This technically falls under Tips & Tricks For Fighting Negativity, but this deserves its own list. Well. Box.

The whole "I'm awkward" thought is self-projection. It's "the character and valence of one's situational, objective, or public self-awareness." Basically, it's what you think of yourself. That doesn't mean others think what you think. One of the things with anxiety and depression is that you have to learn to accept you can't read minds. No, you are not Snape. If you feel someone is judging you, think, "I can't read minds. It's time-wasting guesswork. I don't need to know what other people think of me anyway."

With my anxiety, I've avoided making phone calls. I feel awkward asking for help or requesting information. College and job application processes have had me on my feet constantly though. I have to make phone calls. I've noticed that there are some really nice office people who answer and make the conversation that much more easy. And then you get the people who are all, "Hi, how are you, I don't really like my job, what do you need." I've realized that I shouldn't think, "I'm awkward." I should think, "Wow, the person who answered was so awkward." Don't think it's you. Blame someone else for the awkwardness. Who cares if you judge them? It's human nature. That doesn't mean you think they're bad people. We're all a little awkward sometimes. Hey - if it gets you through the day to judge someone else, do it. I mean, don't let people know you judge them, but it's still a great technique.

Keep in mind that even if someone out there decides to judge you, you're not going to be on their mind for hours. Unless you skin animals alive or take candy from children, people will forget why they judged you fairly quickly. So you should forget about it too. People who judge you for any reason can still have high respect for you. For example, sometimes my sister is so spaced out using her computer/headphones that I have to call her name 20 times. It's so annoying! I hate it. But I love my sister. I don't wish anything bad of her. She doesn't deserve anything bad. I bet you 99% of the people who judge you think you deserve to be happy. The last percent are assholes to everybody.

Affirmation Time!

Negate "I'm awkward," with "I'm new to this. This is always how 'new' feels. When it's not new, it won't be so bad." Let's switch to story time now! I recently got a new job and I've been training to be a cashier. The training was very awkward the first week. I didn't know who to ask questions. The break room was awkward. I'm starting to get used to things. That initial "Oh my god, anxiety - anxiety!" alarm is starting to go off less when I'm at work. But today I actually checked out real people. All alarms possible were going off in my head. I made so many mistakes. I had people with full carts come through my line and so many coupons. But I'm not beating myself up about it like I used to. Because I'm getting used to this "new" idea. It's new. Just like being-at-work anxiety is starting to wear off, so will the panic of checking people out. Maybe not completely, but I'm not thinking I deserve all these horrible thoughts for making some mistakes on my first day checking people out. Which feels a lot better than being totally upset and overwhelmed about it.