​If concerns about climate change are keeping you up at night, you’re not alone. It’s easy to get discouraged by all the bad news about burning forests, rising sea levels, air pollution, struggling wildlife, and the general destruction of our natural environment for political and financial gain. The media constantly reminds us about all the ways in which we’re killing our beloved planet, and it’s normal to feel a sense of guilt and despair around this news.
 
The good news is that there’s a lot you can do to relieve your climate anxiety and stand up for our planet. Every one of us has the power to heal the environment through actions big and small. Whether good or bad, the choices made by homeowners, business owners, and everyday consumers can snowball into significant environmental impacts.
 
In this article from Real Life With Heather, we share some tips to help you cope with climate-related stress as well as a few impactful steps you can take to join the fight against climate change.

Managing climate anxiety is not about minimizing your reaction to this serious global issue. Far from it! We should be worried about where the world is headed. Psycom.net explains that the first step to coping with climate anxiety is allowing yourself to feel your feelings—whether anxiety, grief, worry, or anger—without judging them or trying to push them away. Acknowledge that your emotions are valid. You’ll find that once you accept your anxiety instead of trying to fight it, the intensity of your anxiety will fade immensely.
 
Next, recognize that it’s not your job to save the planet. You alone are not responsible for climate change. If you believe that the weight of the world is yours to bear, you will feel like a failure whenever you hear news about ecological losses. Instead, try to feel good about all the actions you’re taking to reduce your personal impact on the planet! Recognize that people and organizations all over the world are stepping up to engage in climate activism, and by getting involved, you too can make a difference.
 
Taking action against climate change is a great way to move forward from feelings of anxiety and grief. In the next section, we’ll explore a few ways you can use your strengths, capacities, and resources to get involved!

For some people, getting involved in the fight against climate change means starting a business that seeks to solve an existing sustainability problem. If you’re business-minded and have a passion for the environment, consider becoming an ecopreneur yourself! Ecopreneurs are business owners who prioritize the planet and people over profits. Whether it’s rescuing items from the landfill for upcycling or offering eco-friendly landscaping services to local homeowners, your sustainable business is bound to make a difference.
 
Before launching your business, you’ll have to learn how to set up a new company. Take the time to create a business plan for your new eco-friendly company. Choose a suitable business structure. Many small businesses start out as sole proprietorships, but LLCs enjoy more perks including personal liability protection and tax benefits. Also research your target market and form strategies on how you’ll market your products or services.
 
It’s also crucial that you set up an invoicing process that gets you paid quickly. Keep terms simple and offer customers multiple payment options. You can create eye-catching branded invoices with an online invoice generator. Choose an invoice template and then personalize it with your own logo, slogan, and design elements.

​Feeling guilty about your individual impact on the planet is not the answer. Research shows that just 90 companies are responsible for nearly two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions! As consumers, we have a lot of power to sway the behaviors of these major corporations. Let’s hold these companies accountable! Shop from companies that are doing good for the planet, and stop purchasing products from those that are causing harm. You can find a lot of great information about corporate responsibility and sustainability online.

​Beyond shopping from sustainable companies, an even better way to reduce your impact is to curb your consumption altogether. Break up with packaged foods, fast fashion, and poor-quality products that are designed to deteriorate quickly. When you need to buy something, whether it’s clothing, appliances, hobby supplies, or furniture, look for second-hand options before buying new. When you head to the grocery store, stick to the produce aisles and pick up whole foods that don’t require processing and packaging. Be mindful of your shopping habits and aim to reduce, reuse, and recycle—in that order!
 
Food waste is a significant problem contributing to climate change. According to Innovate Eco, food waste that ends up in the landfill produces methane and carbon dioxide due to the lack of oxygen during decomposition. Not only that, but wasted food means wasting the vast resources that went into producing, transporting, and storing the food. Try to waste less—and compost your scraps!

If you have a backyard, there’s a lot you can do to support the local biodiversity of plants and animals in your area. Backyard habitats are home to many native species. Unfortunately, many properties feature large expanses of pesticide-ridden lawn that provide few benefits to the plants and animals that support our delicate ecosystem. Consider doing some eco-friendly landscaping in your backyard to provide a home for bees, birds, insects, and other beneficial fauna.
 
As the world’s environmental issues continue to worsen, increasing levels of climate anxiety are sure to follow. Unfortunately, worrying about the state of the environment is the reality of being human at the time in history. Use your feelings as fuel! Take action against climate change however you can. When we all act together, we can make a difference!

