Anxiety About the Future: How to Manage Worry About What Will Happen

Life presents us with some situations of instability both on a global and personal level, periods in which our abilities to move forward and to recover in moments of difficulty are tested, either by learning from our mistakes or creating contexts that allow us to be happy.

But with the arrival of crises or periods of change, uncertainty comes, and knowing how to deal with it is not easy. In fact, in these types of situations it is easy for anxiety problems to arise caused by the feeling of having to analyze every decision we make, of avoiding unwanted consequences at all costs in an environment about which we know very little.

These situations of instability can be global economic crises but also problems that directly affect us, such as work problems, family problems or crises with our partners.

To know face this anxiety about what will happen in the future here we will review several of the most useful strategies to emotionally manage uncertainty.

Table of Contents

The keys to managing anxiety about what will happen in the future

These are several strategies that you can apply to your daily life to prevent anxiety about the future from paralyzing you and making you fall into a vicious cycle of intrusive thoughts and stress when making decisions.

1. Organize your daily life

Lack of organization is often a source of discomfort during periods of our lives when we may be having a hard time due to economic, social or personal problems.

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By maintaining a disciplined organization both daily and weekly, we will know what our obligations are at all times and when we can rest or relax. This exposes us less to the experience of having to constantly stop and decide what to do next (which can be useful in contexts where we need to be very flexible but also wears us out psychologically if it is repeated for many days in a row).

By organizing our daily work obligations we will also have a more organized mind, which helps us feel better and achieve greater mental health.

2. Avoid media overexposure

In times of social and economic crisis It is common for the media to bombard us daily with bad news which contributes to generating greater discomfort and greater concern in us.

Instead of spending our time watching TV or paying attention to the negative news that the media feeds us daily, we can spend our time doing any other activity that we find more pleasant and makes us feel better.

3. Exercise regularly

Exercising frequently, three or four times a week, will help us release endorphins, which allows us to reduce the levels of stress, anxiety, nervousness or bad mood that we may harbor daily. It is a way to channel tensions by reconnecting with the here and now.

There are many exercises that we can do to release accumulated anxiety, among the most notable are cycling, hiking, climbing, running around the city for several minutes or participating in sports competitions of all kinds.

4. Get enough rest and eat well

In addition to regular sports, there are some habits that we must maintain in our daily lives, in various areas of our health and that will help us be better with ourselves on a physical, intellectual and emotional level.

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These habits can be hygiene habits, correct nutrition and a daily sleeping habit that allows us rest enough hours during the night to be fresh the next day.

All of these habits will have a very positive impact on our mood and will allow us to see life with more positivity, which in turn will help reduce cases of stress and life worries.

5. Maintain an active social life

Maintaining an active social life is essential to achieve emotional well-being because, among other things, it exposes us to other ways of understanding life, other points of view that They help us get out of the looped thoughts that we sometimes get into without realizing it. This is achieved by interacting with those people who make us happy, that is, friends, family and partners, but also by making new friends.

6. Focus on reducing relative uncertainty

Faced with the need to make decisions about what to do, to keep anxiety about what will happen in the future at bay, the most effective thing is to accept that we cannot know everything, that whatever happens we will have to assume a certain level of uncertainty. But we must focus on the degree of relative uncertainty, not in absolute terms; that is to say, assess the degree to which we do not know what will happen depending on the action or strategy we choose. In this way, we will no longer feel that vertigo at the idea of not knowing what will happen, because we will value that “not knowing what is going to happen” in comparison to other possible options.

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7. Put relaxation exercises into practice

Relaxation exercises help us reach more balanced states of consciousness and feel better both physically and emotionally.

These exercises can be easily learned by qualified professionals in the field of psychology, and the most common are: meditation, conscious breathing, or progressive muscle relaxation.

8. Spend time on yourself

Dedicating time to ourselves is also the best way to manage the daily worries that assail us and cause us discomfort, frustration or suffering. It predisposes us to pay attention to our values and priorities leaving “autopilot mode”, especially if we have assertiveness problems and often suffer the pressure of the expectations that others place on us.

Dedicating time to ourselves is an excellent way to take care of ourselves and get to know ourselves to provide ourselves with the support or care that we need most at all times.

Self-care is practiced in many ways, whether taking a hot bath after a long day of work, reading our favorite book at night before going to sleep, or doing any activity that we find pleasurable and makes us happy.

9. Go to a psychologist

Whenever any of the above advice does not work, go to a psychology professional. It is the most recommended way to learn to control our worries and manage high levels of anxiety or daily stress.

A psychologist will listen to us and give us the help we need, and will also teach us various techniques to achieve a higher quality of life and overcome all our obstacles.