3 Things You Can Do in the Moment to Reduce Anxiety

Over this past weekend, I announced that I was blocking out Mondays on my calendar for private (completely pro bono) coaching sessions for high-level leaders (you can book one of those for yourself right here). It's the best way I know to support the folks who are helping to hold our supply chain and large organizations together during these tumultuous times. Yesterday, I held the first of these Monday meetings.

Leaders, I hear you. You're overwhelmed. You're exhausted. You've been answering questions to which you may or may not really know the answers for the last three weeks. You've been picking up the slack for team members who have taken leaves of absence or are ill. You've been trying to keep everything going.

But the thing I heard more than anything else yesterday was, "I keep waking up at 3 or 4 AM with my mind racing."

That, my friends, is anxiety.

I can relate. In the 2008-2010 Recession, I suffered from intense anxiety. As things improved, I was able to manage my anxiety, to the point where I hardly felt it at all. Until about three weeks ago, when I noticed that old, familiar feeling returning.

This is a time of unprecedented stress and strain on all of us. We're all coping with different levels of fear, uncertainty, worry, and whether your focus is keeping it together for your team and organization, trying to figure out how to balance your life, when the boundaries between work and home are suddenly gone, or keeping your family healthy and safe, the effects of the strain are the same.

Feel your feelings.

It's important that you let yourself feel the grief of this moment. It's okay to feel bad, and you don't have to push it away, at least not in the down times. But if you're someone who's leading a supermarket chain, a healthcare organization, a delivery service, or a major supply chain organization, unfortunately, you may not have the luxury of feeling all the things right now. Frankly, most of my leaders in every organization - even those that aren't deemed "essential services" - are saying they barely have time to stop and think.

Welcome to triage.

In those times when you need to focus or when you need to sleep (and sleep is mission critical right now), what can you do in the moment to reduce anxiety? Here are three tips that I hope will help you:

1.    Resituating.

If you find yourself worrying about the future, you need to resituate yourself in the moment. What’s happening or not happening right now? If you're worried about your family getting sick and that's what's keeping you up at night, ask yourself, "Is my family sick right now?" and "Am I taking all reasonable precautions to keep them safe?" If the answer is "They're not sick and I'm doing everything I can do," then try to keep your attention in the moment of "The bad thing is not happening right now."

2.    Refocusing

If you’re focusing on problems, refocus on solutions. Sometimes refocusing is a matter of adjusting the way you think about something. So you’re not just thinking about "We don't have enough people," or "We've lost so much revenue, how will we ever get out of this?" but instead, "What do we need to prioritize right now?" Solution-oriented thinking is much more empowering.

It's also important to realize that sometimes you need to refocus your attention on something else entirely, because right now isn't the time for work. Despite how you're feeling, you need to take breaks, and you need sleep. So now may be the time to refocus on things like meditation, progressive body scan, naming objects in a room, thinking of all the colors you can list, for example.

3.    Redirecting

Redirecting is basically distraction. It’s a perfectly acceptable thing to do right now, especially in the middle of the night. If the other strategies on this list aren’t working, and you need sleep, a little distraction may be helpful. You may find it helpful to periodically listen to a podcast or watch a dumb TV show. It will redirect your attention to something not related to your stress and let you relax a bit.

When I find myself awake at 4 in the morning, thoughts racing, if I'm really awake, I'll pull up a boring TV show or podcast that I'm not likely to get invested on my phone (note: screen brightness turned all the way down or just turn your phone upside down so the light doesn't bother you). I'll listen a little, but concentrate on letting my body relax, muscle by muscle.

Any of these strategies can be used during the day as well, though one of my favorites for daytime is just being mindful of where in your body the most tension is and trying to relax that tension.

One last thing: during your down time (what little there is), try to get outside - every single day - and walk, for as long as you're allowed to do so. If you can avoid social media and news before bed, definitely do that. And, spend quality time wherever you can with friends and family - over Skype or Zoom or whatever allows you to see the faces of the ones you loved. This will help you remember why you're working so hard and what you're trying to protect.

Most importantly, take care of yourself, your family, and your team, and know that you are not alone.

And, if you'd like to take advantage of one of my pro bono Monday calls for leaders, it's quite simple: book one here. We can talk about your anxiety, your team, your stress...and it's fully confidential. I'm here to support you.