Are you struggling with morning anxiety? Here are 12 proven ways to curb it

How you start your morning dictates much of what will happen to you in the daytime. Morning anxiety can greatly affect your entire day if not well managed.

When you wake up in the morning and you start overthinking about your greatest fears, then it means anxiety is already on you. Morning anxiety is that feeling of uncertainness about the tasks ahead.

Putting too much effort into thinking about your schedule in the early morning is not healthy. That is why you should command your day by winning your morning anxiety.

With the current situation of Covid -19 and more day to day challenges, morning anxiety seems to be inevitable. There are currently a lot of new emerging challenges that are mentally and emotionally draining.

Worrying is becoming a norm for everyone today. That’s why we should try our best to overcome waking up with anxiety.

Signs indicating that you may have morning anxiety

You could be having morning anxiety without realizing what it is. Here is a list of morning anxiety signs:

• Overthinking on things that you can not possibly control
• Fear of making the wrong choices
• Restlessness and failure to sleep
• Being tired after waking up
• Having frequent panic attacks after thinking of an underlying problem
• Headaches
• Shortness of breath

Continue reading….. Because hereunder is what is promised on the title.

I did research and guess what, I came up with 12 proven ways that can help you to curb that tremendous feeling.

1. Try your best to have enough sleep

Having enough steady sleep is medicine on its own. Research shows that adequate sleep helps to increase the concentration level of a human being.

Sleeping is a way of getting rest after a day of work. During the day the mind is fully occupied by the things that we sense with our 5 senses. That’s why everyone needs to take a break at night, close the eyes and sleep.

After waking up, the mind will be fresh again to think more. I think you should try this at home, take a good undisrupted sleep and thank me later. Scientists recommend anyone to sleep for at least 8 hours a day.

Taking enough sleep increases the chances of thinking well hence reducing morning anxiety.

2. Do not overstay in the bed

Millions of people in the entire world are woken up by a series of alarm clocks. I highly recommend that you wake up immediately after the alarm. Once the alarm rings, make sure you jump out of bed before your mind gets busy thinking.

Overstaying on that bed will cause the mind to replay the previous day’s work and other pressing issues. Staying longer after the alarm will just add some more problems to you. We are trying to overcome that, right?

To make sure that you don’t overstay on the bed, keep the alarm far away from the bed before you sleep. This is exactly what successful people do. No one can sleep when the alarm is continuously ringing so you will have to go and switch it off.

When you head to switch off the alarm do not be tempted to get back to bed. This helps you to overcome fatigue, thus getting busy with your morning routine.

3. Learn to Meditate

Meditating is a way of focusing on one particular item at a specific time. This helps you to gain control of your mind and every single thought that comes out of it. Here is a list showing some different types of meditating:

• Spiritual meditation – This form of meditation entails one having a connection with God. It can be practised through praying and reading holy scriptures.
• Focus meditation- This is practised by using the five senses. For instance, you can stare at a particular item and focus fully on it. You can as well listen to a particular phrase over and over again.
• Movement meditation- This one is good for people who cannot hold on one particular activity for a longer time. It can be achieved by running, walking, body movements or even doing a repetitive work. Actions that form repetitive cycles can act as a movement meditation.
• Mindfulness meditation- This type of meditation entails training the mind to focus on positive thoughts only. Putting away all negative thoughts when they try to invade your mind.
• Loving-kindness meditation – You can try to think of people around you, either friends and family, colleges or even strangers. Say a short prayer about those people, your country and the world. This helps you to keep away any thoughts about yourself that can cause morning anxiety.

Generally, meditation helps one to have a quiet peaceful time which helps to reduce morning anxiety.

4. Have a good morning routine

A good morning routine brings about self-confidence and acceptance. A routine is that repetitive behaviour that has already stuck In the mind.

A good morning routine is characterized by anything that is focused on personal improvement. Here is a small list that can help in this:

• Be sure to have made your bed neatly
• Pray for more grace and thank God for the gift of another day
• Read spiritual books -they help you to have more hope
• Exercise your body
• Take a balanced breakfast meal

Once you have an excellent morning routine, you can be sure to conquer morning anxiety.

5. Do Exercises

Having a daily timetable to exercise help in curbing the chances of anxiety. Morning exercises also help the body to start the day with more focus and energy.

When your mind is focused on exercising the body, it’s very difficult to think of other pressing issues. Try your best to think about the exercise you are performing at that particular moment.

You can try; Jumping Jacks, Squats, Pushups, Bicycle crunches and much more training tips.

Exercising helps one to have a great mood during the day and have a peaceful sleep at night. You also feel confident about yourself all day hence reducing any form of anxiety.

