Don't Panic — MelinaMou

Election day was yesterday and if you were anything like me, you probably had some higher levels of anxiety than normal. And that’s saying something since we’re in the middle of one of the most tumultuous times of most of our lives.

New headlines come out every minute, each more sensationalized than the last. It’s stressful to keep up and stressful to look away. And what’s worse is that this process isn’t isolated to a day, it will most likely be weeks before we have definitive results.

Yay extra anxiety.

And even though this election has me super stressed, I don’t want it to dominate my thoughts or affect my productivity and wellbeing. So here are a few things I’m going to be doing to dull the sharp pain of being an American citizen right now -

Escape

I know most of us can’t literally escape, but reading or watching shows set in far off, or even fictional lands, can be a great balm. For books, I recommend getting sucked into the Grishaverse books. And for shows, I recommend the dreadfully bingeable Emily in Paris or the too cute for words Crash Landing on You. You’re allowed to forget about the world for a couple hours each day.

Move your Body

This one gets harder for even me as I get more stressed and I love working out! Moving a little bit does wonders for your state of mind. If it’s nice where you live, go for a short walk. Otherwise, a plethora of youtube videos can provide guidance for other activities. Try for 10 minutes. I promise you’ll feel at least a little bit better.

Digital Detox

With updates coming in every few minutes, don’t feel bad if you would rather just not look at it all for a little while. Move all your news apps and maybe even your social apps to the last screen on your home phone screen. Just not having them right in front of you every time you open your phone will make you less likely to click out of habit and less likely to be assaulted by whatever heinous headlines are being spit out every second of every day. I only look at the news for maximum 15 minutes a day. I just can’t take anymore than that right now.

Educate

Maybe the anxiety is motivating you to know more or do more. In that case, look into long form articles, books, and organizations that are discussing or working on causes that you’re passionate about. There is no bad time to get involved. Channel that anxiety into productive change!

Build something

If you can, build something with your hands. This could be IKEA furniture, cooking a multi course meal or a complex dish, or even building something in a video game. Keeping your hands busy is key, and the focus required to put something together should be enough to distract you for a bit and give you at least a small sense of accomplishment once you’re done!

Lastly - just don’t panic (at least not yet). Breathe, meditate, nap, have sex, walk, play, or even use this nifty distractor tool. Whatever you need to do to keep calm and get through this as best as you can.

I will most likely be doing all of the above as well as becoming a temporary workaholic as a way of distraction.

Good luck! And if you’re feeling super anxious and just want someone to vent to about all this, feel free to send me a message :)

This was inspired by my friend Rachal who just released a similar post here