How to Be Productive Amidst Anxiety
Stop anxiety from taking you out of FLOW or burning you out..
Thousands of resources already exist online on how to be more productive...
So, what am I adding?
Well, candidly speaking, I think most productivity tips online are BS. Why?
Because they make it seem as if productivity is the God of your life and all sacrifices must be paid for the sake of being productive at all costs. I remember in 2016 when I first started my journey, this is mainly what I was reading. At that time my only measure of a happy and successful life was based on how good I felt after a productivity session of me grinding myself away at my keyboard & screen for hours.
And then I looked back at my past and realized…
I’ve actually been “productive” for most of my life. But maybe similar to you, I just pieced it and figured it out together as I went along every day.
Taking strands of anxiety, too much coffee, too much stress combining them together into a moshpit of a familiar feeling I love and hate called “oh I was productive today.”
Here are 4 main concepts that have helped me be not just productive but also not let my anxiety come to the party too…
1. Understand It’s All About Brain States
Versus just objective time slots.
This concept is easily understood when you ask: How does it take one person 2 hours to work and get as much done as it took the person who took almost 2 weeks to complete?
I remember growing up as a kid I got bad grades in school.
Was it because I was stupid? No.
Was it because I had no desire or talent? No.
It’s because nobody taught me how to use my brain properly and learn how to manage my mind to actually put myself in different states of mind.
Different states of mind, that force you to be in the present moment.
States of mind, that relax and calm down your nervous system.
Moods, where you feel impenetrable and you block the world out.
All of this boils down to our basic neurochemistry.
Now, I’ve created separate articles and explanations for these habits but if you are new to this and want to learn how to use your brain properly, here are 3 steps.
1. Start eating healthy. Nutrition fuels your brain.
Wrong nutrition? Wrong brain function.
2. Mindfulness Meditation has been shown to rewire your brain and reinforce the growth of neural networks that help you be present in the moment.
3. Prioritizing Deep Sleep & regular exercise and moment are essential for cleaning, restoring, and powering your body and mind connection.
2. You Need Bumpers Or Else You’ll Crash
You ever rode bumper cars before? It’s those little cars at the amusement park that smash into each other with little rubber outlines on the edge to prevent destruction.
The reality is if you want a life minimizing anxiety we need to add our own bumpers in life.
Odds are, anxiety is already giving you a constant stream of energy, but it’s probably an uncontrollable form of energy that needs some bumpers to dial in.
Creating Time Based Boundaries: 8am before - no work at all. 9-9:30am - social time, messages, emails, etc. 4pm - social time again. 7 or 8pm - shut off all socials.
Focus On One Thing at a Time: Taking your attention and flailing it around like a fire hose may help you a little, but not give you long-term results. A way to overcome this is to focus on specific things at specific times. For example, I focus all my creative work in the morning times and leave meetings later.
Create a Plan When Anxiety Does Takeover: Be real with yourself. Depending on who you are, anxiety may arise on a daily basis. Create a plan for yourself on what to do when anxiety does show up. Personally, what helps at the moment when I’m anxious is going outside and walking, dancing or listening to music, calling a friend.
Because if you let it… anxiety will run you into the ground burnt out under the camouflaged disguise of I was just being productive.
A Note on Caffeine: A lot of the time we drink coffee unconsciously. 3-4 cups of day and next thing you know your brain feels overly used and tired but wired. I recommend drinking very small cups of coffee. 1-3 a day will give you more energy. Or seek a substitute like green tea or Magic Mind.
I’m excited to mention this podcast is sponsored by the World’s First Productivity drink. Imagine if Athletes have Gatorade, Creatives, Entrepreneurs have magic mind. I’ve been trying this stuff out for the last 2 weeks and I highly recommend it. No weird chemicals, no bad sugar, no stomach pain or heart issues.
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3. Manage Digital Social Anxiety
If you experience regular social anxiety…
You may notice in random moments throughout your day. Your brain might start to bring you back to thinking loops of social anxiety.
Oh, I wonder what he or she’s doing..
Oh, I wonder what this person is doing right now let me go check their Instagram story.
Oh, I wonder if this person is judging me, let me go to my Instagram story and scroll through the viewers and see if this person looked at it.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Next thing you know your brain is replaying these social situations that happened or never happened and it’s draining your energy, losing focus, etc.
Manage digital social anxiety, with first managing real-life social anxiety. Next, use the first bumper suggestion of this article to let your brain do that in specific moments.
🔥 Learn about my Screw Being Shy 45 Day Step by Step Affordable Program to Stop Shyness, Decrease Social Anxiety, & Rewire your Mind: www.markmetry.com/program🔥
If it gets too confusing and overwhelming, a good antidote to this is going for a walk outside, without your phone, or listening to a podcast, or just music, and forcing yourself to store your phone in your pocket away.
4. Negotiate With Yourself Because You’re Not a Robot
I don’t believe everybody should wake up at 4am.
I don’t believe everybody should hustle for 8 hours a day because an Instagram influencer with 3 million followers told them to do that.
I don’t believe everybody should be able to work nonstop for hours a day without feeling a bit tired, or lazy, or having a natural dip in your energy and focus.
What I do believe is that we are all humans.
While I love the level of prosperity in our society, it’s made many of us evaluate ourselves like robots. Only evaluating our worth based on how much work we were able to do or if we perfectly followed all the instructions our boss gave you during overtime.
You must negotiate with yourself. Almost like a loving parent with an overactive child who keeps asking “why?”
For example: While I’m writing this article, there’s a part of me that says screw this, this is hard, let’s just leave this for later and go outside and run around and have fun. Running around outside certainly seems like fun, but I know it will feel even better when I do that after finishing this article. Even better, what if I go outside in my porch and write this article outside? That sounds like a healthy compromise until I finish.
Negotiating with yourself is the ability to look at yourself like your best friend, and figure out what you want, and the best way to get there, that makes each part of you happy and content.
🔥 Learn about my Screw Being Shy 45 Day Step by Step Affordable Program to Stop Shyness, Decrease Social Anxiety, & Rewire your Mind: www.markmetry.com/program🔥
Have you checked out my podcast yet?
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Can I help?
Over the last several years I’ve devoted my life to helping introverted, shy, socially anxious creators, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and professionals move these mental health obstacles out of their life so they can get busy being their real selves in front of anyone.
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