The 30 Day Anxiety Challenge is a program designed to help individuals discover new anxiety coping techniques and healthier habits. Join the challenge to learn new coping strategies and for better anxiety management.
The 30 Day Anxiety Challenge
Each day, complete the activity described in the 30 Day Anxiety Challenge. You have access to different free resources, such as guides, PDFs, links, videos, etc.
Here are some tips before you start:
- This challenge is not an overnight cure! It is just a tool for you to explore different healthy habits and copings skills for anxiety management.
- Download the free Notion Template Tracker for the challenge below. Keep track of all the challenges you have done.
- If miss a challenge one day, don’t worry, you are trying your best. Just try to follow the challenges the best you can. You can always do two challenges in one day or come back to undone challenges after.
- Feel free to redo the challenge as many times as you want.
- Ultimately, the value of the challenge depends on your engagement.
- We are regularly updating the challenge with new resources, so don’t forget to revisit this page in the future!
Week 1: Understanding Anxiety
- Day 1: Journal. What is going through your mind? Journaling is proven to improve your mental health. (1) Get a notebook and a pen, or just use your phone notes. Here you have some prompts for journaling for anxiety.
- Day 2: Educational day. Learn about anxiety from reputable sources:
- Day 3: Breathing exercises. Try some breathing exercises, which are proven to reduce your anxiety levels (2). Some techniques might be more useful to you than others. Here are some of the most popular ones:
- Box breathing relaxation technique
- Deep breathing technique (also known as Diaphragmatic Breathing). This techniques involves breathing deeply from your diaphragm.
- 4-7-8 Breathing technique
- Day 4: Meditation. Meditation was proven to be effective against anxiety symptoms (3). Try to meditate for at least 10 minutes.
- Noting meditation for intrusive thoughts
- There are many free resources on meditation on Youtube!
- Day 5: Progressive muscle relaxation. Progressive muscle relaxation was proven to increase relaxation (4). Try Guided Progressive Muscle Relaxation.
- Day 6: Cognitive Distortions. Learn about Cognitive Distortions, a concept which is often explored in CBT, how to identify your irrational negative thoughts and challenge them. Here is our step-by-step guide.
- Day 7: Anxiety Triggers. Learn about your Anxiety Triggers, and start recording them.
Week 2: Lifestyle and Habits
- Day 8: Exercise for at least 10 minutes.
Start this very easy program: Couch to 5K, a six-week beginner 5k training plan. Only do the first session if you feel like it!
You could also try some yoga.
- Day 9: Nutrition. Plan how you could eat healthier for the rest of the challenge, even if it is just making one meal healthier. You can also try to buy some healthy groceries to have at home for the rest of the week.
- Can you bring with yourself a piece of fruit instead of a cookie?
- Day 10: Sleep hygiene. Make sure you become aware of your sleeping habits, and take actionable steps to improve them.
- Try to go to sleep without looking at any screens one hour before.
- Get some sunlight during the day.
- Day 11: Caffeine. Think about your caffeine intake. Are you aware of the link between caffeine and anxiety? Do you think it could be contributing to your anxiety levels?
- Day 12: Habits. Check out the Mindless Habits that Cause Anxiety.
- Day 13: Hydration. Become aware of your hydration levels in your daily life, and the link between dehydration and anxiety. Also, check out our guide to drink more water.
- Day 14: Tidy your room. Declutter your favorite space. Or, if you feel unable to, just make your bed. Check our guide “Tidy house Tidy Mind“.
Week 3: Coping strategies
- Day 15: Anxiety Grounding Techniques. Learn about Anxiety Grounding Techniques. You can also download the free Anxiety Grounding Techniques toolkit.
- Day 16: Anxiety Distraction Techniques. Explore some Anxiety Distraction Techniques.
- Day 17: Music. Listen to music you like. You can even create your own relaxing music playlist to help you calm down in times of need. Listen to the world’s most relaxing song, or maybe nature sounds.
- Day 18: Laugh. Watch a movie, videos or meme that makes you laugh.
- Day 19: ETF. Try the Tapping Technique for Anxiety: the Emotional Freedom Technique (ETF).
- Day 20: Try another guided meditation.
- Day 21: Hope Box. Create a Hope Box, also called Coping Box, Anxiety Kit or Mental Health Kit. You can also try designing an Anxiety Travel Kit.
Week 4: Building Resilience
- Day 22: Goal setting. Set some small goals for the day or the week.
- Day 23: Social support. Contact a friend or family member and ask them how they are. Reach out to your support system
- Day 24: Nature. Take a walk in nature.
- Day 25: Journal again.
- Day 26: Self-care day. Check out our Self-Care Checklist for Anxiety to get some ideas on self-activities that you can do. You can also plan a Self-Care Sunday.
- Day 27: Exercise for at least 10 minutes. Yes, again.
- Day 28: Hobbies. Try some Self-Expression Activities. Do something that helps you recharge when you feel drained
Week 5: Reflection
- Day 29: Reflect on your progress. Which coping skills did you find the most useful? Which habits you have do you think contribute to your anxiety the most?
- Day 30: Plan for the future. Set long-term strategies for managing anxiety.
Free Interactive Tracker for the Challenge
Get for free the Notion Template to Track your progress in the 30 Day Anxiety Challenge!
Now, what next?
If you finished the 30 Day Anxiety Challenge, you can check out our other more in-depth free resources and strategies.
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