How do you deal with your anxiety?

I think this depends on your level of anxiety. Startups are a rough place to be, due to the uncertainty. It's natural to feel a certain amount of anxiety if your income/future is not clear or could change rapidly. This type of anxiety is often the difference between perceived expectation ("what I feel people think I should achieve") and perceived control ("what I feel I can achieve"). For example, "my boss thinks I can sell 200 units, I feel I can sell 100".

This has to be divided from clinical depression/anxiety, as mentioned by @cnicodeme , who is totally correct when he mentions the need for professional help.

In terms of the first, more general anxiety of startups I would suggest a couple of "life hacks" I've learned that makes me feel much better when things are a little uncertain:

• Physical Activity Outdoors - walking, running, cycling, whatever, but just being outdoors, especially in forests, by rivers, up mountains helps me put things in perspective. I HAVE to add it to my calendar though and treat it like a meeting. Or it gets lost.

• Share how you feel - there's a Swedish proverb "sorrow shared, is half the sorrow, joy shared is double the joy". Don't be afraid to tell people you're struggling. Then let them help lift you up. We all need that sometimes. (Don't forget to repay the favor!)

• Learning to meditate - this was huge for my sleep. Headspace etc. are all free. Just try them, 10 minutes to let go of some bad thoughts.

• Clear up your space - just cleaning the house/desk/calendar/inbox makes me less anxious. If I'm procrastinating, I do this. It at least is productive.

• Eating right - junk food is tasty, but it definitely adds to my downward cycles. Sometimes I just force myself to eat a massive plate of steamed veg. I end up enjoying it and it usually helps me feel healthier and break the cycle.

• Cut out caffeine/sugar - not totally, but definitely only use them in the mornings. They f**k with my sleep, which makes me crazier.

Hope that helps dude!

Hi @arthanari.

If your anxiety is blocking you in your daily work and/or life in general (family, sport, etc), I highly recommend you to take the time to go see a specialist.

My wife is a psychologist and having anxiety blocking you means there is probably deeper things to let out. Discussing it/them with a specialist will help improve your situation, and let you get better.

I'm honestly recommending you to try it. My best friend had issues in the past, and feels way better since he started seeing a psychologist. There is no shame in doing it, absolutely not, and it will only make you get better.

Some good comments in that thread.

To add my 5 cents, you need to unpack what do you mean by anxiety -- not necessarily in this thread, but for yourself.

Some level of anxiety is natural and even beneficial. It's a way for our organism to mobilize. So sometimes you just need to acknowledge it and move on. Just find important WHY underlying what you need to do.

The problem might appear when anxiety is blocking you, i.e. you 'cannot' do something that, reasonably, you should be able to do.

And definitely see a specialist when you see that you cannot handle it yourself.

At least 1 hour physical exercise per day. Walking in the park will do.

It’s normal to feel lost when you’re entirely on your own and there’s no boss / authority to tell you what to do.

You will still be fine provided you apply some common sense to your decisions.

• talk to a therapist or life coach
• take one day at a time: don't think too far ahead
• exercise / gym everyday or every other day
• take breaks and do something you enjoy
• take time to appreciate that you're even here doing this

Write.

Set a timer for 5 minutes and just do the dreaded deed for 5 minutes.

Typically after 5 minutes you'll feel better, and keep going.

If you don't, hey, at least you made some progress and feel less guilty!

I get some general level anxiety when I find myself in a procrastination loop.

Here's what I mean. I know I should be working on my project (www.tribefive.me for reference) but for whatever reason, I procrastinate. And then after x hours, I realize I've completely wasted that time. But then I fixate on the time wasted which is just more procrastination.

The way I break out of it is to TAKE ACTION! Start small, and set a timer to work for just 30 minutes. Don't worry about the outcome of those 30 minutes, but focus on putting in good effort. During that session...don't check email, don't look at your phone, and don't let yourself get distracted. JUST WORK for 30 minutes.

In that time, you'll probably chip away at a small thing here and there. And then you'll feel a little better. And then, maybe you do another 30 minutes. And you'll feel a little better again.

I find that each time I make some sort of progress on my project, it holds the anxiety at bay. And when I procrastinate, then the anxiety starts bubbling up.

Hope that helps. Feel free to email me (jonathan@tribefive.me) if you want to chat more.

Cheers,
Jonathan

Well sometimes I can't work at day, so I do another things like play videogamesor watch tv series, then at night I work. I think social networks has a big part of this . Last years my level of anxiety is higher