What if the difference between feeling stifled by anxiety and thriving despite it was as simple as building positive habits?
We are all made up of habits – some good and some bad – that affect how we feel about ourselves and our capabilities.
A habit is a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.
What would life look like if you designed a specific set of habits that help you succeed in managing your anxiety? Tiny steps and adjustments that helped you reach wellness goals, reduce anxiety levels, and manage remaining stress.
James Clear, the author of best-selling book Atomic Habits, explains habits as “the compound interest of self-improvement.”
Habit building and wellness go hand in hand. Wellness, funny enough, is considered an active process of pursuing a more healthy and fulfilling life, therefore, the compound interest of self-improvement.
This article outlines 9 thought-provoking habits that take as little as 5 minutes to consider exploring when building your own anxiety management plan.
If you want to build a customized list of wellness habits to help manage anxiety, this anxiety tracker and goals builder guide is a great place to start.
9 Daily Habits to Manage Anxiety
1. Morning Movement
When: Every Morning
Time to Complete: 15-60 minutes
Exercise releases feel-good hormones, like serotonin, that naturally boost our mood and relieve anxiety.
Whether it’s hitting the gym for a 6:30 workout or taking your dog on a walk around the block, morning movement is an excellent habit for an early morning mood boost that carries throughout the day.
2. Gratitude Journaling Once a Week
When: 1-2 Times Weekly
Time to Complete: 5-10 minutes
Science suggests that gratitude journaling one to two times a week can make a significant impact. Gratitude changes how we perceive our experiences and help us feel more positive about our lives.
Sound like something you want to try? These gratitude prompts are a great place to start for eleven simple 5-minute journaling sessions.
3. Weekend Meal Prepping
When: Weekly (preferably on the weekend)
Time to Complete: 60-120 minutes
Our nutrition plays a massive role in how we feel. Eating certain foods fuels different chemical production in the body, which ultimately affects our mood and brain processes.
Meal prepping helps us stay on track with eating healthy for the majority of the week and help reduce stress during the week by eliminating the stress of having to cook.
I typically meal prep on Sundays for the lunches and dinner during the workweek. This article contains a list of mood-boosting foods that may be beneficial to incorporate in your meal prepping.
4. Daily Mindfulness Meditation
When: Daily (preferably in the morning)
Time to Complete: 5-30 minutes
Mindfulness helps us build a positive, non-judgemental awareness that aids in healthily managing thoughts and feelings. A formal meditation practice helps cultivate mindfulness in everyday life.
A daily meditation habit is easy to add to any routine with as little as 5 minutes a day. This step-by-step guide can help you implement a practice if this is a habit you are interested in adding.
5. Nightime Journaling
When: Nightly
Time to Complete: 5-15 minutes
Maintaining a habit tracking journal can help you determine which wellness habits are working and which aren’t. This review can be particularly useful when you are looking to build wellness goals to manage your anxiety.
When I was building my current anxiety management plan, I used this journal. I tracked and analyzing supplement effects, exercise schedules, meditation routines, and other natural wellness practices.
6. Wake Up Water Chug
When: Every Morning
Time to Complete: 1-3 minutes
Water really is the drink of life, with 60% of the body being made of it. Hydration provides benefits to all parts of the body, and the brain is no exception.
There is debate about whether drinking water first thing in the morning rehydrates you more efficiently than other times of the day. Regardless, drinking water first thing jump-starts your body to be awake more quickly and sets the president for staying hydrated throughout the day.
7. Connecting with Loved One’s Weekly
When: Once Weekly minimum
Time to Complete: 10-60 minutes
When we feel anxious, we tend to isolate ourselves from others. Social connection has been proven to not only reduce anxiety and depression but help people feel more empathetic and trusting towards others.
A few easy ways to connect with others during the week are calling a friend to chat, meeting a loved one to share a meal, or face-timing a family member.
8. Sleeping 7-8 Hours a Night
When: Nightly
Time to Complete: 7-9 hours
While we sleep, our brain completes all sorts of fancy anxiety-reducing functions. Experts suggest that sleep deprivation and poor sleep can affect our attention, emotional processing, and overall mental health.
For adults aged 18 to 64, the National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours of sleep a night. This sleeping habit can help you feel better in all facets of life.
9. Sunday Cleanup
When: Weekly, Sunday suggested
Time to Complete: 10-30 minutes
Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share. Visual clutter equals mental clutter that causes additional stress to our daily lives. Setting a weekly habit to clean out anything that is adding chaos in our lives makes a difference.
Marie Kondo, the star of Netflix series “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo,” has made an entire career from teaching people how to tidy up to make room for things that bring joy. You can see her top techniques in her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
