Suggestions to handle the anxiety of freedom...

In this point of my life, I have time. I have the freedom to decide how I want each day to be: what to do, what not to do depending on how I feel. It really is a luxury. But here's something people sometimes don't mention: what if having so much time without defined activities makes you anxious? Yes, for some of us it can become stressful. You don't enjoy it. You navigate a sea of doubts and inconsistencies that feel like pressure, because you should be doing something productive, right? If not, you're wasting your time, your life. And you feel guilty. Irresponsible. A loser. That's how I’ve experienced it sometimes.

What strategies am I applying to navigate this freedom when it overwhelms me? I'm trying different things to identify my best rhythm, but I'm also making space to see where those emotions come from that stress me, that punish me, that pressure me. Why? Because then I can know at what time to do what, with pleasure, and that it feels aligned with my nature. Besides, this way I do it from a neutral place. In fact, for me, that's one of the problems with feeling guilty about having free time: you can fill it with all kinds of nonsense just so the emotions don't go crazy. If you give in to these urges like a headless chicken, then you might feel bad, because afterwards you realise that you wasted the time anyway. There is no way to win

So, if you are experiencing something similar, here are some tools that I am applying to support me and channel this time in a constructive way:

1. Develop constructive habits. James Clear, the author of "Atomic Habits", is my guide for this. His message and his book are very clear, which helps a lot to lower anxiety and unrealistic expectations about how you want to apply some order to your life. I recommend it as a starting point.
2. Review. I write down what I did during the day, at the end of the day, as a checklist. It helps me to evaluate where I spent my energy and if I managed to do things that made me feel good. This exercise is a great indicator for the following days.
3. Create. For this particular activity, I channelled my energy into creating habit cards. They are simple but based on activities that I enjoy and that I feel I need to do/experience every day to energize myself in a positive way (spoiler: it was the result of applying point two for a few weeks.) If you read my post "Consume & Create ", you know where this is going for me.
4. Writing. Journaling is an amazing tool (thank you, Julia Cameron ). For me, just writing down how bad I'm feeling about this "anxious freedom" already helps me lower my anxiety. There's something really soothing about filling a piece of paper with uncensored scribbles. Try it, it's very healing. I suggest you do it as often as possible (perhaps as a new habit?) with a notebook and pencil that you like, so it becomes both enjoyable and revealing.
5. Self-knowledge. This is the only way you can support yourself in an effective way. In fact, the four tools above are styles that go well with me. How do I know? I could give many reasons based on insights I've gained through astrology, psychology, and/or human design, etc., but while these tools give me insights and guide my process, there is nothing more authentic than testing, experimenting and seeing what works for you. You become your own authority. For me, there is nothing more empowering than that.

What about you: have you experienced something like this? What has worked for you? I'd love to read about it.