#How to manage your anxiety while waiting to hear if Trump or Biden won

As several states have yet to report their final numbers, the unpredictability of the outcome may be putting a strain on you.

“When we feel uncertain, we tend to feel anxious. Our lives work better when we know what to expect,” says Lynn Bufka, the ‘s senior director of practice transformation and quality, who is an expert on stress and anxiety.

“There’s not a lot to do at the moment in terms of waiting for the outcome of the election so that’s part of the challenge that we’re in,” says Bufka. 

While coping skills aren’t enough to deal with post-election anxiety already compounded by the pandemic and economic crisis, incorporating healthy stress-management skills could help at least a little bit as we wait for results of a historical election. 

Here are some tips for dealing with the post-election uncertainty and the stress that can come with it.

1. Stop checking results continually

It’s nerve-wracking to be in the dark about who will be president, especially when we’re used to knowing the outcome on election night or the morning after. 

But constantly checking the number of electoral votes Donald Trump or Joe Biden have garnered likely isn’t going to help your anxiety.

“Right now what that does is reinforce that there’s still no answer and that the uncertainty is still very much there,” says Bufka.

Instead, set a time when you’ll look again and stick to it. 

2. Distract yourself

It may seem like there’s nothing else going on, but it’s important to do something non-election related as you wait. 

“For some people that could be work. I know for me, sometimes it’s baking cookies,” says Bufka.

If you’re working (whether remote or not) but unable to concentrate because of election uncertainty, choose tasks that don’t require a lot of mental focus, like cleaning up your email inbox or, if you don’t work at an office job, doing something routine like cleaning tools or other equipment. Engage with something non-work related for five-minute chunks, like a Sodoku puzzle, or spend a few seconds watching calming GIFs. 

However, other people may find it beneficial to throw themselves into a complicated task that absorbs their attention, says Bufka. You may feel too anxious at first to try this but you could give it a go for 10 minutes and then find that you become immersed in it for longer.

Exercise can also help you deal with anxiety because “doing something physical helps to release that [nervous] energy,” she says.

If you’re not working, Bufka suggests getting outside to take a walk or rake leaves.  

“We’ll know [the election results] when we know and if we can figure out ways to occupy ourselves as we wait that’s useful,” says Bufka.

3. Check in with a colleague

If there’s a colleague you’re close with, check in with them via Zoom or a phone call if you’re working remotely. But don’t let it get out of control.

“Make it [the conversation] a bounded amount of time. Don’t make it a free-for-all ‘let’s vent about everything that’s going on,'” says Bufka. By setting a time limit, you respect your colleague’s need to get their work done (and your own too). Agitation can also escalate if the talk turns into a venting session.

You can ask them for their strategies for dealing with anxiety around the election and share your own. 

“They may be able to help you question if you’re spinning yourself into anxiety or not and bring you back to a more comfortable place,” says Bufka.

4. Set your day right

We don’t know how long we’ll have to wait until we’ll know who is president. It could be days or longer.

You don’t have control over that, but you can influence how you start your day. For example, Bufka spent time this morning at an outdoor sculpture exhibit in her area.

“I was like, ‘let me just go do that before I start what’s going to be a very busy day,'” says Bufka. 

Even if your circumstances don’t allow you to see something fun or relaxing in the morning, take a few seconds throughout your day to focus on something calming. It could be as simple as the sunlight dancing on the wall. There are also some meditation apps that offer free, short practices specifically about anxiety.

“When you’re dealing with something like a hotly-contested election and our political climate that has been fairly divisive for the past few years, there’s both the uncertainty of what is the outcome and then there’s the longer-term uncertainty of ‘what does this mean?'” Bufka says.