Wanna know how to deal with time anxiety and finally retrieve that sense of being back in control of your own days? This post is dedicated to helping you to stop the downward spiral, and getting back in charge of time (without that constant feeling like you’re drowning). Let’s dive in!
The crushing fear of never having enough time is a struggle that’s universal to all humans. True. But as overachievers, wasting time, or watching your goals slip through your fingers feels existentially excruciating! It’s waking up overwhelmed and going to bed, wondering where the day even went. It feels like you’re always behind, no matter how much you accomplish. The pressure to do more, be more, and achieve more, wears you down and even becomes suffocating.
What you’re going to learn is how to recognize the signs of time anxiety, how to bring yourself to a halt for a much-needed reset, and how to build a strategy to reclaim your time and energy. You’ll discover how to shuffle priorities, how to cut what doesn’t serve you, and how to make peace with doing less without losing sight of your goals.
After you’ve learned how to deal with time anxiety, you’ll be more resilient knowing you have a way of pulling yourself out of the chaos, how to stay in control of your schedule and approach life with more confidence. You’ll be able to feel empowered again, able to make choices that align with your goals, get more done, and feel kick-ass about yourself and your progress.
This post is all about how to deal with time anxiety so you can stop drowning in powerlessness, and instead, reclaim control & start living your ambitions on your own terms.
How To Deal With Time Anxiety
Before we dive into how to counterattack time anxiety, let’s briefly discuss the concept of this fearful experience: chronophobia. It’s the sneaky psychological phenomenon that keeps your mind racing and your chest tight. At its core, time anxiety is about way more than just that ticking clock: it’s a tangled web of fears about control, self-worth, and purpose. And trust me, it thrives on chaos.
If you’re an overachiever like I am, you’ve probably set goals that could even make a superhero sweat. We’re known for having extremely high standards for ourselves, which contribute to this cycle of stress and dissatisfaction. Add in a packed schedule, external demands, or an unexpected curveball, and suddenly time anxiety takes the wheel.
To make matters worse, society loves to indoctrinate you with the message that you are only as valuable as you are productive. The relentless hustle culture can make something as important as rest feel like a useless waste of time, or even worse, like you are failing. The constant pressure to make every moment count can turn your spirits into shadow versions of yourself.
The good news? You are NOT powerless. This post breaks down how to recognize that time anxiety, how to regain control, and how to finally feel back in control. Let’s get started!
How To Recognize Time Anxiety
Let’s compare time anxiety to having a toxic ex-boyfriend you can’t seem to ghost, shall we? It always shows up in the worst moments, whispering anxious thoughts like ‘You’re already behind’ or ‘You’ll never catch up!’, leaving you spiraling into a mix of dread and self-doubt. Sound familiar?
A prime example is the infamous ‘Sunday Scaries’: the dreaded anxiety of facing that upcoming overwhelming week. Did you know that the average American feels this creeping dread about 36 times a year, typically around 3:54 p.m.? That’s a lot of shitty Sundays if you ask me.
But HOW do you recognize if you’re dealing with time anxiety? Glad you asked. Counterintuitively enough, it shows up in behaviors that you would usually associate with a judgemental ‘lack of character’, which is WHY it traps you into wanting to push on, desperately trying to prove it wrong. But what if it’s NOT a lack of character, and instead, a clear signal that something needs to change? What if you just ignored a red stoplight, only because it makes you fear that you’re weak or inadequate?
RELATED POST:
The Only Life-Changing Time Management Software You NEED to Slay Hard & Get Shit Done.
Time Anxiety Symptoms
Let’s list the poker tells of time anxiety:
- PROCRASTINATION
When time anxiety creeps in, your nervous system shuts down in freeze-state, dreading that overwhelming to-do list. Why? You’re paralyzed by the fear of failure of not doing it ‘right’. According to Carol Dweck’s research, this paralysis often stems from the belief that your abilities are static and that every misstep is a reflection of your worth. - OVERCOMMITMENT
You pack your schedule tighter than a jar of pickles, pressuring yourself that you can (and should) do it all. I know, I know, overachieving is a lifelong struggle. But. Spoiler alert: this leads straight to burn-out ville. - PERFECTIONISM
You’re overthinking almost obsessively over making the perfect use of time, which ironically makes you less efficient and more stressed. Research supports this paradox: the fear of making mistakes leads to lower productivity and drains your decision-making capacity, further damaging efficiency. - AVOIDANCE
When all this discomfort inevitably gets to your nerves, some part of you delays tasks or distracts yourself. This is an internal protector part that offers your spirits the much-needed temporary relief, but unfortunately also piles on long-term anxiety.
Let’s not forget to mention those sneaky mental distortions that time anxiety produces: catastrophizing (believing one missed deadline spells doom), all-or-nothing thinking (it’s perfect or shit), and overgeneralization (falling behind means you’ll always fail). Time anxiety thrives on these ‘toxic ex-boyfriend lies’. So, how are we gonna handle this bully?
Bringing Yourself To A Halt: The Overachiever’s Reality Check
Time anxiety isn’t just a passing phase. If you don’t act on changing it, it won’t. Time anxiety is a screaming neon sign that something’s gotta give. Now, I know, if you’re an overachiever like me, chances are you’re too busy bulldozering through your workload to pay it the legitimate attention it needs. But let me break it to you: running on fumes, burning through workloads that would make even a robot short-circuit, and convincing yourself that ‘this is fine’ isn’t just unhealthy. It’s unsustainable.
