Leverage Your Anxiety to Overcome the Uncertainty of Transition

With political transition hours away, sequestration hanging over our heads and budget cuts on the horizon; federal employees are in a period of intense uncertainty and anxiety. Author Elizabeth Grace Saunders offers tips for leveraging that anxiety to get focused and keep moving forward, despite the uncertainty ahead.

It may seem odd for me to encourage you to “leverage anxiety.” Isn’t anxiety bad or simply some sort of mental weakness?

Well, yes, and no.

On the one hand, anxiety separated from reality can have all sorts of counterproductive effects like causing you to shut down under pressure or to frantically throw yourself into an activity. We don’t want to allow emotional compulsions to control us so in these instances working on your mental game with positive affirmations or meditation can really help. 

But when anxiety rises in you based on the recognition of a true problem, you shouldn’t ignore it, but leverage it.

I recently wrote a guest post for the99Percent.com on how to use Past, Present, and Future Focus to not get overwhelmed by big projects.

Leveraging Anxiety over Past Focus:

• Big Picture: If reviewing actual numbers from past projects makes you anxious about your current project, this is a sign that you may need to ask for a deadline extension or extra support.
• Day-to-Day: If you evaluate your weekly progress and start to feel anxious, that’s a signal that you need to start allocating more time to your main project or push yourself to move through it at a faster pace.

Leveraging Anxiety over Present Focus:

• Big Picture: If looking over your weekly or monthly schedule raises your anxiety, see what other responsibilities you can eliminate or delay until later. Even if you’ve already agreed to something, it’s often better to back out early than to try to do everything and let everyone down.
• Day-to-Day: If your daily progress (or lack of progress) causes you stress, do whatever it takes to get focused. Go to an Internet-free location, install blocking software or uninstall tempting programs, turn off your phone, listen to music, and use this anxiety to lock you in on your goal.

Leveraging Anxiety over Future Focus:

• Big Picture: If thinking of what comes after you finish your big project makes you anxious, you may need to start doing some exploratory research. It could be as simple as talking with someone who has done what you’re doing before or thinking through the big picture steps of what will need to be done. Try to identify what actually makes you afraid and to address that fear directly.
• Day-to-Day: If you’ve mapped out the next micro-level steps and you still feel afraid to execute, it may be time to get someone to help you do the work, teach you a new skill, or at least give you feedback. If you don’t know what you’re doing, admit it and get support.

Over the course of writing my book, I’ve experienced anxiety in all of these areas. But instead of denying my anxiety, I’ve leveraged it as a powerful force to take the steps that would drive me toward my goal and reinstate my sense of inner peace.

I hope you find these insights helpful in staying focused and moving forward during the coming period of transition and uncertainty. 

“Getting rid of all traces of anxiety would be like successfully dismantling your house’s security system. Yes, things are quieter and more relaxed, but you won’t know you are in trouble until it’s too late.“

~from “Good Anxiety–and Bad” in Psychology Today

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the author of The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success With Less Stress and is the founder of Real Life E Time Coaching & Training. For more time investment tips, check out www.ScheduleMakeover.com.

(Image via Dbrus/Shutterstock.com)