Over the past couple days, I have noticed my tendency to thought-spiral. You know the feeling—making a mistake at work and having your thoughts spiral into imposter syndrome, fear of job loss, and concerns about the stability of your future. An initial thought triggers a cascade of related thoughts that become increasingly intense and can result in anxiety and depression.
My thought-spirals can be initiated by relationship issues, past stressful life events, and self-criticism. They eventually become distortions of reality, catastrophizing the present.
When I used to drive an hour and a half into work each day, I really struggled with thought-spirals. I came up with a way to manage the resulting anxiety. When I arrived at work, I would shut the door to my office and write in a journal everything that I thought about on the way in, no matter how silly, stressful, or embarrassing it was. It was an incredible way of creating a blank slate for the workday.
This technique is just one of the several that I share in my podcast today.
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