Benefits of List-Making for an Anxious Mind

If you struggle with an anxious mind you may be all too familiar with the many coping mechanisms that are typically practiced to induce calming. Things like deep breathing, meditation, yoga, ashwagandha or adaptogen supplements, or splashing some cold water on your face. These practices can be very helpful depending on the cause of your anxiety, but for some, it isn't enough.

When the cause of your anxious mind is racing thoughts, too much on your to-do list or a general sense of overwhelm, it can help to start documenting your thoughts, AKA getting them out of your head. Journaling may be helpful for some, but the thought of filling a page with thoughts can feel like a daunting task, causing you to avoid it altogether, keeping your mind full. Anxiety can cause a type of paralysis for some who cannot organize the noise in their mind. For example, those who struggle with anxiety may have trouble starting a project if they aren't sure which step is the best first step for the task at hand.

List-making can be a cathartic practice that allows you to organize your priorities and purge the thoughts clouding your brain, one small bite at a time. As they say, "Better out than in!"

The benefits of list-making include:

• Helping to pull overwhelming or noisy thoughts out of your mind

• Organizing tasks or projects that are causing your mind to shut down

• Cataloging your thoughts and emotions surrounding any situation

• Streamlining correspondence

• Calming your nerves about a triggering situation or task

• Grounding yourself

The easiest way to get a list started is to just start listing out things that are top of mind. Don't stress about categorizing your thoughts or being too specific. Just start writing (or typing). From there you can take a top-down approach and build sub-lists based on your initial brain dump.

Types of lists that can help to organize and calm your thoughts include:

• Errand Lists

• Chore Lists

• Menu/Meal Prep Lists

• Grocery Lists

• Correspondance Lists, i.e. people you need to email, call, or text.

• Worry List, just start listing the things that you are worried about.

• Gratitude List, listing things that you are thankful for.

Once you have a list started, you can reflect on the thoughts that you have laid out and start to process your feelings more easily. Sometimes simply getting the thoughts on paper can help to calm the noise. Next time you feel anxious try "listing" and see if it helps!