By Leo Babauta

Work can be stressful: we feel overwhelmed when we have too much to do, it’s hard to decide what to work on next, we procrastinate on difficult tasks, we always feel behind, and we might avoid difficult conversations.

This all becomes a lot easier if we develop trust in ourselves.

Trust in ourselves isn’t trust that we’ll do things perfectly, but that we’ll do our best and that we can handle whatever comes up even if things don’t go perfectly.

It’s not always easy to develop that kind of trust, but today I’d like to share some of the ways our work lives can become easier if we do start to develop that self-trust.

OK, without further ado, here are some important ways things get easier:

1. Less overwhelm: We get overwhelmed not because we objectively have too much to deal with … but because we don’t believe we can deal with all of it. Overwhelm is simply fear of not being able to handle it. But what if we trusted ourselves to handle things as best we can? Sure, we might not actually be able to finish everything on our list … but if we trust ourselves, we trust that we can deal with that appropriately. Maybe we need to renegotiate deadlines or reschedule meetings, or apologize if we dropped the ball somewhere. We can handle all of that.

2. Easier decision-making: We get stuck on deciding what to work on next because we have a thousand things calling for our attention, and we are afraid of making the wrong decision. But if we trust ourselves, we can just choose from the gut. And then just trust that decision. It’s so much easier, we don’t fret and get caught up in self-doubt.

3. More focus: If we just choose something to work on, trusting ourselves is simply putting everything else aside and focusing completely on that one thing. As if it were the only thing that mattered. Focus, in this way, becomes a lot easier.

4. Less procrastination: We procrastinate not just because something feels difficult … but because we fear that we can’t handle that difficulty. It becomes scary, and so we run away without a second thought. But if we trusted ourselves, we might just trust that we can handle a bit of difficulty. We can take a shot at it, and deal with however things turn out. So if we’re feeling a little trepidation about a task or project, trust is just taking a breath, and then diving in with a bit of courage.

5. Easier conversations: We avoid difficult conversations (often without realizing it, out of habit) because we fear screwing it up, or fear that we can’t handle the discomfort. This avoidance rarely makes things any better, it just creates worse situations. If we trust ourselves, then we can just take that breath, and simply have the conversation. Just relax ourselves abit, and talk about it with the other person. Let them have their reaction, care about it without making it a big deal, and trust that you can handle a bit of discomfort.

These five things are the areas that make our work lives stressful (for most of us) … so if they get easier, then work gets a lot easier. Of course, the same things apply in our lives away from work.

So how do we develop trust in ourselves? It’s a practice — one that we would need to take on intentionally.

Here’s how the practice might look:

1. Notice when you’re not trusting yourself. Look in the areas above — if you’re overwhelmed, procrastinating, stuck in indecision, avoiding conversations, having trouble focusing.

2. Ask yourself, “What would I do here if I completely trusted myself?”

3. Take a breath, and do that. Try to do it simply, without making a big deal with it, relaxing your body and mind as you do it.

4. Remind yourself that however things turn out, you can deal with that when it comes.

If you practice this several times a day, every day, you’ll see incredible progress.