For God's sake, make a habit out of it - Can't express how important this step is, but can also appreciate how difficult it can be for anxiety sufferers to form such habits. The key, I believe, is not to think about it, by which I mean that if you treat this routine as a mandatory, non-optional part of each week and assign a specific time to it (see step 6), then after a few weeks you will no longer feel the need to push these tasks back, and may even start to enjoy your routine as I have.
Protip: Combine with step number 6 for best results, having a set time to take care of these responsibilities will make it even easier to turn this into a solid habit. Record how many weeks in a row you manage to keep up with all your tasks, and if you've been good for the month then maybe, just maybe you can reward yourself with that pizza and cola on a Friday evening!
That's it for another post for myself. In the future I hope to talk a lot more about anxiety and how I managed to get mine under control, so be a legend please upvote and follow me for more original content, curated content, thought pieces and blogs daily!