I know I have talked briefly about Calendaring before, but I wanted to be a but more specific this time and giving you all the steps. I love the idea of Calendaring for those who feel anxiety. It takes all those things that are in our brain or on our To Do list gets them into our calendar so that we don't have to be worrying about all those things anymore. So here are the steps I want you to do.
1. Write all the things you need to do on a piece of paper. Everything. Even if it is something we need to do that is years away or just hours away. Choose to write absolutely everything down. Then think some more and write more. Just get it all down. All of it. This may seem really overwhelming the first time you do it. There will be so much. Just get it all down and out of your brain. Now I want you to do this once a week. I choose to do it on Sunday nights because that is when I have time set out to do it. You may want to do it on Monday morning. It doesn't matter just whatever works for you. The more you do it the smaller your list will get. The first time will be a lot.
2. Now look at your list and be sure you want to do everything on your list. You don't have to do any of them. You need to choose that you want to do them. Cross off anything on your list you don't want to do.
3. Next take everything and put it into your calendar. Assign a day and time for everything. Get it all in. I want you to also decide how long everything will take and assign a time for each item in your calendar. Don't tell me you don't know how long something takes to do, you do know, or figure it out. This way you decide how long you will spend on each thing and stick with it. That way you will be more productive on this time that is focused on what you need to do. You can hyper focus during that time.
4. Now get rid of your list. You don't need it anymore. You have everything in your calendar.
5. If you have something that seems big to do, break it down so it doesn't seem so hard or overwhelming to your brain. Say you need to work on a big project but you keep putting it off. Get it in your calendar and the steps could be 20 minutes before you need to start, gather the things you need to work on the project. Fifteen minutes before get yourself setup at your station. Ten minutes before get your phone out away so you wont get distracted. Five minutes before grab a drink. That way you are breaking down the steps building up to getting stuff done and your brain can plan for it and get there with you.
Remember now to stay true to your calendar. I know that it seems like it takes a long time to do this process but in the end you will have so much more time available to you. Don't forget to plan your free time also and your fun time. Planning is so freeing and fun! If you have a teenager or young adult in your life who would benefit with strategies to reduce their anxiety, click the button at the bottom of the page to book a free mini session with me to learn how.
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