​We are all familiar with the fact that working long hours leads to burnout, stress, anxiety, and even severe health diseases such as heart attacks. But, despite all of that, we continue to push ourselves to work even harder and longer. An average person works 45 hours a week. And, some people work even 50 or more hours a week. If that weren't enough, they all fail to leave work at work and bring it home instead. They spend 'after hours' answering emails, returning phone calls, making presentations, etc.
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Most people believe that working more will contribute to higher productivity (which will, in return, contribute to more accomplishments). However, overworking can only make you less productive! When you burn out your mind and body, they stop functioning properly. Thus, it is necessary to leave work at work and use your free time to relax and recharge. We know how difficult that may be for some of you, but you must try! So, here are our seven ways to leave work at work. 

This sounds relatively straightforward, but many people fail to do so. Namely, when we arrive at work, we tend to go with the flow, finish tasks, procrastinate if there is time, or even complete some daily habits that drain our energy instead of helping us. But then, at the end of the work day, we realize we haven't done any prioritizing. So, we are forced to stay longer or bring our work home. This is all because we didn't plan the end of our workday!
 
To prevent this from happening, in other words, to leave work at work, plan when you want to leave. Then, prioritize everything that you must do until that time. Don't waste your time on anything irrelevant. Plan your day and stick to that plan. 

If you constantly volunteer to work overtime, your colleagues and managers will get used to that. They expect you to finish everybody's work, fix all the problems, and simply handle everything they don't want to do. But, no matter how much you like working and being in charge of everything, doing all this work overtime will, sooner or later, drive you crazy. It will stress you out. Then, you will either get into a fight with somebody or with yourself.
 
Neither of these 'stress managements' is good. You need to find healthy ways to deal with it and reduce overall stress. For instance, you can tell everybody that you won't be able to stay after working hours. Or, you can ask them to call you only during working hours. Do this once, then twice, every day of the week, and everybody around you will stop giving you last-minute tasks or expect your help after 5 PM.

​Even if you decide to leave work at work, it will be hard at first. Right before you decide to leave, you will be distracted by emails, phone calls, questions from your colleagues, messy files, etc. You mustn't allow these things to prolong your working hours. So, every day, schedule some time to handle everything stopping you from going home. That can be just 20 minutes or half an hour before your departure. Treat those minutes like you would treat an important meeting. Focus on the tasks that must be done and don't allow anything or anybody to interfere. 

To get your paycheck and not worry about money, you need to do your work. And just as previously mentioned, you probably fill your days with random tasks that are not necessarily part of your work, and because of that, you don't finish everything on time. So, you are forced to stay late and do the work that you are paid for.
 
You have to learn how to prioritize! Train yourself (that is, train your mind) to focus on the most important things as soon as you arrive in the office. Finish all the important things ahead of time, and then, if you have some time left, do the less important ones. Or, leave the less important ones for tomorrow. 

​Maybe you work overtime because you get bored at home. But, who says that you have to go home after work. There are many other places you can go to and have fun. For instance, you can do your favorite hobby after work (go to a pottery class, language class, etc.) or do some physical activity (yoga, pilates, boxing, etc.). Or, go home to focus on cooking your favorite meals and maybe even share your recipes online. Find something that makes you relaxed and happy. Once you do, schedule time for it right after your work. This will undoubtedly motivate you to not overwork and spend your free time doing something you love. 

We love our emails. They are an excellent means of communication. But, sometimes, waiting for a replay can take ages. That drains one's energy and time! So, instead of waiting for an answer to the important email, just pick up the phone. Calling your client, customer, manager, etc., over the phone will save you a lot of time you would otherwise spend typing, responding, checking, sorting, and who knows what else.
Don't allow your cluttered and disorganized inbox to drain your energy and stop you from leaving work at work. To leave work at work, you need to change your strategy. But, of course, check with your manager first! You don't want to infringe on the company's policy.

​Phones can save you a lot of time, just like mentioned above. But so can the rest of technology! Technology is there to make our lives (and our work) easier! So, use it to your advantage. Find tools and apps that can help you do your job faster. Get a better phone, laptop, or even a better tablet if necessary. You would be surprised at how much time and energy you can save by using the right technology.
However, don't let that same technology overpower you. When you have so many things in front of you – things that are blinking, clicking, ringing, etc., it is easy to get distracted. So, once again, use technology to your favor and turn it off when you need to stay focused. You can use an app for that too. For instance, an app called Freedom can, upon your command, turn off your Wi-Fi and disconnect you from everything in just one click.
As you have seen, there are many ways you can leave work at work. We mentioned just a few of them, but you already know there are many more ways. You just have to research on your own, try a couple of your ways, and find what works best for you.