Admitting that something needs to change can feel like admitting defeat, and overachievers DETEST that. But here’s the deal: you can’t win the long game by constantly sprinting the marathon. Being in that survival mode isn’t strength. It’s self-sacrifice disguised as productivity. Pause yourself for a second to really absorb that. You are NOT lazy or ‘lacking character’ for needing to stop. You’re human.
Sönke Ahrens explained a lot about maintaining control in his classic How To Take Smart Notes. ‘The best way to maintain the feeling of being in control is to stay in control. And this starts with creating a clear, adaptable system to manage your workload. When everything is accounted for, your mind can finally let go of the chaos and focus on what requires your real attention.’ It’s time to face it. The grind isn’t serving you. It’s enslaving you. Staring this reality in the face will sting, but it’s a requirement and first step toward reclaiming your time and energy. And let’s be honest: don’t you crave that feeling of calm, collected control again?
This is also where we can help you out with our time management strategy! With a visual representation of your to-do’s (hello, Google Calendar + Todoist 2-way sync!), decision-making becomes way simpler, and the path out of overwhelm starts to take shape. Grab your Set-Up Guide printable, and let’s get ready for a hardcore reassessment towards being able to breathe again!
Get a glimpse into our own time management method and become extremely efficient and effective with this FREE time management strategy. Simply fill out the form below:
Want a free
TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGY& SETUP GUIDE? Free up your bandwidth and stop overthinking with this
FREE Time Management & Setup Guide.
Simply fill out the form below to get this foolproof guide
delivered straight to your inbox!
Shuffling Your Schedule: Reassess, Reclaim & Repeat
Alright, let’s make that cutting things out phase happen baby! Time anxiety thrives on chaos, and so, if your workload looks like an overstuffed suitcase ready to burst, it’s no wonder your metaphorical toxic boyfriend (aka time anxiety) keeps whispering sweet nothings like ‘You’re never gonna make it’
Here’s the harsh truth: if you want to shut him up for good, you need to sit down, crack open that planner, and start getting ruthless. What’s genuinely non-negotiable? What can be downgraded to the back burner for now? What are the ambitions that you’re clinging to because of your inner overachiever? Spoiler alert: bouncing some of those goals is going to HURT. Please be kind to yourself and reduce the resentment as much as you can. It’s the only way to get to the finish line in one piece.
RELATED POST:
9 Essential Time Management Questions (And Their Answers)
Remember our mantra? Get a system. Get a grip. Get shit done. If you’re looking at your schedule and thinking, ‘I think I can manage’, you’re not cutting deep enough. The goal is not to just survive another week. You NEED to create sufficient breathing room that lets you actually live WITH COMFORT. I know breathing room often feels like ‘living a spoiled life‘ to us overachievers, but if time anxiety is already in, you need to pamper yourself like that! Keep axing tasks and commitments until that weight of overwhelm lifts.
And no, dialing back doesn’t mean you’re lazy or giving up. It means you’re wise enough to prioritize health and sustainability over burnout. Again, Sönke Ahrens nailed it: ‘Control starts with creating a clear, adaptable system’. No matter if you work with a paper planner or use our legendary time management strategy, it’s time to start shuffling your calendar blocks until things are back under control! Let’s show time anxiety who’s boss.
How To Make Peace With Cutting Things Out: Prioritize, Pamper & Reboot
Once you’ve shown time anxiety the door, it’s time for the ultimate act of rebellion against the overachiever grind: laziness. Yep, you heard me. Take an evening, a day, or even a weekend to do something unapologetically indulgent. I think normal people call this self-care. But! Call it whatever you want, downtime, decompression, just don’t skip it. Whether it’s binging trashy reality TV in your pj’s or eating takeout in bed, this is the opportune moment to reward yourself for doing the hard stuff.
Why? Because cutting things out and reorganizing your life is exhausting, emotionally and mentally. You’ve earned a break after such a draining time! And you know what’s even more counterintuitive about all of this? You’ll be amazed at how much efficiency and energy comes from hitting that pause button.
Taking time to pamper yourself isn’t just about feeling good. It’s functional as an actual reboot of your system. Once you’re rested, you’ll tackle what’s left on your calendar with so much more focus and determination that you’ll clear those blocks way faster than expected. Those back-burner goals that you were grieving and hurt so much to push back? They’ll return sooner than you think because you’re now operating from a place of STRENGTH instead of burnout.
So here’s your overachiever’s strategy against time anxiety: cut the crap, pamper yourself hard, and watch as your optimal self makes a glorious comeback. This isn’t laziness deary, this is strategy. And trust me, you’ll feel like a glorious badass when you return to the game rested, recharged, and ready to crush it again. I believe in you!
How To Deal With Time Anxiety (Summary)
As we’ve learned, time anxiety thrives on chaos, but you don’t have to let it control you. Let’s beat this bully back in its corner. By recognizing its sneaky habits, reassessing your workload, and daring to dial it back, you can reclaim your time and sanity. Remember: cutting out the unnecessary and rewarding yourself isn’t a weakness, but a game-changing strategy. Embrace the counterintuitive reboot, prioritize wisely, and watch your confidence and productivity soar. You’ve got this!
This post was all about how to deal with time anxiety so you can stop drowning in powerlessness, and instead, reclaim control & start living your ambitions on your own terms.
We aim to help you out as much as possible, but please keep in mind that the content is for general informational and educational purposes only. It's not a substitute for professional advice.
