You can hack some anxiety today
Obvious learnings nobody recommends having but they’re worth adopting.
As I live abroad, WhatsApp has been my source of truth on how my family and friends are doing. And every time you realize you are far away — it causes a giant boost of anxiety. In the past 2 months, I received the worst and best news via WhatsApp: My grandma passed away in late May. A close friend is getting divorced. My ex Mentee is having a great time in the new company. A friend should get pregnant soon. My sister will get married next week. A close friend got promoted last month. By using one single app, your mood can change in a second and you can decrease to 10% your attention during a work meeting.
Sometimes we are here listening to you. Sometimes we fluctuate between being and listening to the voices in our heads. Sometimes we listen to you carefully even though we have no idea what you just said.
This can be an everyday struggle for many of your friends.
1. In the past 5 years, I disabled most of my messaging notifications. If the world is falling apart, you will need to call me instead. I hate hearing notification sounds, they cause me nausea! I disabled my work notifications on mobile as well (Slack). And it is working, and I don’t miss major notices. Only a few groups are set as “Get notifications for all messages”. It is not an urgent need to be connected omnipresently to every project — VS. it can be important sometimes. Think about it.
2. Cloudy and rainy days make me crazy! I abled the Touch ID to test it on WhatsApp. Setting the Touch ID to open an app can be also a nice way of hacking anxiety and training your brain like — how many times am I using it? Now, think of how this FOMO behavior and endless thoughts come by when you realize you absorb tons of info a day without any kind of Touch ID. Streets, malls, traffic, work.
3. And do not look at your work calendar before working hours. Check agendas 5min before the working day finishes instead and set your next day alarm at this moment. After that, no calendars. 4. Find focus in the day. Wake up early and the first thing you do should be fun or nice. Take a shower. Put some music on. Or whatever brings you joy for the first 15min.
5. Set Screen Time Limits for a few applications. I set one hour for Instagram on mobile and it didn’t work. I kept exceeding and ignoring the notice. So this week I am using Instagram on desktop only, remove a few apps from your little screen and you will see they don’t matter much. 6. Last quarter, I deleted my Facebook and Twitter accounts after ten years. I decided to remove Rappi, iFood, and any other delivery app from my mobile phone for a couple of weeks. Highly recommended!
7. Avoid staying lonely inside of your brain. Walking without a phone is a way of active meditation! You avoid making a billion mistakes when you are outside of your place. I went to the Amazon rainforest and kept disconnected for one week — And I chose it! Disconnecting is all you need.
8. Pay a friend some coffee! Over the long weekend. Anytime you need it and can! Coffee time helps you and others face anxiety. I’ve been inviting friends since I moved to Colombia. Mutual therapy! If you guys forgot to post a picture at the cafe, it did go well!
9. And last, not least — if any of your colleagues or friends are real triggers for your anxiety, mute LinkedIn colleagues, mute family. A healthy relationship is made of boundaries. Gorgeous friend bodies and perfect Instagram lives may cause me nausea. If they don’t help you grow? Go Mute. It removes a giant layer of complexity and anxiety from your day. True story, I muted 3 female colleagues last week — life should not be a cycle of annoying thoughts a day. Go get a life!
Text by Rhaissa V.
Keeps hacking anxiety every day. Been reading about mental health, mentorship, strategy, and communities. Works as a Senior Product Manager — not a Developer, on behalf of Google.
