Rule of thumb: it takes ~20 minutes to calm down to the point where you can do...
Rule of thumb: it takes ~20 minutes to calm down to the point where you can do knowledge work.
While I'm in between jobs, I read the news, the sympathetic nervous system goes haywire and either I spend the next half hour calming back down, or it just keeps going.
Self-replies
Normally I suffer from low grade depression, so this round-the-clock anxiety is new.
I can now sympathize better with
- alcoholics & drug addicts (why yes, the idea of something to make it stop now is attractive)
- faith religions (a superbeing is going to fix it for me, yes please)
- gratitude journal (CBT-lite to replace the bad thoughts)
- chanting (if you can overwrite the thoughts with repetitive nonsense, it stops the bad thoughts)
And I'm doing conscious breathing all day now.