Tips to help relieve morning anxiety

Anxiety loves to rear its ugly head in the morning for me. I am awoken by the sound of my alarm and all encompassing feelings of dread that paralyse my mind and make me feel like it’s impossible to get out of my bed and start the day.

When I start to feel this way, I adopt a number of coping mechanisms that help relieve my overwhelming anxiety. Hopefully some of these tips might help you too.

1. Write a to-do list the night before, so you can settle your mind of what you have to do the next day. This way you’ll be able to focus on relaxation and getting a good night’s sleep. My friend always says, “this is for future me to worry about”. I try and use this logic when getting stressed about things that are happening in the future that I have no control of.
2. Plan your outfit for the next day the night before. When I feel particularly anxious I find even making small decisions hard, so taking decision-making out of my morning helps me hugely.
3. Leave yourself plenty of time to get ready in the morning. This will allow you time to have a healthy breakfast and not feel like you’re rushing out of the door.
4. Make a motivating playlist. I made a playlist on Spotify of positive, upbeat songs that make me feel inspired. Songs that are on my playlist include: George Ezra’s Paradise, Paolo Nutini’s Pencil Full of Lead and The Killers’ The Man, to name a few. Listening to these songs in the morning can change your mood and give you something else to focus on.
5. Listen to a funny podcast. I really enjoy listening to podcasts and I find that having a funny distraction stops me from thinking anxious thoughts.
6. Exercise in the morning. When you exercise your body produces chemicals called endorphins which trigger positive feelings. You could do a small workout in your house, if you don’t have time to go to a morning exercise class or to the gym. I find that yoga helps relieve my anxiety in the morning, and it is something that I enjoy doing.
7. Talk to someone. When I feel anxious in the morning I usually tell my boyfriend or my mum and they help me rationalise my thoughts which make them seem less daunting.
8. Say something positive to yourself in the morning. Repeat this positive affirmation to yourself a few time throughout the day. For example you could say something like: “Today is filled with so much possibility”. Or, “I will make today a great day”.

I appreciate that these tips may not work for everyone, there is no one-size fits all cure, but I am interested to know how you help to relieve your morning anxiety. Please let me know in the comments below.