As someone that’s lived with anxiety since early childhood:
Choosing to Do A Productive is the most reliable way to kick an anxiety attack I’ve found yet.
It’s a pain in the ass to develop this habit (Goodness knows I fail at it all the time) and it requires having A Productive you can feasibly do at 4AM (vaccuming is right out) but if you can do SOMETHING it consumes enough focus that anxiety fit is relegated to the back burner where it chokes like a candle without air.
Potential Productives To Do In The Wee Hours Of The Morning When Everything Is Too Much:
set things up for future you to have a nice breakfast
actually just have breakfast right now, you’re probably hungry
gather at least some of the trash into bags and put them by the door to take out.
If it is safe to do so, actually take out the trash
Water your plants. They don’t care that it’s nighttime. They thorsty.
Clean you pet’s food and water bowls
Take everything out of your backpack/Purse/carryall, throw out the trash and at least shake out the accumulated cumbs and crud.
if u don’t have laundry, take the covers off your sofa and launder those. they need it and you’ll like having a nice-smelling couch.
Do Some dishes. Maybe not all of them if they’ve been piling up, but some.
anything you’d be thrilled to wake up and find out had been done in the night for you by gnomes? go do that thing. Future You will be so happy.
tangentwithtanner
stormborns
