This blog post discusses the three important reasons why you need routine for anxiety.
If you’re here reading this blog post, then there’s a good chance that you’re struggling with anxiety. I’m with you — I’ve battled with anxiety for the majority of my life. There have been many times when my feelings of fear and worry were all-consuming and controlled my every move. I’ve been in and out of therapy over the years, I’ve tried all the natural remedies like doing yoga or diffusing relaxing essential oils, but do you know what has helped me the most? Sticking to routine.
Routine for anxiety is key to healing. But why is that?
It’s because anxiety thrives on the unknown. It loves to fill your mind with a million “What if?” questions and fills in the blanks with the worst possibilities imaginable. Routine certainly is not the cure for anxiety, but it sure can help a lot because it allows us to have a sense of control.
Just as a quick reminder, anxiety is a feeling. Feelings are meant to be felt! You can still live your life no matter what mood you are in. The other great thing about feelings is that they fluctuate and are ever-changing. You won’t be anxious for the rest of your life.
Here are the main three reasons as to why routine for anxiety is so helpful:
1. You always know what’s coming next.
Life can feel like a series of unknown, scary events. Anxiety is different for everybody — your stomach might be in knots before a job interview, or you might have irrational fears that still feel very real, such as passing out while driving on the highway. Whether the anxiety you’re experiencing in any given moment is acute or chronic, following a routine can be extremely helpful. With so many unpredictable external elements in the world, you can always look to your routine for support. Routines can help reframe your focus about what you can control.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you’re watching the nightly news and a particular story sends you spiraling into a panic. Rather than let it ruin your entire night, you remember that you can continue on with your life and responsibilities despite how you’re feeling in the moment. You would then turn the TV off because you know you still need to take your dog for a walk, do your skincare, wash the dishes, and so on. These habits are certain parts of your day that don’t change. They will help ground you while you continue to take care of yourself and others.
2. You can rely on your routine no matter how you feel.
Let’s face it: There are some days when anxiety hits so hard that it feels unbearable. Anxiety puts us into survival mode. This is especially true if you deal with panic attacks. When it feels like you’re dying, the last thing you can do is think rationally. When you have a routine, though, you don’t have to: you just switch on autopilot and get to it. While it is nice to take our routines slow and romanticize each step when we’re in a better state of mind, they can be used as a basic outline on bad days to just keep things going.
I know how hard it can be to pull yourself out of a negative place. I struggle with this myself. I’m an Enneagram Type 4, so my whole personality is based off how I experience feelings very deeply. My feelings tend to rule my life unless I keep them in check. This is the main reason why I love and rely on routine — I have found that it is so much better to get up and stick to the plan rather than wallow around. This way, you’re still getting the things done in spite of unpleasant and uncomfortable feelings. A lot of the times you will end up feeling better, because you don’t have any to-dos looming over your head. Plus, the physical movement can sometimes get you out of whatever troublesome state of mind quicker.
3. You can make your routine as complicated or easy as you want.
When I’m super anxious, I tend to get stuck in a “freeze” state. This is when you’ll find me on the couch with my personal version of doomscrolling — getting sucked in by social media for hours on end. When I’m like this, I get very overwhelmed by the to-dos in my routine. Normally, items on my list named something like “Tidy up living room” are perfectly fine because I have the mental capacity to take on the broader term and sort it out as I go. But when just getting up seems impossible? I’ll break up my routine into granular steps. It might look something like this:
- Tidy up living room
- Collect and throw away all food wrappers
- Bring dishes to the sink
- Put tray tables away
- Fold up blanket on couch, put in blanket basket
- Rearrange and fluff pillows
This works extremely well because I can see exactly what I need to do under the original category, plus have small, quick wins as I check off each item and move through the list. If the idea of this drives you batty and you’d just rather start somewhere and pick up momentum that way, go for it. No matter your method, getting back on track with routine is key to riding out feelings of anxiety.
In Conclusion…
So you know that routine for anxiety is crucial, but you’re not sure where to start. Visit my blog post Building A Routine | The 5 Best Steps For Success to see how to build a routine of your dreams.
Remember: Anxiety is not the boss of your life! You are the boss of your life and you can do hard things.
This blog post was all about the important reasons to have routine for anxiety.
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