5 Easy Changes To Make To Your Daily Routine To Help You Stop Feeling Like You're Constantly On Edge
All it takes is a little adjusting.
Olena Yakobchuk | Shutterstock Feeling like you’re constantly on edge and waiting for the next thing to go wrong is not uncommon. According to a poll conducted for the American Psychological Association, 27% of Americans report that most days they are so stressed they cannot function. However, just because the chronic feeling of being on edge is common doesn’t mean we should accept it as a normal way to live.
According to career coach Julia Arndt, there are very simple adjustments we can make to alleviate our constant anxieties — and they don’t even require much time or money! Arndt shared the five changes to your daily habits that will pull you away from the edge and have you feeling like you can finally breathe again.
Here are 5 easy changes to make to your daily routine to help you stop feeling like you're constantly on edge:
1. Stop drinking coffee first thing in the morning.
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While we may naturally head straight to our coffee machines in the morning for an energy boost to wake us up, it is not wise to fill your empty stomach with caffeine if we are trying to manage our stress.
Our levels of cortisol, also known as the stress hormone, peak during the first 30 to 45 minutes after we first wake up in the morning. Drinking coffee can further stimulate these levels, potentially making you feel more stressed or anxious.
If you’re going to fill your mug up with something in the morning, it should be water instead of coffee. It can rehydrate and replenish your body after a long night of sleep.
You should also strive to practice some deep breathing exercises and stretching after first waking up to reduce your cortisol levels. The way we start our day often sets the tone for everything that follows.
2. Don’t check your emails right away.
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Give yourself a second to catch your breath in the morning by refraining from diving into your inbox right away. You owe it to yourself to lay down some boundaries when it comes to your work, no matter how important it may be.
Not giving yourself a break from work can lead to burnout, which is so much more than just being tired. It is emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. Without enough downtime or boundaries between work and personal life, it’s easy to spiral into burnout.
So, when you first get up in the morning, allow yourself a few moments of peace. Your inbox will be waiting for you once you’re ready to tackle the responsibilities of the day.
3. Focus on your ‘top three.’
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Having a to-do list that is long enough to be converted into a short novel will only exacerbate your stress. Instead, you should narrow it down to your top three priorities that you absolutely want to get done.
Trying to check off everything at once will only lead to decision fatigue, which might drain more of your energy than your job does. "Every day, both in our work and personal lives, we are making a ton of decisions,” Dr. Lisa MacLean, a psychiatrist at Henry Ford Health, shared with the American Medical Association.
“When you add up all these decisions, it’s no surprise that after a long day of making decisions, you may feel tired and exhausted, and you just don’t want to have to make any more decisions.” Simplifying your decisions into chunks can make all the difference in the world when it comes to reducing your stress.
4. Turn off all notifications during deep work.
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While we are all bound to face distractions at work, our phones are the biggest culprit. Research conducted by Workamajig found that 90% of people believe their cell phone is their largest distractor.
While it can be hard to ignore our phones as they buzz on and off, alerting us with different notifications, it only adds more work hours since these distractions hinder steady daily productivity.
The best thing you can do for yourself to remain on task at work is to silence all of your notifications. You’ll find it much easier to get through the day when you aren’t being bombarded by the constant dinging — you might even get your work done faster.
5. Set a ‘mental off-ramp’ at the end of each day.
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A mental off-ramp is the concept of exiting a stressful, unproductive, or harmful mental loop and redirecting your mind to a healthier, more grounded place. This could be going for a walk, journaling, or cooking a meal you love after a particularly stressful day.
It is a way for our brains to transition out of a state of stress and into a place of peace.
A mental off-ramp doesn’t mean avoiding your problems — it means recognizing when your thoughts are no longer productive or helpful and giving yourself permission to shift gears.
Megan Quinn is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.
