Short-term high anxiety

So, I am almost done with my master's degree (less than a month to go!), and I am freaking out that I will mess something up. Every time I turn in an assignment (for the past 2 years), I assume I did it wrong. I am also planning on applying for a promotion (since I will have the educational requirements soon), and am nervous about that. On top of these stressors, I need to have some things fixed around the house, which always makes me nervous. I have been managing, but need to deal with this stuff soon. Another thing I have been obsessed with is decluttering, which makes me feel better when I get it done, but I am overwhelmed most of the time.
Lately, I feel like I am on the verge of a breakdown. I have never hit "rock-bottom," and am terrified of doing so, especially if that puts my career or relationships in jeopardy. I have been pretty much avoiding all the stuff above, and escaping into a fantasy world--or, if I do one thing (mostly cleaning), I do so at the expense of something else (usually studying).
Does anyone have any advice on how to survive the next month or so without losing it? The upside is that there is a deadline--my schooling will be over soon, but I am afraid I will screw things up in the meantime.

Just relax. Do some meditation or breathing exercise.

You can even consider looking into CBT to change your negative thinking patterns to more positive ones if you want to work on that long-term.

My school offers counseling services that are included in the tuition payment. In other words, before the semester even begins, each student has already purchased 12 counseling sessions. Whether the student uses them or not is another issue entirely. If you are looking for some form of therapy, that may be something to look into.

Otherwise, I don't really have any suggestions. I do the exact same thing and practice tons of avoidance. I have one semester remaining of student teaching and I've been avoiding. I'm absolutely terrified that I'll screw things up. To make a long story short, I empathize. If you get any good suggestions, pass 'em my way, wontcha?

As the old adage goes.... "Take one day at a time"

I used to believe that it was just an empty cliché. That is, until I became so overwhelmed once, that I tried it out of sheer desperation.

I found it is surprisingly effective when you are facing an on-coming Tsunami.

Also keep a notebook somewhere handy, and each night before you go to bed, jot down - in point form - the things you need to do for the next day. Have a tick-box at the end of each point.

It is remarkably satisfying to be able to physically tick off each tick-box when you have done any points you have on the days list. The next night, view the ticked boxes you got to tick off that day, just before you turn the page and jot down the tasks you need to do for the following day.

Just being able to view the ticked off boxes was an effective way to give me momentum to achieve wanting to get the things that needed to be done the following day. Therefore, encouraging the motivation to grow, resulting in actually WANTING to get the next days tasks completed, to produce the wonderful feeling of viewing those ticked off boxes the next night before bed, again.

For anything coming up in the future week/month that needs preparation for etc, have one page at the back of the book that lists due dates for things you have to plan for. This ensures that while you are only focusing on ONE days tasks at a time, you don't miss up coming due date for things. So you can just QUICKLY check each night, and asses if you need to add anything to do with those, in the next days list.

Then go back to the daily list and only concentrate on that. Your mind is then forced to focus ONLY on one days worth of tasks needed, not an entire overwhelming, few weeks worth of up coming tasks to get done.
You only think about the back page - up coming - tasks and their due dates, QUICKLY....when a). You are writing them in the back page, and b). When you have a quick view each night - before you do the next days list - to check if you need to do anything for the next day in relation to that back page.

Keep your focus ONLY on the next days tasks, and being able to tick off their tick-box when they are completed.

It is kind of like only dealing with one file at a time instead of having 10 or more files open in your mind, at the same time.

This of course may not help you, but it helped to ease the overwhelming stress-load for me. Good luck! lilmutegirl

^I think that's good advice. And if one day at a time still feels overwhelming, I'd even take it down to taking it one task at a time, and prioritize. If you have schoolwork due tomorrow, focus on that first. Don't think about the other things you need to get done. Be aware of them, like Blue said maybe put them down in a notebook. I like writing things down, that way I feel like I don't have to constantly think about them or else I'll forget something. For example, I have six months worth of finances on a whiteboard behind me. I find it helps tremendously, I always know what bills I have and when they are due, and now I don't stay up all night in bed worried I'm forgetting something.

And to help the avoidance, I'd try to break down what you need to do into smaller tasks, something you can look at and think "oh, that's no big deal." I wanted to start running earlier this year, but I knew in the past I'd never keep up as I would look at my run, and think "Nope, too long, don't feel like it." So this time I started smaller, with a shorter run that doesn't feel like a big deal to me. It made it much easier to keep up with.

Hope some of that helps!