Leading Through Anxiety

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DEVELOP TECHNIQUES FOR SITUATIONS YOU CAN’T CONTROL

为你不能控制的情况开发技巧

Of course, it’s not always possible to turn off the future. What if your board (董事会) needs those cash flow projections in the next 30 minutes and you’re in a downward spiral? Here you’ll want to have tools that help you calm down quickly so that you can get your job done.

Find a mindfulness (关注, 正念) technique that eases your acute anxiety. Neurologist Victor Frankl famously said, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” This is mindfulness in a nutshell (简而言之，总而言之). Even if you are high on anxiety and short on time, you can claim the space in between.

There are lots of ways to do this; the key is to find what’s most effective for you. One option is to focus on your breathing. Belly (腹部) breaths are a classic technique. Others prefer what’s called “the 4-7-8 method.” Either is simple to memorize and subtle (微妙的，精巧的) enough to do at your desk. When you deliberately (故意的) slow your breath, it sends a message to your brain to calm down, and your brain then sends the message to your body so that many of the physical symptoms of anxiety — such as increased heart rate and higher blood pressure — decrease.

  1. 腹式呼吸，深呼吸
  2. 减慢呼吸

You can also shift your attention. Glass says this technique is “great for someone who doesn’t want to meditate but gets maladaptively (适应不良) anxious and cannot focus on anything else.” Focus first on your anxiety, and then slowly turn your attention to something tangible (有形的，具体的), something you hold in your hand, like a book. By concentrating on an object in the present moment, you can turn the volume of your worry down until it’s background noise.

If I’m full of anxious energy and unable to sit still, or if quiet breathing exercises don’t work, I like to loudly blast a favorite song and dance for five minutes. Some people like to sing instead. Experiment with what works for you and then keep that tactic in your back pocket for when you need it.

Compartmentalize (划分，区分) or postpone (延后) your worry. Sometimes I talk out loud to my anxiety, saying, “Sorry, I’m going to deal with you after I finish my work.” You may want to write the worry down and save it for a specific time — maybe later that day or your next session with your therapist.

In times of crisis you may actually find that things that worried you in the past fade into the background. The urgency of what’s happening in the moment takes over. To stop your anxiety from sneaking into the foreground (前景；最显著的位置), you might tell it, “You can stay where you are. I’m part of the solution here, and I need to get this task done.”

See you tomorrow