 Haste like doers. For some people, mild to severe anxiety is a fact of life. Psychology Today states that 31.1% of US adults alone experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their life, and globally, the numbers are on the rise. Anxiety was a means of being aware of your surroundings, to be able to ward off predators and survive. So while a healthy amount of anxiety is good, the issue arises when the anxiety becomes excessive and interferes with your daily life. So with that said, here are six little habits that you can explore to reduce your anxiety. 1. Concentrate your anxiety by focusing on one thing. When you're an anxious person, your brain gets flooded with so many worries that you can't seem to pinpoint what it is that's concerning you. And everything in your life amplifies this feeling, worsening your mood and compounding your stress. When this happens, pick one thing that's bothering you and give it 100% of your attention. Once you've picked your problem, make a list to see what is creating your anxiety about this particular thing. You can ask questions such as, where is this anxiety coming from? What about this makes me anxious? Is this rational or irrational? Through this, we discover that our minds can come up without landish possibilities when it's clouded by stress and self-doubt. By focusing on one stressor at a time, you can tackle that issue with more ease, increase your happiness and well-being, and boost your productivity. 2. Practice proper sleep hygiene. We hear how sleeping is important for you all the time and how you need to get a certain amount of hours of it. But with this busy life we have nowadays, we can become deprived of proper rest. We not only need to sleep more, but we need to practice proper sleep hygiene. Proper sleep hygiene can look different for everyone, but the main points are to limit screen time an hour or half an hour before bed and just after waking up. The blue light from our smartphones reduces melatonin, which affects our ability to sleep. A routine for winding down to sleep can include brushing your teeth, a nighttime skin routine, or a relaxing stretch sequence. Consistently going to sleep at the same time and waking up at the same time is a great help in reducing your anxiety. 3. Exercise. Besides the benefit of having a strong, healthy body, exercise is amazing for your mental health. Having a more physically active life is beneficial in the long term. It reduces anxiety symptoms which have a potent effect on the hippocampus, the region that regulates stress in the brain. With anxiety, you're either ruminating about the past or worrying about the future, but exercise puts you in the present moment and helps you to become more mindful. In a Harvard Health publishing research article, John J. Rady, MD, stated that exercise also decreases muscle tension, lowering the body's contribution to feeling anxious. 4. Break away and have some time to yourself. Having an anxious day is tough. When your stress is at a 10, your head is filled with questions and you can't focus. You feel like you can't motivate yourself to do anything which deepens your feelings of dread. A habit that you can use to turn your anxious thoughts around is to take a break from your responsibilities and do something else. While you might feel inclined to go onto social media, try to limit your time on your phone. Instead, go for a walk outdoors and notice your surroundings. Meditate for just five minutes, focusing on slow, deep, long breaths. Maybe journal about your day so far. This break will give your mind a chance to cool down and for you to relax. In this moment of solitude, you become your only focus and you get some peace of mind. 5. List hypotheticals and act on them. For anxious people, our brains can get clogged with a flurry of hypothetical situations and they can all seem likely to happen. So, what can you do about this possible downward spiral? Say you're nervous about an interview or starting a new project. The next time you think, what if, grab a pen and write down the questions on your mind and try to be as specific as possible. When you see your worries written down, you'll start to see that some of the worries are just flaws in your logic. Your imagination being overactive in the scenarios you thought up are likely impossible. The next step is to pick one concern and create three actionable behaviors to help solve your problem. This also reduces your anxiety because these now tangible concerns become things you can control and work with. 6. Practice gratitude. Being anxious robs you of your perspective. You are filled up with many thoughts and possible catastrophic outcomes and you may ignore all the other positive potential outcomes. A daily practice of expressing gratitude for anything in your life and soaking in the feeling of that gratitude is a great habit for reducing anxiety and bringing calm into your life. While expressing gratitude doesn't dismiss life's misfortunes in challenging times, it brings a healthy counterbalance to these facts of life and a good dose of perspective. So, do you think you'll try any of these habits? Outside of these suggestions, feel free to explore other habits. While some of these habits might work for you, others may not. Regardless of what habit you decide to incorporate in your routine, it will teach you that you can overcome your stressors. You are in control, not your anxiety. If you find this video helpful, like and share it with friends that might find insight in this too. Remember to subscribe to Psych2Go and hit the notification bell for more content. All the sources used are added in the description box below. Thanks so much for watching and see you next time.