Anxiety is a part of life; we all experience it. The amount of anxiety a person experiences is to some degree related to how important a particular outcome is to that person. It seems like everything these days is high stakes and anxiety provoking. There is a global pandemic that continues to create chaos around the world, economic uncertainty, gender and racial inequality, and now a presidential election.

People are more anxious than ever about this presidential election. According to a recent article by the American Psychological Association 68% of U.S. adults say the 2020 U.S. presidential election is a significant source of stress. This is compared to the 2016 election where 52% of U.S. adults found the election stressful. It might just be a symptom of the times, but it remains a significant concern. If you are having election anxiety here are some simple ways to reduce stress and anxiety during this election cycle. 

1. Make sure you are getting enough sleep. Set a regular sleep time and wake time. Make sure the room you sleep in is as conducive to sleep as possible (e.g. dark room with no ambient light). Limit the bed to sleep and sex only, do not play games on your phone or read in bed. If you can’t sleep get out of the bed and do a mildly strenuous activity. A good example is a crossword puzzle, then come back to bed when you feel tired. If you are not sleeping well it can cause problems in other areas of life such as mood and cognitive function. 
2. Get outside or stay inside whichever you prefer, but make sure to move. Exercise is a great way to cope with stress and anxiety. There are countless free guided exercise routines on sites like YouTube that require little or no equipment to perform. If you do not like that option, take a walk in your favorite park, take a bike ride, or go for a hike on your favorite trail. 
3. Limit your consumption of news throughout the day. Set aside one or two times per day to check the news and see what is going on with the election. Resist the urge to continually check in and get play by play updates. This simple, but difficult to follow advice will save you a lot of stress and anxiety. 
4. Avoid talking to people in your life about the election who are unable to keep their emotions under control while discussing the topic. You should have a good idea of who these people are in your life. This will save you a lot of stress and anxiety by simply choosing to talk about other topics with those individuals.
5. The last thing I recommend for people who want an activity they can perform to reduce stress is a thought journal . This can be as simple as a piece of paper that you record the thoughts on. There are printable versions of this online. I will provide a link to one such example here. This is a common technique used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) all the time.