“I don’t have time to be anxious!”

“I just need to get through this week… this month… this project. Then I’ll deal with how I’m feeling.”

Sound familiar? I said this to myself for years. Between teaching, senior leadership responsibilities, raising two boys, and managing my own health challenges, I genuinely believed I didn’t have time to stop and address how overwhelmed I was feeling. There was always something more urgent like a deadline, a meeting or someone who needed me.

The irony is that anxiety was already taking up my time. It was there in the sleepless nights replaying conversations and scenarios over and over again. It was there in the hours spent worrying about things that might go wrong in the future. It was there in the mental energy that was being drained on a daily basis trying to keep all the plates spinning. I was so busy being busy that I couldn’t see how much time anxiety was stealing from me.

What is going on?

When we’re juggling work, family, relationships and everything else life throws at us, our stress bucket fills up quickly. We deal with each challenge as it comes, pride ourselves on coping, maybe even convince ourselves we thrive under pressure until one day … we don’t.

Our brain starts running constant background checks, “Did I send that email?” “What if I forgot something?”  “What if I can’t manage it all or miss the deadline?”  These thoughts pop up when we’re trying to focus, when we’re with our children, when we should be relaxing. Anxiety becomes the uninvited companion to everything we do.

The cruel part is that anxiety makes us less efficient, not more. When we’re anxious our primitive brain thinks we’re in danger and wants us to focus on threats, not on the task at hand. So, we end up spending longer on everything, making more mistakes, forgetting things we’d normally remember. The very thing we don’t have time for is the thing that’s making us run out of time.

What can we do about it?

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy isn’t about adding another appointment to your packed schedule, it’s about reclaiming the time anxiety is taking from you. When you understand what your brain is doing and why, you can start to work with it rather than against it.

The sessions help you identify what really matters and develop strategies to protect your time and energy. You learn to recognise when your stress bucket is filling up and how to empty it before it overflows. The trance work gives your body the rest it needs and your brain the chance to process everything more efficiently.  So you can think clearly and make better decisions.

Many clients are surprised to find they have more time once they’re not spending hours trapped in anxious thoughts. When your brain isn’t constantly scanning for problems, you can be present with your family, more focused at work and actually enjoy your downtime.  Now doesn’t that sound good?

Is it the right time to change?

I understand the thought “I don’t have time for this right now.” As a working mother who’s been there, I really do. But what if dealing with anxiety gives you time back?

Are you nodding to yourself right now? Is it the right time for you now?

Do you want to stop feeling like you’re drowning in everything you need to do?

Do you want to be present in the moments that matter instead of mentally running through your to-do list?

Do you want to feel in control of your time and your life again?

If any of these feel true for you, that’s your answer.