5 Steps to Reduce Time Anxiety

Have you ever struggled with this thought? It is the kind of recurring thought that never really leaves you: "It's too late." It might be something like too late to publish a book, too late to start a business, too late to learn a new language, or too late to learn a new skill. I recently read about time anxiety.

While death anxiety is the fear of running out of time, time anxiety is the fear of wasting your time. I know I have spent time worrying if I am spending my time in the most meaningful way possible. And sometimes it is others or society that we interpret as telling us that it is too late to change or achieve a goal we want.

In an article by Anne-Laure Le Cunff, Time Anxiety: Is It Too Late? she describes several forms time anxiety can take:

Daily time anxiety: the daily feeling of being rushed that makes us feel overwhelmed and panicky
Tomorrow time anxiety: thoughts about what may or may not happen in the future, which are the cause of worry and "what if" types of questions we ask ourselves
Existential time anxiety: the sense of lost time slipping away never to return

Dr. Alex Lickerman, the author of The Undefeated Mind: On the Science of Constructing and Indestructible Self, says that time anxiety stems from some of the following questions:

"Am I creating the greatest amount of value with my life that I can?"
"Will I feel, when it comes my time to die, that I spent too much of my time frivolously?"

This does not necessarily mean that you believe in an outside force that has assigned a purpose to your life you are yet to discover. It just means that your well-being is determined largely by the importance of the value you feel you are creating with your life.

We may limit ourselves by always calculating the best potential outcome through our personal perception of what is possible. We can beat time anxiety by shifting our focus from outcomes to output so we spend our energy on things we can control.

According to Tanya J. Peterson, the author of The Mindfulness Journal for Anxiety, it's important to know that anxiety can't be controlled. First, time exists and we can't change that. Time will move forward and so will we. Accepting these simple truths is the first step in reducing time anxiety.

Dr. Alex Lickerman who has spent time exploring the concept explains the most common time anxiety symptoms.

Worry about being late

Lickerman explains that time anxiety can lead to being preoccupied with being late. It’s natural to want to be on time since being tardy can negatively impact our success. But stressing over potential lateness can leave you always on edge.

Constantly checking the clock can distract you and can affect your ability to concentrate on what you are doing now.

Feeling uneasy when you don’t get around to everything you had planned to do

This is anxiety is related to your goals. It’s what you feel when you don’t complete all the tasks you wanted to.

According to Lickerman, such anxiety can happen to us even in our free time like vacations or weekends. For example, you plan to do yard work during the weekend. But, when you wake up on Saturday morning you feel anxious knowing you have a limited number of hours until the weekend is over. Now you’re not motivated to complete these chores.

Worry that you missed out on opportunities in life

Your time anxiety might relate to big-picture concerns like missing the turnoff for certain paths.

Maybe you haven’t achieved certain milestones you thought you would reach by your current age – like world travel, and certain career moves and worry you may never catch up.

How to manage time anxiety

Here are 5 steps that can help you know how to react when it happens and overcome time anxiety.

Know and accept what you can and cannot control about time

Let’s review some facts about time:

Time exists
You can’t stop time, make it go faster or slower
You can control your future, but you can’t change the past

So, whenever you’re struggling with what happened in the past, simply stop. Since we haven’t invented a time machine, the best thing to do is focus on the future.

Be clear what “time well spent” means for you

When you worry that you don’t spend enough time on meaningful activities, think about what “time well spent” means to you. Consider all aspects of your life, like:

Work: What tasks or projects make you feel good when you finish them?
Family and friends: Who do you enjoy spending time with?
Hobbies and free time: What activities or hobbies do you most enjoy?

Doing this will give you more clarity on what you love doing and the people you enjoy being around the most.

Make space for the most significant activities in your life

Having discovered what “time well spent” means for you, the next step is to make time and space for these activities in your daily life.

For example, if you found you love trains and want to build your own model train layout. Or you like taking walks and enjoying the outdoors. Make extra time in your schedule to build the train layout. Take a walk in the morning to enjoy the freshness of the day or in the evening to wind down. But make sure you follow this routine and make it a habit.

Write in a journal about your time anxiety

To help control your anxiety, write down your anxious moments. Include what you were doing and what emotions you felt during the time anxiety attack. Having a clearer understanding of what causes the stress helps you be able to prevent similar situations in the future.

Stop time-consuming distractions

This is the time spent mindlessly scrolling on social media or watching random videos that contribute to time anxiety. Look at your patterns and try to cut out the time spent doing these activities and focus on doing a few things that count.

Conclusion

Being anxious about time makes you feel uncomfortable with time; either the fact that it is passing, or because you have too much on your plate. This can cause you to be overwhelmed. You may look at your time on Earth and think about whether you’ve accomplished significant life milestones.

The best way to overcome time anxiety is to accept what you can and cannot control about time. Consider what matters the most to you and make space for those crucial activities in your life.

Working on your time management skills can be very helpful when fighting time anxiety. Practice focusing on one thing at a time. This will help you calm down and gradually let go of your time anxiety.

Like to find out more about living a full and joyful life in retirement?

You’re invited to join me for a no-obligation Retirement Wellness Discovery Call where together, we will:

Explore your ultimate “Retirement Vision”
Find out what your biggest fear is about what retirement will be
Outline a specific plan for implementing those next steps
Take your first step toward your “Retirement Vision”

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