Life can be so overwhelming sometimes! With so many demands on our time and so many sources of stress and anxiety, it can become so much that it feels hopeless and you just want to shut down. I've been there, and it sucks. Fortunately, I have a super easy method for making life stressors more manageable. Seriously, 8 easy steps. That's it. Just like popping bubbles.
Step 1
Find yourself a quiet space where you won't be interrupted, and take with you pen & paper.
Step 2
Scatter-plot all of the things in your life that are causing you stress.
Step 3
Review your stressors and circle each with a bubble that corresponds to the size of the stressor. The bigger the stressor, the bigger the bubble.
Step 4
Review again, and this time cross off any of those stressors over which you have no control, and let it go. Pop the bubbles!
Step 5
Now that you have your list narrowed down, you get to decide how you want to attack it. My two favorite methods are to go biggest to smallest, or from easiest to fix to hardest.
Step 6
Make a plan for how to make your stressors go away. You may want to work on one at a time, or maybe you can take out multiple stressors with one activity. Don't worry, there is no wrong way to do this!
Step 7 Take action on your plan, and reduce your stress and anxiety.
Step 8
Breathe deeply and enjoy that feeling of release.
When you are feeling particularly anxious, you can just do steps 1 thru 4. Even something as simple identifying the things you can control vs the ones you can just let go is enough to get recentered and help you through your day.
You've got this!
