Kristin- first, congratulations on your new career! That is wonderful! I know it is an exciting time and also a stressful one. Anita has given some great advise about getting organized and using meditation to lessen the anxiety.

Staying on top of the anxiety is key. A good way to gauge stress levels is to use the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. You can google it, add up your stress and see where you stand. This has made a difference in my life and I started a meditation practice as a result. I dont worry to much about meditating perfectly and chanting and things like that- I just sit comfortably, focus on my breath, allow myself to drift and then gently pull myself back in without judgement. Being kind to myself in this practice has yielded phenomenal results.

One thing I would recommend to help reduce stress is to go into what I call “The Worry Womb”. What that means is to simply give yourself 15-20 minutes a day to focus solely on your worries. Write them out, find out how likely they are to come to fruition and ask yourself what would be the worst possible outcome if they did. The trick is this- during this time (and you can go longer than 20 minutes if needed but try not to go too long), your focus is solely on your worries. But that means that the rest of the day- you have to let them go, knowing you will dedicate time to them later. This will prevent you from ruminating on stressors, which in itself lessens anxiety and stress. You’ll find yourself worrying less and letting go of things that are not really worth worrying about. You will also find that many, if not most of the things we tend to worry about do not produce an outcome nearly as catastrophic as we fear. The sum of all of this is less stress and anxiety, more productive worry sessions and a clearer mind. If you give it a try, let me know how it works! Best wishes and congratulations again on your new career!