Having the right next step locked in helps reduce anxiety.

Imagine you have some big amorphous intimidating thing hanging over your head.

For example, "figure out how to address persistent heartburn"

If you're busy, every so often that big scary ambiguous thing will pop into your awareness and make you feel intimidated… and guilty for constantly postponing doing anything about it.

But now imagine that you've taken the right next step to get a handle on that issue.

For example: scheduled an appointment with your primary care physician to explain the symptoms and seek a referral to a specialist.

That next step doesn't resolve the situation, but it does mean that as time ticks on, you naturally coast closer to getting a resolution.

As time ticks on, the date of the booked appointment for the next step gets closer.

When you have a good next step "baking" (that is, converging over time automatically towards a good outcome) you no longer have to worry about it.

If the thought of that big amorphous scary thing pops up, you think, "yup, I've got a handle on it, no need to think about anything else on it right now" and you can bat it away.

Now any worry you have about it intrinsically can fade away, because the world is already in progress to address it.