Every day starts with morning and I don’t know about you, but if I don’t manage morning anxiety I end up feeling like going back to bed!
How we begin our day can affect everything we do for the rest of the day. We can start feeling anxious, tired, overwhelmed and stressed and carry that with us all day.
If you are looking for ways to manage morning anxiety so you can have a better day ahead then this blog may help.
Here are 6 simple steps I’ve added to my own day that you can try to take control of your morning before it takes control of you.
You will find some changes may help right away, but used consistently they will put you more in touch with your needs and help you develop ways to manage morning anxiety and cope better, so read on…..
1. Set your alarm earlier to manage morning anxiety
Mornings can be difficult. I always find extra things pop out of nowhere or its harder because I’m already feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
To manage morning anxiety it’s crucial to recognise we always need more time than we think – so I always set my alarm earlier.
When I first tried this it was a struggle – I won’t lie! But I soon got used to it and it really helps. Just 15 minutes can make a huge difference.
Allow enough time to:
- breathe if you feel panicked
- eat breakfast
- sort out problems like laundry emergencies
- complete your normal routine
- plan your day
These are the basics.
Remember – the way you start your day will affect the rest of your day.
2. Before you get out of bed
For me, managing my morning begins before I even get up. Doing these things before we get out of bed helps us get set for the day and helps us manage morning anxiety.
- As soon as you wake drink a full glass of water and stretch
This will clear out the toxins that have accumulated in your system overnight and get your body moving again. You will feel more awake and alert straight away.
- Check in with how you are feeling.
Tired, stressed, worried, overwhelmed. Happy, excited, buzzing. Whatever it is just name it and sit with it for a moment before getting up.
- Check in with what you need
Maybe you need to find some calm or to talk to someone, maybe you need to find some clarity, whatever it is try to identify it.
- Think of ways you can meet that need.
Here’s some ideas:
- Meditate or journal for 5 minutes
- Talk with someone for 5 minutes
- Think of someone you can ask for help
- Spend some time in the garden for 5 minutes with your morning drink.
3. Spend 10 minutes planning your day
I find this is one of the most important steps to helping me manage morning anxiety and take control of my day – so don’t be tempted to miss it out.
- Make sure your tasks are not projects – break them down into steps that take half an hour or less.
- Prioritise, but if that’s too hard take the first 3 items on your list and ignore the rest till later. When you complete those then you can pick 3 more, depending on how much time you have.
- Don’t ever let any task become overdue – if you didn’t complete it, reschedule it to a new date.
- Plan in pauses and breaks – they are essential.
4 . Preparing for things that might sabotage your day
If like me you are someone who has struggled with anxiety you will find it easy to think of things that may go wrong! However it’s important to focuss on those things that are most likely to happen.
Here’s some examples: –
- Other peoples emergencies
- Plans being changed.
- Things taking longer than you think
Having a plan for how you will handle these things if they crop up can really help reduce our anxiety.
Dealing with other peoples emergencies
Other peoples emergencies can very quickly become ours if we don’t put boundaries in place.
Be prepared to:
- Say no.
- Offer a compromise
- Tell them when you can fit in what they are asking you to do.
What to do when things don’t go as we planned
Don’t get too hung up on your plans. If one of the things you need to do means talking to someone and they are not available, be ready to pick another thing from your list – do something different.
Listen to what you say to yourself when this happens.
Your inner voice might be telling us things like, ‘it always happens to you’ or ‘things never work out, whats the point?’
This can be a hard one to shift, but recognising what happens can help us to flip it and change it to things like, ‘Ok, I can’t do that today and that’s disappointing, but I can do this instead.’
What to do when things take longer than we expected
If a task we put on our list takes longer than half an hour we will know we miscalculated.
Often when we start to do things we have never done before we find there is more to it than we thought. But that’s ok. Allow it to be ok and take some time to re-plan.
Break the task down further. Do what must be done and reschedule the rest for another time.
Most importantly don’t beat your self up about it.
Be kind to yourself – you are learning and sometimes we need to try several different ways of doing something new.
5. Ways to manage morning anxiety when it overwhelms us
So with the best will in the world things can go wrong and we can end up feeling panicked or overwhelmed. This certainly happens to me.
Having simple tools to manage these things can help you to stay in the moment and prevent the anxiety from taking over.
I have 2 tools I use myself and give my clients which many of them find invaluable to help at these times, no matter what the cause. These are both easy to use and do in public places so they are ideal to learn so when something happens you can pull them out and do them.
Both of them work on giving your mind something to do other than worry or panic and to bring you back to the present moment.
Belly Breathing is a very simple breathing technique that you can learn and use whenever you need, wherever you are.
Learn this simple grounding technique to use anywhere. It can help prevent a panic attack.
6. Review your day
At the end of the day take some time to review how your day and your plans went and check in how well you were able to manage your morning anxiety.
I like to know what went well for several reasons
- To acknowledge and validate what I have achieved
- To remind myself that I can cope and regulate my feelings when I am under pressure
- To learn that I am not powerless when things go wrong.
I like to be able to recognise what didn’t work so well in order to :
- Understand what happened and why it didn’t work out –
- Recognise and integrate our learning – so I remember next time
- To understand that although something may have gone wrong, I survived and learned and developed tools that will help me do it differently in the future.
So there you have it...
We’ve looked at 6 steps you can take to manage your morning morning anxiety before takes control of you and your day.
We’ve considered things you can do to help you plan your day more effectively, prepare for things going wrong and handle your emotions and feelings of overwhelm to reduce stress and avoid panic.
Remember – your anxiety doesn’t have to control your day – you are not powerless and you always have choices
Further help
I hope you have found this blog helpful and if you would like to read more of my blogs have a look at my blog page by clicking <HERE>
If you need more help with managing your anxiety or learning how to value yourself and put your own needs at the top of the list get in touch by clicking <HERE>
If your feelings become overwhelming and you feel you cannot cope – talk to someone urgently about how you are feeling. Click <HELP> to be taken to advice about contacting listening lines for support.