Looking at what needs to be achieved at the beginning of a day is eerily similar to looking at the ocean from 20,000 feet up. Dizzying and scary, with an intensity that would make anyone bow out of proceedings before even taking off. But, one doesn’t need to run away from these feelings. The best sorts of people grasp onto them, and use them to their own gain.

Countless nights throughout my young life, I was treated to harrowing visions of plane crashes by my subconscious mind. It seemed I couldn’t go a week without having some sort of dream involving faulty air travel. I would often dream of being launched up into the air on a plane, only to find it would fail to grasp any sort of engine power and come flying down. I even had a few dreams which merely depicted the drive to the airport, coupled with the unflinching worry that overcame me, when the possibility of being airborne in but a few minutes, was all too real.

Though it didn’t necessarily cause me any loss of sleep, the prospect of a holiday or wedding abroad filled my heart with a deep sense of concern. One or two flights to Ireland were spent with teeth clenched and armrests clasped. And when my lovely girlfriend announced her family had invited me on an excursion to Gran Canaria, I knew I had to do something. I would have to find a way to face down my fears. There was no way I could let them get the better of me, especially not while assuming my role as the superstar boyfriend.

In my moment of desperation, I turned as I so often have, to the electronic duo Boards of Canada. In the hopes that the hypnogogic nature of their back catalogue would lull me to sleep, and I would be able to wake up having safely landed back down to earth.

Unfortunately, quite the opposite happened. As we began to ascend higher and higher into the air, I was completely unable to take my eyes off of the small window. As the landscape begun to curve, and the patchwork of fields gave way to the majesty of the ocean, the feeling of anxiety in my stomach shrunk but did not altogether disappear. I gradually accepted that this tinge of worry was natural, and combined with the beautiful songs of Boards of Canada, I was in awe at the landscape before me. Unmoving I sat and contemplated the world as it passed me by. I realised that the best thing to do when faced with a stressful situation, was to face it head on, rather than trying to escape from it. As we touched down in Gran Canaria, I found myself eager to be on the flight back already. A year on, and flying is now one of the most rewarding experiences in my life.

Without even really thinking about it, I decided to implement the same system every morning that I set about doing the work I have to do. I log in to my emails and look at my to-do list with the beautiful melodies and rhythms of the fantastic Boards of Canada playing in the background. The dizzying feeling of having a lot of deadlines to meet, or a mountain of work splayed out before you is similar to seeing the patchwork quilt of land below you from thousands of miles up. The euphoric music of Boards of Canada helps me to understand these feelings of unease are natural, and that if I take it one step at a time and don’t ever lose my focus, the result can be beautiful and infinitely rewarding.