5 ways to deal with End of Year Anxiety

I don’t know about you but every time the year end approaches, I start feeling anxious and depressed. I think about whether the year was worth it, whether I achieved enough, why I have to get older, can’t we just have a year that lasts forever?

I think everyone does it. But it’s tougher for some of us who want to make the most of life.

So how do you deal with end of year anxiety? What can you do to keep yourself upbeat and look forward to starting a new year?

 

1. Think about your achievements this year

Thinking about what you have achieved in the year really helps. The trouble this year and infact for the whole of 2020 is that we have been in a pandemic and that doesn’t help. It’s difficult to achieve that much when you are stuck indoors or in difficult circumstances.

Achievement is such a big word though. It makes you feel like you need to do something big for it to be called an achievement. But it doesn’t have to be big. It could be the smallest thing – like clearing out your wardrobe or reducing on the amount of alcohol you consume or anything that makes a positive difference to your life.

Maybe we can call it a “Good things that happened this year” list rather than an achievements list.

Put aside some time where you will be undisturbed and think about all the good things that happened this year to you and from you (via your action). The things that you did via your own initiative will feel more impactful and make you feel like the year was worth it.

For example, you could have learnt how to bake a cake, you could have started volunteering, you could have spent more time with your family etc.

Thinking about these good things can reduce anxiety and instil feel good feelings.

 

2. Create a list of goals for next year

People make fun of this. They call them new year’s resolutions that don’t really last. You need to create 2022 resolutions, not new year’s resolutions.

2022 will hopefully be better than 2020/2021 and you need to start writing down what you want to achieve next year. I want to make up for the last two years and I’m sure you do too.

There is a reason why we have goals. Goals keep you on track. They help you move in the right direction. If you don’t have goals, your life will be vague. You’ll lose focus and reach the end of the year without having achieved anything and repeat the cycle of anxiety and depression.

I make goals at the beginning of every year or I simply revise them but I make them. I don’t always stay on track but having them where I can see them helps me get on with my day every day.

Having a list of goals to achieve can help remove that negative energy from anxiety and focus your energy on creating drive and passion to keep going next year.

 

3. Keep yourself busy

Anxiety is created when one over-thinks.

So if you don’t want end of year anxiety or depression, don’t give your mind time to think.

Make plans, meet up with friends and family and keep yourself busy. Once the new years starts, the end of year anxiety will fade on its own.

How do you keep yourself busy in the Omicron pandemic?

Get on with that list of movies you want to watch, those books you want to read, those skills you want to gain, catch up with friends and family over Zoom, cook or bake that dish you’ve always wanted to learn, draw or paint, go cycling in the park, get in your workout, plan a mini getaway etc.

 

4. Meditate & Think about the problem

This is the complete opposite of keeping yourself busy and I actually prefer this.

The way I see it is that I’m anxious for a reason. What is that reason? Why am I feeling this way? Then what do I need to do next?

I really enjoy putting time aside to think about life. This is intertwined with Meditation.

Meditation helps calm me down and let that negative energy flow out. I breathe it out – after all they are just chemicals that have come about from my negative anxious thoughts.

I then focus on what is making me anxious. I think about solutions.

This doesn’t only help with my end of year anxiety & depression but also allows me to create my goals to move forward.

I have always believed that when our body sends us a negative signal whether it is physical or mental, our body is trying to tell us something is not right. Instead of ignoring and complaining about it, we need to listen, try to identify the problem and devise a solution.

Meditation helps reduce my anxiety and may help you too.

 

5. Gratitude

My last and biggest tip is to be grateful.

We are so obsessed with our own lives that we forget to look at the bigger picture.

We think that things just don’t work out for us. But look beyond your own life and you’ll see that others have it much worse.

Be grateful that you are alive for yet another year. You have gone through a horrible pandemic and come out alive. Others have lost their lives, their jobs, their homes, remember to always be grateful for what you have.

Even if we weren’t in a pandemic, there’s so much to be grateful for and as humans, we are just never happy.

Learn to be grateful and you’ll immediately feel your anxiety and depression melting away.

I practise gratitude everyday, not just at the end of the year. I think about three things I’m grateful for before going to sleep and when I wake up.

 

5 Ways to deal with end of year anxiety

I hope the above 5 tips help you with dealing with end of year anxiety.

Ofcourse, there are many other ways to deal with anxiety and if it is serious, you may need to see a professional.

The 5 tips above help me a lot and hence I thought sharing them with you may help you too!

Hope you have a wonderful week ahead xxx