How to worry less in this aeon where worrying about all the things and matters which revolve around your life has become a day-to-day and habitual thing is definitely something really important. Speaking of myself, overthinking and worrying 24/7 about such trivial daily life matters was something I cannot help. But believe me, it brings nothing to your life but even more disappointments and frets, and the time you spend worrying about things is another whole worrisome thing. Which made me forsake the rule of how to worry less and enjoy life more.
Let me tell you what brings worries to your blithesome life. Usually, stress and worries start as a teenager, when your life is evolving and you happen to meet different people who love you or not and you indulge in different activities as well. You feel peer pressure, studies burden, heartbreaks, and multiple mundane things start to come around, this is where the whole new loop of worrying starts. Then comes late teens, where you get to cater to your thinking pattern which continuously messes up other people’s behavior too. You feel weary of handling other people’s opinions while your heart is racing because there is so much more that other people don’t understand and ultimately you forget to live more and worry less.
To our misfortune, stress doesn’t end with teenagers. Every step of our life has its own monsters and you can only beat them by keeping the journey of your life alive and learning how to worry less.
Here are a few key rules which will help you elude all the worrisome thoughts that bring all the chitter-chatter that clutters your head.
1- The key rule of how to worry less is that manage your day in order that you can tackle your stress easily.
This title might appear a bit strange to you but believe me this is one of the biggest hacks to cater to all the worrisome ideas that pop up in your mind out of nowhere, which is most of the time about things that are pending. Here is a stratagem to avoid all the fuss that occupies your mind all the time just because you have so much to do in your day.
2- You need to prioritize first to learn how to worry less
Means that try to finish the work or chores which brings about more stress. Here’s my example. What I do most of the time is that I procrastinate a lot and we all know how bad procrastination is for your mental health and abilities. And this procrastination does not bring any relief, instead, I waste my whole day worrying about the thing I procrastinate about. So, here is a tip. Eliminate procrastination from your life and try to do the task/work/chore etc. which is going to bother your if you will leave it unfinished or save it for the next day or at the end of the day. Finish it and lessen your burden otherwise it will add more stress and worries.
3- Take out an hour from your day and name it “worrying hour’’
Well, it is not as weird as it sounds but if you cannot help worrying all day long then this trick can work for you. Take out some time in your day, you can schedule your day accordingly. Preferably it should have to be an hour somewhere in the middle of your day. So that whenever a worrisome thought tries to mess up with your mind, you can tell your mind to keep all the worries save for the worrying hour, and meanwhile you can focus on the important stuff.
In that worrying hour, you can pray too. You can tell your God about the problems you are facing and seek solace. And in that worrying hour, you can go to your therapist as well. If you feel like things are becoming more intense and devastating then you can go for some therapy as well. Tell all your worries to your therapist and let it all out, it is way better than sitting all day long with your mind being preoccupied with troubling thoughts and you are unable to do anything with efficacy. If you are getting worried because you are constantly thinking about how to worry less, then this is an infinite loop from hell and you need to stop this as soon as possible through a credible source.
4- Jot down your worries.
If you cannot help thinking and worrying about all the stuff which ultimately ruins your day and nights. If you are constantly thinking about stuff that brings nothing but anxiety and nerve-recking notions then you definitely need to slow down. Put on some classical slow music, align your thoughts, and let your worries rush in. Think about all the things which have stuffed your head for a long. One by one let all the worries come into mind which have been bothering you for so long and jot them down one by one.
While writing each of your worries, list down the possible solution that comes in your mind as well. It will help you focus on the fact that at least you have some other thoughts to tackle your disturbing thoughts and ultimately it will help you worry less. Writing your worries or things that are disturbing has always been good therapy for ages. It can definitely help you heal and this is how you will worry less about everything. It will empty your mind, not much but at least for a day.
5- keep yourself occupied
If you are sitting alone and doing nothing then there are more chances that you will get to think about all the worrisome things. So, try to keep your hands and mind busy. You should keep yourself engaged in different sorts of activities that can divert your attention. It will definitely help you spend your entire day without disappearing into the puddle of old excruciating memories of past traumas and help you stop worrying about your future too. Try to discover your passion and stick to it.
Coming to my personal experience, whenever I fell prey to all the disturbing thoughts earlier in my life, I used to overthink it and dwell on all the negative thoughts that burst into my mind, eventually, I ended up being stagnant and could not help but felt useless. But now I try not to dissipate or misspend my energy on some useless disturbing thoughts rather I spend it on something productive, like writing articles, doing chores, running errands or if it still bothers me then I try to put my thoughts into a queue and jot it down in the form of any poetry piece. Try to execute your day properly, try not to sit alone for hours, and think about all the depressing stuff. Instead, accept it and move on with all the stuff that is waiting for you to get done.
6- Channel your energy into something creative and this is how you will worry less.
Everyone has this urge to create and explore, explore what is inside oneself. This exploration and gnosis have different phases of sensuality and how you perceive everything that you get to experience through all 5 senses or it could be by your sixth sense as well. It includes pain, pleasure, stress, anxiety, ecstasy, and any other physical sensation. Our mind processes all these feelings and tries to execute them properly because of this human urge to create.
Everyone in this world feels things either good or bad, we all feel it differently and we all have talents. If something brings worry to your life constantly, try to create something out of it something productive. If you can write, write out your worries. And If you can sing, make music out of this. How it will help you worry less? Isn’t it so solace-giving, seeing a person sitting in the other corner of this world can relate to you and it’s mythical. You can actually get to feel that you are not the only one who suffers from worries.
7- Try to divert your attention at that very moment when you feel like drowning in your puddle of worries.
If you are someone, who has been suffering from chronic anxiety or worrying for quite a time now then you need to do something about it. Try to interrupt or strew your worry cycle by instantly drawing your attention to something else. All your worries are stored in the subconscious of your brain and it can blanket your brain completely but as long as you have some control over your consciousness, you can wade them off by diverting your attention. Get indulged with some other work at the same moment you get to feel that now your mind is going to get burst. Put on some happy music, try to relive your happy moments, and rememorize them even if they belong to the same thing or a person that has caused hurt. Think about all those things that make you feel blithe and happy.
There is another rule which is very important to me, which has its own significance in my life. I don’t overthink things which are actually serious, rather I overthink or get worried about things which are important.”And this rule has lessened my many worries, I hope it will work for you too.
One of the reasons we all are worried these days is that majority of us are self-isolating ourselves. My friend Bethany has written a wonderful article on How to use your time effectively during Self-Isolation, do read the article, and let her know in the comments if you liked it.
