Five Ways to Calm Situational Anxiety

Your heart pounds. Your palms sweat. Your mind races -- going over the million different things that could go wrong. You feel like the anxiety is seeping out of your pores making a puddle on the floor for all to see, but in fact, you are not alone. Approximately forty million Americans suffer situational anxiety at the hands of everyday and unavoidable tasks like job interviews, public speaking, and other situations that put you outside of your control and comfort zone. But, you truly don't have to suffer in silence. Read on for five tips to calm situational anxiety:

1. Break The Situation Down Into Small Steps:

Most times, it's the size of the situation that overwhelms us. Break it down into small pieces/tasks and tackle those one by one - telling yourself you can certainly tackle this small piece of the puzzle. Anxious about the mountain of work on your desk with a looming deadline? Break up the mountain into small, manageable hills and give yourself reasonable deadlines for each one. As you tackle each, move towards the next until the whole project is done. You can use this technique for anything that causes situational anxiety.

2. Talk Yourself Through With Facts, Not Fears

One of the biggest causes of situational anxiety is allowing our fears to run out of control with "what ifs" or worst case scenarios. Although "worst case scenario" thinking is very common, the worst very rarely happens. When these out-of-control thoughts start, think about your past success. How many times have you really been ridiculed at an office presentation? Were you ever actually so tongue-tied you were laughed out of an interview? It's human nature for an audience to remember what went right, not what went wrong. Realize that most people are empathetic because they feel situational anxieties themselves and will overlook minor slip ups.

3. Be Certain You're Not Transferring The Anxiety From Another Situation