Anx-i-ety. Just sounding out the word simulates that closing of the throat, that belly-churn of uncertainty that comes with fretting about the future.

Anxiety affects 40 million adults in the U.S. “It’s part of our physiology as human beings,” says Steve Orma, a San Francisco-based psychologist and career coach. “If a car was rushing toward you and your reaction was, ‘Whatever,’ you’d get run over.”

Anxiety is baked into our survival instinct. It’s when that worry over the future gets out of hand or impedes our performance that we have a problem. Use your anxiety the right way and it will help you be more productive and proactive. Here are some steps to get you on that productivity path.

Often anxiety begets more anxiety. But feeling guilty or frustrated by your anxious feelings only amplifies them, says Orma. “Don’t freak out about the fact that you are getting anxious,” he says. “You want to understand the anxiety instead of judge it and freak out about it.”

Remind yourself that this is a natural reaction the mind and body has in situations of uncertainty. There’s nothing wrong with having that feeling, but the first step is to acknowledge it.

Get your worries down on paper. Letting the anxieties you’re latched onto out on the page can be cathartic. “What is the worst that can happen?” says Orma. “Get it all down on paper.” This will allow you to let go of some of those worries you’ve bottled up. Often seeing your thoughts on the page can give you a more objective perspective and help you unpack what you are actually worrying about.

We have productive and unproductive anxiety. An unproductive worry is one we have no control over. Often it has to do with other people or global issues beyond our control. “If you recognize it as unproductive worry, you can tell yourself, ‘There is nothing I can do about this and it’s a waste of time,'” says Orma.