Have you ever seen people, who are into their thoughts all the time, walking like robots and not paying attention to anything? The thing is that they cannot live in the moment, as they are probably concerned about the future or the past. One day I realized I was one of them.

Every day I worried about a dozen different things. In the morning I used to wake up and worry about one thing and later on in the day the topics were changing non-stop. My body and mind were constantly distressed, but I didn’t even notice it as it was my habit, like a part of my daily routine.

And one more problem is that when person worries about something, they let the feeling of anxiety grow, it slowly turns into a feeling of panic and tortures him/her inside and out. This person will not be able to take control of anything and is distracted all the time.

So when I noticed that there was a problem, I actually started to search how to solve it. And I would like to give you some advice, which works for me:

1. Read the book “How To Stop Worrying And Start Living” by Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie was actually one of the first psychologists, who actually discovered this massive problem in society and created his own mechanism of how to sort it out. The book is easy to read, has great examples and many techniques to let go of worries and become more productive. 

2. Create a specific hour for worrying in your daily agenda

This is actually an amazing exercise. You should choose one specific hour every day (for instance, from 1 pm until 2 pm). During this hour you can worry about anything you like. So if you start worrying before or after this time, remind yourself that you have specific time for this. As a result, instead of worrying 24 hours per day you will learn how to worry only one hour.

3. Don’t go over past events in your head

Even if something was wrong, you cannot change it. I will give you an example. Let’s imagine a business meeting or any other important meeting for you. What was your behaviour after it? Did you keep thinking about all the things you’ve said some time after it, all the mistakes you’ve made?

If yes, then you should know that doing this takes a lot of your energy and exhausts your mind. Just try to stop thinking what other person might have thought about you or which mistakes you might have made. Because it doesn’t matter anymore. It happened. Whatever the result is, you just did your best.

4. As soon as you start worrying, just try to distract the mind

About 80% of our worries aren’t important, we tend to forget them. So if you feel you’ve started to worry, just switch attention to something else. Keep yourself busy either with work or with any other activity. You can also tell yourself that this was just a thought and it is not your reality. By doing so you distance yourself from the thought.

5. Worrying about small things leads to worrying about big things

This statement is the result of my personal observation. Do you know why this process happens? Because while you worry about less important things, you pay less attention to more important ones and are more likely to make a mistake, which you will worry about later on. So if you don’t want to spend the rest of your day in a chain of different stressful thoughts, just try not to start it. Cut it from the beginning by remaining calm and focusing your mind on pleasant activities.

I hope my article was useful for you!

Love,

Slava