In our modern world, it is easy to feel anxious with the constant barrage of news and information that saturates our days. Many of us are discovering the need to calm ourselves and take a break from the seemingly unending things to worry about.
With this in mind, yesterday morning I sat at my favorite local coffee shop (having a cup of tea) and made a list of 72 things to do during anxious times. I wasn’t aiming for 72, or any number, I just kept writing until I had to leave. My goal was to create some suggestions for activities that might take our minds off our ever-changing and sometimes-scary world.
As a former shrink turned novelist, my hope is that you find at least one of these suggestions helpful and that it will somehow make your time on this planet a little less anxious and perhaps even a tad more enjoyable. xo
72 Things to Do During Anxious Times
- Read fiction–escape into a really good story
- Sit in the sun for 10 minutes
- Take a 10 minute walk
- Sit or walk by a body of water or a fountain
- Listen to live music
- Breathe deeply for 4 breaths every hour
- Read a poem
- Smile at a stranger
- Write and mail a postcard to an old friend
- Join a book club
- Sketch a really bad self-portrait from looking in the mirror
- Sing Zip-a-dee-do-dah in the car
- Write an old-fashioned fan letter to someone you admire
- Watch young children play
- Write a really bad poem
- Watch birds for 10 minutes
- Make a cup of tea
- Buy a small plant and talk to it
- Make a list of 10 things you are grateful for
- Write a positive word for every letter of the alphabet
- Listen to a song from when you were a teenager
- Make a list of 10 thoughtful things you can do for someone you care about. Do one a day for 10 days. Or do all 10 for 10 days
- Ask for help while doing something hard and then return the favor
- Make a donation to an organization you believe in
- Seek out good news stories
- Pet your dog or cat or visit a shelter
- Cancel subscriptions to things you don’t have time for or that make you feel anxious
- Make a list of things to do during anxious times 😉
- Write a note and tell someone what you appreciate about them. Do this once every day for one week, or a month, or a year
- Make a list of things you believe in
- Volunteer one afternoon a month
- Attend a support group
- Have one night a week where you play old fashioned games with your friends or family
- Study a tree, plant or flower. Imagine what is going on inside them
- Find photos of your ancestors and thank them for allowing you to exist
- Spend one hour straightening something you’ve been meaning to put order to
- Tell someone that you love them
- In silence, watch it rain or snow
- Eat an entire meal of unprocessed food
- Dance in front of a mirror to your favorite song
- Pretend you are the happiest you have ever been. What will you do next?
- Introduce yourself to a neighbor you’ve never met
- Learn to play didgeridoo
- Sit in a coffee shop and people watch instead of looking at your phone or tablet
- Explore what kind of art you like by visiting a museum or art gallery
- Go somewhere you’ve never been before
- Pick up trash in a natural area for 30 minutes
- Thank someone for their service
- Do one thing every Saturday that you’ve never done before
- Place something in your kitchen that inspires you or that you find beautiful
- Create a Haiku
- Call or visit someone that you usually only email or text
- Look out a window and make a list of everything you see
- Tell someone they are not alone
- Spend an hour with someone who is very old. Think about what kind of old person you want to be if you have that opportunity
- Remember a pleasant experience from your childhood and try to replicate it
- Make your favorite meal and share it with someone. Or if you are seldom alone, go have a favorite meal by yourself
- Say ‘thank you’ to everyone you interact with for an entire day
- Hand deliver or send someone flowers or buy flowers for yourself
- Detach from the internet and television for 24 hours and study your reactions
- Remove yourself from someone who is toxic to you
- Practice extreme self care
- Detach from all news sources for one day and see if you feel calmer
- Help someone in trouble (if they want help)
- Read a genre of fiction that you don’t usually read
- Go to the library and enjoy the quiet
- Taste a vegetable that you’ve never eaten before
- Read one book considered a “classic.” See if you agree
- Read a book you used to love as a child
- Open the door for someone
- Write a love letter with crayons
- Devote yourself to something creative
What would you add to this list of things to do during anxious times? Do you have any that you want to try?
Susan Gabriel is the acclaimed southern author of Amazon #1 Bestselling novels  The Secret Sense of Wildflower (named a Best Book of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews) and Temple Secrets. Her other books include Grace, Grits and Ghosts: Southern Short Stories and her latest southern historical novel, Trueluck Summer. She lives in the mountains of North Carolina.
Thank you, Susan for this wonderful list! I mentioned some of your thoughts to my husband that we should do. 🙂
Thanks for letting me know, Susan. I hope the list will somehow be helpful. 🙂
I love the list, and I love the thoughts behind the list. It’s perfect for RIGHT NOW. So many of us feel so helpless — these are things we CAN do –and at least help ourselves! I’m sharing to Facebook, too. I’ve told you before, I’m telling you again, I LOVED loved loved Temple Secrets.
73. Call various European embassies. Remind them that we took in their refugees the last time a megalomaniac with Narcissistic Personality Disorder came to power.
Hi Judy. I LOVE your comment. Thanks for letting me know your thoughts about the list. I like to try to be helpful, especially when so many people feel helpless.
Also, it pleases me that you enjoyed Temple Secrets. I am working on the sequel now. I’m calling it Gullah Secrets. The same characters will be around, except on the island where Old Sally lives. Plenty of surprises to come.
Thanks for your comment!
With every good wish,
Susan
Be brave.
I hear you, John. I really do. 🙂
Hi Susan, I must try to follow #60. Cable news and all other news, too, is driving my anxiety off the charts. It will be very difficult to teat myself from the TV (my curious mind gets the better of me). But having said that, I will focus on the other wonderful stress reducers you list here.
Keep in touch.
Mary
Hi Mary. Just know that you are not alone. Many people are anxious these days. I am trying to cut back on watching the news, too. Mainly because it distracts me from my writing and creativity which is not a good thing.
Take good care. xo
>I am trying to cut back on watching the news, too.
> Mainly because it distracts me from my writing
> and creativity which is not a good thing.
I keep telling myself to do that. So far I haven’t been smart enough to follow my own advice.
Thank you so much for this much needed list! I finished Trueluck Summer a few minutes ago. The book is wonderful! I highly recommend it.
Hi Anna. I’m so glad you enjoyed Trueluck Summer. Thanks for recommending it to your friends. I didn’t know when I wrote it that a story that takes place in 1964 would be so pertinent today. Thanks so much for reading my books! 🙂 xo
Commentw, just read Trueluck Summer and thought it was tremendous, your best that I’ve read. I’m also concerned because you’ve been awfully quiet lately. You OK?
All is well, John. Doing a lot of writing. I’m glad you enjoyed Trueluck Summer. It seems to resonate with a lot of readers. I’m very grateful for that. Take good care. 🙂 xo
Yes, I too am writing and ignoring the claims that to be a “hit” you have to be all over social media. I find that distasteful. Glad to hear you’re well.