6 Ways to Reduce Stress & Anxiety by Doing Less, Not More

When I think of most of the stress reduction articles I have seen, they often include a list of things to do to relieve stress. I'm sure that you have seen them too. Activities such as meditation, journaling, yoga, deep breathing, taking a bath, and going for walks. While there is nothing wrong with these, and they are all fantastic, I'm always left thinking, 'How will I add more to my plate when what I am looking for is to reduce my stress and anxiety about having so many things to do?' I'm looking to reduce, not increase, the number of things on my to-do list. If this is how you are feeling, keep reading. 

Stress is the body's natural response to an external demand or challenge, such as a deadline, conflict, or significant life change. It can be either short-term or chronic, depending on the situation.

Anxiety, on the other hand, is a persistent feeling of fear, worry, or unease that often continues even when the external stressor is gone. While stress is typically a reaction to something specific and tangible, anxiety tends to be more internal, usually stemming from perceived threats or future concerns.

Stress can trigger anxiety, but anxiety can exist without any apparent cause at all.

Both stress and anxiety activate the body's fight-or-flight response, an automatic reaction controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. When you perceive a threat, whether it's a real danger or just a stressful situation, your body releases hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which increase your heart rate, breathing, and alertness, preparing you to take action. In short-term stress, this response can be beneficial, providing you with energy and focus to manage the situation.

However, when anxiety keeps the body in this heightened state for too long, it can lead to fatigue, tension, and other physical and emotional health problems.

Instead of trying to reduce our stress by adding more things to do, let's look at ways to reduce both our short-term stress and long-term anxiety by taking things off our list instead. 

I've always been a diligent student, and when I was in early elementary school, daily tasks were written on the chalkboard, and we had to copy them into a notebook (when my kids went to school, they called them agendas). In addition to completing worksheets and answering questions, the list often included reading pages x to x in each one of the textbooks. Most of the time, I would complete the work or answer the question by looking for the answers on those pages, completing the "reading" in a different way, but never feeling like that task was ever completed or checked off. Was it necessary? Probably not. I had gotten the information I needed and "earned "what I needed to learn. However, this left me with a feeling of never quite completing the to-do list. I have carried that mentality with me now throughout my life. Are there things that I should do? Yes. Are they things that I have to do? No. Does the nagging, " you need to do x, "cause me additional stress and often anxiety? Yes. 

I recently came across the philosophy that is the opposite of the mentality that I have always carried, deep-rooted from this school learned behavior in my childhood, and the quest to be a good student and do all of my work, including the never-ending task of "reading" the textbook, when I was actually going about the task in another way. That philosophy is to eliminate all the things that aren't actually necessary that we do because we think they need to be done, or we've always done them that way, or they are things, like constant notifications, that are distracting us from the things that we do need to do or the things that are actually the most important to us. 

Ways to Reduce Stress & Anxiety By Taking Things Off Your Plate Rathing Than Adding More

The idea is to remove the things from the "list" that we create for ourselves that 1. don't really have to be done and 2. we don't even enjoy or want to do. 

We have to pay the bills, wash the clothes, feed ourselves and our families, and keep things clean, but what are the things we find ourselves putting on our list (or doing) that aren't actually necessary? 

1. Whenever you do a task, ask yourself, "Does this actually need to be done?" Or are you doing it because you think it should be done, or you've always done it that way

Or are there things on our list or in our minds that actually need to be done, but we put off (even if they would take just 2 minutes)? So they run a loop in our minds that says, "need to do that, "but we are consuming more energy thinking about doing it than just taking the 1-2 minutes right then to get it off our list. So yes, you are still doing them, but in the 1-2 minutes it takes to complete them, rather than the hours that they were constantly nagging us to do them. 

2. If a task comes up, can you complete it right away in less than 5 minutes so that it is off your plate rather than taking up time and space by putting it off until later 

For me, this often involves reordering something I need (that's not on Amazon) because that is usually very fast and easy. I recently needed new toothbrush heads, but I had never ordered a replacement for them, so I kept putting it off. It took 2 minutes and was so easy, yet I put it off over a dozen times, taking up both time and brain power by keeping it on my to-do list. This might mean putting something on auto-shipment, which seems easy but can cause not only a backlog of product but also unintended spending and waste, and sometimes more stress. So, try to do the task quickly and without putting it off instead. 

