There.
You've probably heard this before, but as a recovering control freak, I can assure you- this is it.
Please read on- I can prove this to you!
If you are wondering what I mean- I mean exactly what I said (or wrote, in this case).
Stop driving yourself crazy by constantly thinking about all the things you have to do.
Right now you are in class, at work, driving, etc . . .
Chill.
I learned this a couple of weeks ago when I was so stressed that the only option I had was to tell myself that I would get to those things when I would get to those things. Instead of stressing the whole weekend while at home, about school-related matters, I simply let all of those stress-inducing thoughts go.
Let me explain to you further. After understanding my situation, I don't think that you will feel the need to question whether this method is valid.
School gives me the most anxiety/stress out of all the facets that comprise my life. So much so, that I would spend vast amounts of time planning my week. I would schedule every minute of every day, numbering what I planned to get done first, second . . . (Realize just how absurd this was- I would both write down the times I would be working on each task, and then number them. Why number each task if they are already organized by time of day?)
I would waste so much time doing this, that I could've gotten a single task done in that amount of time.
I finally came to the realization that this was anxiety infiltrating my life.
Planning your day is one thing. Giving each task a set start and end time (knowing that you most probably won't end up doing those things according to those times), on top of numbering each task and getting OCD about even naming each task- that's not normal.
However, I realized that that anxiety was developing itself in another form- obsessively planning. In the back of my mind, I knew that this approach to life was unhealthy and crazy, but I was afraid to stop because I felt that it gave me control. I believed that if I stopped meticulously planning everything I planned to do, that I would lose control of the path that I was building for myself. This makes sense- people with anxiety are afraid and want to feel some sort of control over what will happen to them. This was my way of "taking control," when in reality it was controlling me.
Going back to my realization, it was when I was on my way home from college when I didn't have my planner open in front of me. My nagging thoughts were giving me a headache, but at that moment there was nothing I could do about the upcoming assignment or the event I had been working on (which by the way was a while away, and I was still stressing about it).
And so I stopped thinking about all of it. I just let it go. I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing- had already started the assignment, answered emails pertaining to the event and already set the logistics of the event in place. And anything else that needed to get done, would get done when I would get around to it.
I have been using this tactic ever since. I started feeling the same anxiety before writing this post. Stat homework and assignment due Wednesday. I'm fine. I have so much time. I simply stopped thinking about it.
And the best thing about it is that when I let it go, the stress dissipates. It melts. Because you consciously make the decision that you are not doing whatever you are stressing about at the moment and that you will do it later. It might not get done at this exact second, but it will get done.
I don't think that I did this tactic justice with this blog post. Try it out for yourself. Just simply stop trying so hard to balance everything. You will get to it. Just stop nagging yourself.