How to stop being anxious about your task list

Your task list can become a source of anxiety.

It is easy to think about it when you're supposed to be relaxing or sleeping. It an feel like your thoughts are bouncing off the inside of your skull. Never able to escape.

And you can't your task list off your mind.

In this brief article I share one way of addressing this.

A wise man once explained to me that we need to use our head, heart and hands in equal proportion.

This made perfect sense to me. Sitting at a desk for hours means we are in the habit of getting out of balance with too much time spent thinking (using our head).

And the arrival of anxious feelings or whirring thoughts is a sure sign that we need to rebalance and start using our heart or our hands.

I recommend going for a walk in the most 'natural' environment you can find that is also convenient for you. In north London whwre I live that means a local park.

Spending at least 20 minutes walking soon eases those thoughts as you reconnect with the world.

To get the full benefit it is also important to pay attention to the natural world. That could mean looking up at the skies (a real antidote to looking down at the phone), the trees and the birds. And using all of your senses to engage really connects you to the world and reality. Away from the thought pinball of your head.

This is using your 'hand's or doing as opposed to thinking. Sometimes it is appropriate to use your heart or feeling - this is something for another time.

However... if you connect more deeply with the natural world you may well recognise feelings coming up - being in awe of the clouds; feeling the joy of the birds as they skim across the sky; simply enjoying the sensations of the sun or the rustling of the trees in the wind.