Nearly a decade ago I was trying to learn how to skate on ice. A rather insane friend told me to "don't think and just do it". It was horrible. But it's proven to be a memory I kept going back to till today every time I was overwhelmed.
I always feared what's on the far end due to my anxiety, which gives room to paranoia and paralysis. I think about the accident instead of focusing how I can steady myself on ice. Similarly, I think about the looming disaster first instead of focusing how I can solve a problem.
This practice of narrowing your scope to only things at hand was always difficult to me, but recently I was able to picture them in form of a conveyor belt with only one thing at a time. It becomes a bit more bearable to think and approach life this way.