Photo by Vu Bui.

Performance anxiety is a part of life. We all have it. It drives us to work harder and improve at what we do, but too much of it can also kill your creativity, drain your energy and severely impact productivity.

Freelancing comes with its fair share of anxiety provoking conditions. The solo aspect of it alone can be scary, not to mention the variability in income, and if you’re new at it, the inevitable learning curve when it comes to business skills.

A healthy level of performance anxiety that gets your heart pumping and sharpens your attentiveness can be an asset if you know how to make the most of it. But how do you regain control when anxiety starts to run the show?

1. Learn to recognize when anxiety becomes a problem. Avoidance is the hallmark of anxiety-dominated thinking. Procrastination, perfectionism and creating distraction are all ways of avoiding tasks that cause anxiety. If you find yourself perpetually preparing and perfecting projects but missing deadlines, or doing low priority work while high priority projects suffer, anxiety may have the upper hand. Ask yourself if performance anxiety is pushing you to perform better or causing you to freeze up.

2. Take a deep breath. When you’re anxious, your breathing becomes shallow. Breathe deeply instead. Breathe all the way down into your stomach. It has an instant calming effect and brings more oxygen to the brain so you can focus.

3. Set priorities with a calm mind. Trying to problem solve in the throes of anxiety is never a good idea. Make a time management plan when your mind is clear. When you’re tempted to spend all your time on one project to the detriment of everything else, consult the plan you created when you were a little more sane, and follow it.

4. Spend half an hour worrying. A certain level of worry helps you plan for the future. But worried thoughts that intrude and distract you will drain your productivity like nothing else. Set aside 30 minutes each day to worry. Get really worked up about everything you fear could go wrong. Write it all down. Then put it away and go back to work. If you find yourself worrying again, tell yourself to save it for next time. Don’t do this right before you go to bed. Plan to do something specific immediately afterwards, and don’t drag it out.

5. Commiserate. In a 9-to-5 job, there are coworkers around that can help you with a reality check every once in awhile. You compare notes about things, and when you’re worried, you have people to talk to. With solo work, it’s important to create that kind of social network for yourself. Talk to friends about how projects are going. Share your fears and let them remind you how focused and talented you are. Network with other freelancers. Read Freelance Switch. Remind yourself that you’re not alone.

Kathryn Stinson is a beginning freelance writer and therapist-in-training.