Anxiety Skills

Daily Planning to Reduce Overwhelm

Reducing avoidance behaviors involves deliberately identifying and gradually confronting situations or tasks that you typically avoid due to anxiety. Taking incremental, manageable steps toward these activities helps break the avoidance cycle, reduces anxiety, and improves emotional resilience over time.

Overview

  • Difficulty:
  • Best Use:
    Used in the morning or previous evening to reduce decision fatigue and anxious overwhelm
  • Time:
    10-15 min
  • Tools:

What to do

  1. Choose a consistent, quiet time each morning to plan your day, ideally soon after waking.
  2. Write down all tasks and responsibilities you anticipate for the day.
  3. Clearly prioritize these tasks, identifying essential tasks versus optional or lower-priority items.
  4. Allocate specific time blocks or time limits for each priority task to manage your schedule effectively.
  5. Include buffer times between tasks to accommodate unexpected disruptions or breaks for self-care.
  6. Regularly check and adjust your plan throughout the day to stay on track without rigidity.
  7. Reflect briefly at the end of the day on what worked well and what adjustments may help in future planning.

When to use

Why it works

Planning your day helps lower your stress and anxiety by reducing uncertainty and providing clear structure. By proactively managing your time and tasks, you minimize decision fatigue, the exhaustion from constant decision-making, freeing cognitive resources and emotional energy. Consistent daily planning helps individuals with anxiety, depression, ADHD, or high stress develop reliable routines and build resilience through structured, predictable environments.

Benefits

  • Reduces anxiety and overwhelm
  • Enhances productivity
  • Decreases decision fatigue
  • Improves emotional regulation and stress management
  • Helps individuals with ADHD manage tasks more effectively
  • Promotes overall emotional resilience by providing clarity and predictability

Tips

  • Maintain consistency by planning daily at the same time.
  • Start with small, achievable tasks to build momentum.
  • Use visual aids or planners to enhance clarity.
  • Regularly adapt your plan based on previous days' experiences.
  • Integrate short mindfulness or relaxation breaks to further reduce anxiety during planning.

What to expect

Variations

Troubleshooting

Frequently asked questions

Skill Categories
Planning
Routine
Issues Addressed by Skill
Anxiety
Depression
ADHD
Stress
Emotional Regulation
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