Speaking of auto-ordering or recurring shipments, 

3. Can I automate or delegate this task?

This might mean auto-ordering or recurring shipments unless you're like me, and it causes more stress. This could involve setting up automatic bill pay or having another family member take charge. This might mean hiring a Virtual Assistant to take some tasks off your list. Can you order groceries instead of spending an hour at the store (you often pay less than any extra charges by eliminating impulse buys)?

However, the biggest eye opener for me is to:

4. Eliminate distractions by turning off all the notifications that aren't actually necessary. AND TURN THAT RINGER OFF 

This started with the idea of not having email notifications turned on; however, every app that we have downloaded comes with notifications. We receive unsolicited text messages, as well as those for things we have signed up for, which may have been helpful during the time we opted into them. But now they are simply taking us away from completing necessary tasks or merely distracting us from the life that is happening right in front of us. 

I didn't have email or Facebook notifications on. Still, I realized I was getting the occasional notification from X, then Threads, then a retailer I had opted in to receive text messages from to get a discount code, and now another ping from LinkedIn. As they came in over the next day or so, I deleted the notification. I went in to change my notification settings, so that only the most essential things would notify me. Since I also have an Apple Watch, the constant pinging that I had come to tolerate but pretty much ignore has freed up a significant amount of bandwidth for me. 

I honestly didn't realize how many times a day these various apps and random texts were pinging me, even though I was pretty much ignoring them anyway. I also went through the recent subscription texts that I no longer want and replied ''TOP " to free up even more space in my time and energy. 

Let's chat about that ringer.

I haven't had mine on in years, but turn it off. Or next time it goes off, pay close attention to your response. If you have different ringtones, pay attention to the one that rings when it is an unknown caller versus a friend or loved one. When you hear the ringtone or alert that causes you stress, I bet you can feel the cortisol and the heightened fight-or-flight response that immediately pumps through your body. Shut it off. If you need to, turn on DO NOT DISTURB, where only your favorites list can contact you if they need to, and check any messages later. 

I started doing this exactly one week ago, and throughout the past week, we were also attending a family funeral and spending time with family, allowing me to connect without being unnecessarily distracted. Keeping my focus on the people I was with was such a gift. 

5. Finally, choose one form of movement that you enjoy that feels like a gift rather than a have to do and carve out intentional time to do it. 

Movement is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety, but again, if it is a have-to-do rather than a want, and we have to force ourselves to do it, it defeats the purpose and will end up causing us more stress. 

I started walking my dogs first thing in the morning before doing anything else (except a bit of coffee) with my weighted vest on, and this has become life-changing for me. I personally walk without earbuds so that I can think and plan and dream (I actually get the best ideas and solutions during this time) but this might be your chance to listen to your favorite podcast (Check out the Sunshine Travelers Podcast if you love Travel - II'monly slightly partial to it) or an audiobook to get both your reading and your walking in at the same time. 

Find movement you love that fills you up, that you can't wait to do. 

6. Clear the clutter and unused stuff, and organize the rest 

This is another thing that helps me feel less stressed, which is to remove the things I'm no longer using. Traveling actually allows me to realize that I need less and less, as I can do without many things on the road. I feel calmer and more organized when traveling with fewer possessions. It can be hard to part with things you've spent money on, but if you're not using them, they are simply taking up both space and energy in your life. Consign or donate them and think of the joy they will bring to someone else instead.  

It can often be harder to clean out and organize your own things, so consider getting a friend to help serve as your sounding board or hiring a professional instead. 

I hope this list helps to take some things off your plate rather than add to it, and helps you eliminate some of the stress and anxiety you are facing. It really has made a difference for me over the past week. Just the mindset of doing things differently and going back to a quieter existence, knowing that the most important things are now receiving the attention they deserve. I'll be over here walking, resting my brain, and continuing to put a stop to the unwanted notifications as they come across.