How can I manage my emotions better?

[anon2021]

I’m going to try and keep this brief and would appreciate some advice. 
 

I wouldn’t say I’m depressed although I do have anxiety, I am an anxious person but I am taking medication to help this. However, lately I just have no energy. I feel drained, flat and I don’t feel excited about anything. I’m on my final nursing placement which is 37.5 hours a week and university work on top of this whilst trying to look after myself, make sure I eat healthy and I’m trying to get back into exercising. 
 

I feel like there isn’t enough time to do anything. I get home from placement and need to do uni work but I’m so tired I just want to have a bath and spend the rest of the day curled up in bed, my body is constantly tired. 
 

I guess I’m just feeling quite negative and constantly feel like I need to be doing something but feel guilty when I relax, which then leads to me feeling more anxious and tired because I’m constantly stressed out. 
 

Any advice?

[DancingFool]

Thinking that you should be constantly doing something or actually constantly doing something has been proven time and again to be completely counter productive.

Think efficiency and effectiveness rather than volume. Volume is a bit like a mouse running on a treadmill going nowhere - it can run all day and waste a ton of energy, but it has accomplished nothing constructive.

Efficiency means that you actually do take time to eat well, rest and then you will be able to accomplish what you need. 

If you spend 6 hours forcing yourself to study while exhausted, you'll walk away fuzzy and unclear about what you just studied. You are doing a lot of work, but without results and that makes you feel like you need to do more - anxiety. On the other hand, if you take 3 hours to relax, eat, take a nap and approach the studies rested and with a fresh mind, you'll only need 2 hours to study because you are focused instead of exhausted and you'll walk away having learned what you need and still have an hour left over. It will also give you a sense of accomplishment instead of burning anxiety.

The other part of this is be sure that you are eating properly to meet the physical demands of your job. It is a physical job after all and it is physically exhausting so you need to be sure that you are giving your body appropriate fuel to function. Don't do any kind of fad diets, but do talk to a good nutritionist if you think that your constant exhaustion is too much.

[Hollyj]

I can see why, as your schedule sounds exhausting.   When will you have some free time?  Are you able to get free time with friends? 

[catfeeder]

Have you considered taking a nap to refresh before trying to tackle the school work?

[BrieN]

You can try writing down your emotions. In a journal, word document, the notes on your phone, whatever. 

You can write about whatever troubles you, whatever makes you anxious, unhappy..whatever comes out, really.

I've found that it helps a lot when I feel similarly to you. Even if I'm not doing anything all that different in my routine. It may help you feel a bit lighter. I don't know. Journaling has been shown to help. 

On top of that, I try to do something not related whatsoever to the source of exhaustion or anxiety. Yet productive in some way. Just taking a break from the usual.

To go back to the journaling thing, you can brainstorm with yourself to come up with ideas about how to work, study differently. If you could change something about your routine in that regard, what would it be? What would you replace it with? Maybe a change in how you go about work/study can make a bit of a difference and give you some motivation to keep going.

[Honeycomb8]

.