MY 100-Day English -30
Taking Action to Manage Your Anxiety
采取行动控制的你的焦虑
Once you make your way through these three steps, you can start to manage your anxiety daily in ways that allow you to grow as a leader and be more resourceful and productive.
The following tactics (策略) can help ground you (帮你打下基础).
CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN
控制你能控制的
Many faith traditions teach us to accept what we cannot control, without preoccupation (全神贯注) or panic. But in the middle of an anxiety attack at work, you probably don’t have time for philosophy. So here’s what to do when things feel completely off the rails (脱离正常轨道的，混乱的).
Structure your time. A solid body of research (大量研究表明) shows that improved “time management disposition (处置)” — meaning your attitude toward how you organize and value your time — has a positive impact on mental health. And it’s especially crucial when you’re gripped by anxiety.
First thing in the morning, create a to-do list and a detailed schedule for your day. I like to do it while having my coffee. You might use 30-minute increments to spell out (详细说明，将清楚) when you’ll shower, take a lunch break, make a phone call, or tackle that report that needs to get done. This is what many experts call “timeboxing.” While you’re at it, try to avoid what cognitive behavioral therapy terms “cognitive distortions (畸变，扭曲).” These are the catastrophic thoughts, self-judgments, and all-or-nothing ideas that often accompany anxiety.
Be careful not to overschedule or overestimate your productivity; instead focus on the critical work and leave time to take care of yourself.
Take small, meaningful actions. During the first few weeks of the coronavirus shutdown, traffic dropped drastically where I live. The local department of public works took that time to repaint (重新粉刷) all the crosswalks (人行横道). For a week, roads were halfway blocked off as DPW crews painted. It wasn’t a big deal because our normally bustling town was quiet. And each time I slowed down to drive past one of the crews, I smiled because it struck me (打动了我): This is their small, meaningful action.
When you feel anxious, an immediate task can easily become overwhelming. Take running a cash flow analysis for your business. When you open up the accounting software, your mind might go to a dark place, and all of a sudden a month’s worth of figures have spiraled into the business tanking and your losing your home. To break that mental spiral (螺旋；旋涡), take a small, meaningful action. If running a cash flow projection (预测) terrifies you, organize some receipts (收据) or clean up some file folders until the panic subsides (平息，补贴).
In general, focus on the near term whenever you can. You may not be able to tell your employees what will happen next year — or even three months from now. You can’t promise everything will be OK. But you can help your people be safe this week. Focus on that, and then deal with the big questions when you feel calmer or when you can get input (听取建议) from trusted colleagues. Sometimes you have to turn off the future for a little while and just manage through the present.
A solid body of research shows that: 大量研究表明
See you tomorrow
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