1. Have a financial buffer if you can, the bigger the better, being able to wait it out is the ultimate protection, but increasing your runway by any amount increases your options and helps with the nerves.
2. Work on your network, talk to recruiters, peers in the industry, you can even do some interviews to practice. Not only might it help you if you need a new job, it gives you a taste of the actual situation, it might be better than expected or you know better what to prepare for and what you can work on.
3. Be open to freelance work and shorter projects.
4. Work on your skills, tune them to where the jobs are, build projects. Widen your skills with new topics/languages/frameworks/areas and get deeper expertise in your main area. Get your confidence back.
5. Start a company, but that is a lot more risky, and comes with a bunch of anxiety on it's own. It is also a lot of fun, I am enjoying it.
I think you need to do a good objective evaluation of your situation. Anxiety often comes from uncertainty, you might find it's not as bad as you fear it is, or you learn what you need to do. It sounds like you have a job, have experience, so you might be fine while just continuing to do what you do.
2. Work on your network, talk to recruiters, peers in the industry, you can even do some interviews to practice. Not only might it help you if you need a new job, it gives you a taste of the actual situation, it might be better than expected or you know better what to prepare for and what you can work on.
3. Be open to freelance work and shorter projects.
4. Work on your skills, tune them to where the jobs are, build projects. Widen your skills with new topics/languages/frameworks/areas and get deeper expertise in your main area. Get your confidence back.
5. Start a company, but that is a lot more risky, and comes with a bunch of anxiety on it's own. It is also a lot of fun, I am enjoying it.
I think you need to do a good objective evaluation of your situation. Anxiety often comes from uncertainty, you might find it's not as bad as you fear it is, or you learn what you need to do. It sounds like you have a job, have experience, so you might be fine while just continuing to do what you do.