6. Write down your greatest fears

Writing down what you fear the most helps you to know what you are dealing with. Knowing the problem helps you to work on getting a solution. You cannot solve a problem you do not know about.

For instance, have a to-do list of how you gonna pay off a nagging loan, pay your children’s school fees and upkeep, investment, retirement plans etc. These are just the common issues that can cause morning anxiety.

Once you have written down your pressing issues, learn to solve each problem one at a time. Having a problems checklist creates motivation to move on. Once you solve an issue just tick the checklist. A feeling of progress reduces the chances of morning anxiety.

7. Encourage positive thoughts

Being optimistic helps to reduce anxiety. Negative thoughts can greatly induce morning anxiety because they bring more worries. Negative thoughts also lead to bad unpredicted events which can cause more anxiety.

On the contrary, positive thoughts lead to more satisfying events. Positive thoughts are accompanied by success and self-acceptance.

Search for motivational videos on YouTube that can help you to stay positive.

Once you allow your mind to possess positive thoughts then morning anxiety will be far from you.

8. Read good books

Practice the art of reading a good book. A good book can build your mental and emotional health in just a few minutes. Reading good books helps in gaining more knowledge on important aspects.

There are plenty of good motivational and educative books that can change someone’s life. There are also other types of books like comic, fantasy, adventure, fictional, etc. Just read a book that can make you feel nice.

Reading helps you to put aside pressing issues. There is a book I read some days back and I’m sure it changed my life for the better. The Parable of the Pipeline by Burke Hedges ignited an infinite fire in my heart.

9. Avoid drug and substance abuse

Drug and substance abuse can lead to a mental disorder hence causing one to be anxious. Morning anxiety and drug abuse have similar signs and symptoms such as headache, tiredness, fear of outcomes etc.

People who abuse drugs are more prone to morning anxiety. This is because drugs are addictive and getting out of them is difficult.

A combination of substance abuse and anxiety can make someone have very low self-esteem. Those who abuse drug try to end the anxiety by using more drugs. Drugs and substance abuse will never end anxiety, instead, it adds more salt to the wound.

Avoiding drug and substance abuse is a success on its own and it helps conquer waking up with anxiety.

10. Do not check your phone and emails first thing in the morning

Phones and emails are good, but they can corrupt a day when they are handled in the morning. When you check your phones and emails first thing in the morning, you will be trying to solve other people’s problems.

Try your best to be busy with the things that build your body and mind very early in the morning.

Morning hours are termed to be the most productive hours of the entire day. That is why you should use the time for personal improvement. This builds more self-esteem and the ability to handle the day events.

After building yourself you will be able to solve other peoples problems. This is what the emails and phone can do in the morning:

• The missed calls will bring more anxiety in the morning. You will be so eager to know what the other party has to say.
• The unread messages and social media will add another pile of work to your head. You will not have personal time hence more anxiety disorder.
• Emails will remind you of unfinished projects in the office. This will bring more stress in that early morning.

The above reasons are enough to keep you off your phones and emails in the morning. Once you avoid that then morning anxiety will not ruin your day.

11. Take a walk

Taking an early morning walk highly boosts one’s mood. Walking is proven to help in thinking clearly during difficult moments.

A nature walk is more suitable to reduce waking up with anxiety. That view of trees, rocks, rivers and mountains brings about a satisfying feeling. Staying outdoors help you to take a break from the daily activities.

When you concentrate on what is surrounding you physically, there will be no chance of morning anxiety.

12. Take a  balanced diet

A balanced diet helps to maintain moderate sugar levels which in turn reduces morning anxiety. A diet rich in grains, vegetables little proteins and fruits is metabolism slowly hence keeping the sugar at recommended levels.

Drinking a lot of water daily also helps the body to stay calm thus reducing dehydration. Staying fully Dehydrated in return helps to reduce stress levels.

Taking too many refined foods is too risky for body health. Caffeine products hurt anxiety. This is because they make one have sleepless nights hence more anxiety problems.

To be safe, take balanced meals and enough water to reduce levels of morning anxiety.

Last important remarks

I hope that by now, you can know whether you have anxiety and how to control it. There is a large percentage of individuals who are currently suffering from waking up with anxiety.

This is due to the more worries of contracting Covid -19, losing a loved one, losing a job and other psychological disorders.

Take the privilege to put into action the 12 ways to curb anxiety. I’m pretty sure it will work miracles even in your other aspects of life.

I also believe that those ways also improve productivity in a big way.

Use this information to help yourself, family and friends. These are moments that we should share the love with those who need it most.