Anxious to write and publish articles (and not only)? Follow someone else’s rake

Imagine the worst outcome of action / inaction

I think this is one of the best ways to deal with anxiety in any area. Predict the most terrible outcome of your action (“the article will be minus”, “mistakes will be found”, “the boss will read the article and get angry”). Most likely, it will not be fatal and you can easily find a way to get around it. If the eventual outcome is negative, but overall the benefits outweigh the risks, keep working. I hope it is not necessary to say that if there is a threat to life, health, employment or freedom, it is better to give up the idea (you never know!).

Have a plan B

With experience, the author gets a sense of what to write and how the audience will react approximately to it. The most experienced ones provoke the audience to comment and sometimes lead the discussion. Therefore, when you are working on an article and want to publish, have a plan B: the idea of ​​what you will answer to opponents, how you will argue your position, what emotions you will appeal to. Think about it not after the first comment, but before the article is published.

You can tell me: why write then, since articles cause such a level of anxiety? Even if we exclude cases when the author writes because it is part of his work or self-promotion, there are reasons to discuss anxiety. For example, the author is a very anxious person in himself and the release of an article with his cool, interesting experience is still stressful for him. Yes, there are groups of people for whom any non-routine action is alarming: from going to the doctor to meeting classmates, from driving to flying on an airplane, etc. And, as the experience of communication shows, there are more and more such people. It seems that the covid story did not diminish such people either. Therefore, I will give some general advice, and in which situations you apply them is not so important. If only it worked.

Chat with people

Communicating with people, people with high anxiety realize that they are not alone, there are many different people around with their own problems, fears, fears and worries. Sometimes in a conversation it is possible to dispel the most seemingly insoluble doubts – in yourself, in business, in the topic of an article, in choosing a car, a place of rest, etc.

In addition, communication is a resource-intensive process, during which a person spends energy and strength. Sometimes a couple of hours of intense discussion is enough to stop worrying about your problem.

Get support

Now it is worth a lot. Find someone who will support you, who can say that everything is fine and you are on the right track. External approval (and encouragement!) Is important for self-confidence. A person does not have to be your colleague or like-minded person, he just needs to believe in your success (sometimes for you).

Forget past bad experiences

When I started writing, there were many orders from different companies. There were all sorts of things: wild edits, endless rounds of edits, difficult discussions, refusals to cooperate (from each side), etc. After such failures, mistakes, problems, it is difficult to get together and reopen a blank document. Negative experience always pulls us back (remember the primitive: “it hurt at the dentist – I won’t go anymore, I will bring new caries to tooth decay”). Meanwhile, it is with negative experience and mistakes that we grow as professionals, we learn to analyze and not repeat the problem, we pass this knowledge on to other people.

Do not dwell on failure – most likely, everyone has forgotten about it, forget about you.

Get your hands on, switch away from anxiety

Twirl the anti-stress ball, warm up, take a walk, drink tea or water – step back from the object of alarm and after half an hour you will look at it with different eyes (alas, when it comes to difficult situations, the switching time can exceed a day, a month or even a year, but this topic for a separate discussion). Shifting attention is a valuable technique for focusing and working effectively on a task. For example, I collected small Lego bricks from my nephew and during intense intellectual work, a call, a meeting, I reassemble abstract figures from parts. This helps to listen carefully and not get hung up on possible stressful moments.

Do not delay intermittently

The breaks should not be long: you can relax unnecessarily. And of course, you shouldn’t be interrupted by TV series, shows and other active entertaining content: you can get distracted for too long.

Feel free to feel anxious or insecure

You are you. Your overwhelming confidence or sweet insecurity, your anxiety or recklessness, your rudeness or intelligent gentleness are your unique, inimitable traits. Only a narrow-minded person is 100% sure of himself, smart people often doubt themselves and their knowledge. Work, write, discuss tasks in a way that is comfortable for you, do not waste your energy on hiding your insecurities. In the end, I have not seen those who could do everything at once and ideally. If this is you – write, I want to see this person 😉

And yes, yoga and breathing techniques do not help – I will not say that they are completely useless, but in the fight against anxiety, your attitude, your willingness to deal with it is more important. If you are not ready, then continue to worry both in the lotus position and when performing the next asana. But what really helps is faith in yourself, in your strengths, the willingness to grow and change, and only with the help of your labor. Then everything will work out for sure.

Happy New Year!

🔊 And if you are an experienced, self-confident author who is not afraid of edits, communication with the customer, diverse work and immersion in interesting and different topics, urgently fill out the form and tasks will appear.