Workplace anxiety and how to deal with it

How to deal with Workplace Anxiety and stress

Anxiety is constantly present to some extent in your life, yet it doesn’t have to hinder doing great and enjoying your work. Though anxiety is an unpleasant feeling, it is manageable. Additionally, if you are able to deal with workplace anxiety, it is an opportunity for you to expand in your career.

Stress and anxiety go together and can have a far-reaching impact on a person’s life. According to a recent journal, panic disorder is the result of anxiety and stress and is characterized by the occurrence of repeated panic attacks.

The feeling of intense terror and fear that crops up when triggers strike makes a person go through heart-attack-like symptoms that their body didn’t see coming and isn’t prepared for. These experiences are very real for the person experiencing them and can happen at any place and at any time.

The Workplace Anxiety

Many of us will admit that the current working environment is extremely competitive, forcing people to perform under constant judgment and stress. In a world where time is money, every second counts, resulting in extreme pressure, overtime, and the fear of always being side-lined for someone better and more competitive.

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This pressure to live up to the expectations, in addition to the financial responsibilities that come with it can force an individual to work beyond his/her thresholds, almost pushing them to the point of breakdown.

Deadlines are packed so close to each other that it gives the individuals no breathing space to re-group their thoughts. Competition is so high that individuals are willing to risk their mental and physical wellness to retain their job, pay their bills, and maintain the standard of living that is accepted by society.

While this has become the new normal of our lifestyles, sometimes things can get a little out of hand. And when that happens, when you put yourself through periods of continued stress and anxiety, the feeling takes over and starts interfering with your ability to perform your job or manage your personal life. Your mental and physical health takes a toll and things begin to get out of control.

The key element to the psychotherapy of anxiety, stress, and panic disorder (and they get entangled with each other) is exposure to the feared triggers (1).

So, instead of avoiding the stimuli or situation, psychologists suggest you confront it. They believe learning not to avoid is crucial and most often the first step to healing and treatment.

Causes

  • Handling job conflicts
  • Meeting the deadlines
  • Relationships with colleagues
  • Handling staff
  • Long working hours
  • Demanding Superior
  • High workload
  • Lack of direction on jobs
  • Lack of perception of fairness
  • Lack of control over the work environment
  • low reward (Less payouts, incentive system, etc.)

First, Accept Anxiety. Then Identify its Trigger Patterns.

What might start as a thought about something completely benign, an email you sent, a conversation you had, an upcoming event, a minor worry, can trigger responses that are unexpected and hostile. Anxiety can tell you, “you can’t do this, drop out, you failed,” and hammer those feelings repeatedly with the intensity that makes you believe and become the thought.

You mind senses a trigger and its fight-or-flight response forces it to go into overdrive. It thinks it’s trying to help you survive and doesn’t realize it isn’t being helpful.

How to manage anxiety at work

While anxiety can happen anywhere and at any time, it is more susceptible to happen at work, simply because of the heightened levels of competition and pressure that comes with it. Fortunately, there is a way to turn things around (2).

  • Make sure to make time on your own away from work and find points that make you laugh and smile.
  • Take lunch breaks and share a meal with others outside of your workplace. You can decide to go with walks outdoors on your breaks with associates when feasible.
  • Know everybody’s name and their responsibilities. It’s never ever too late to start developing stronger connections in the workplace.
  • Keep the job-related concerns in between you and also the person with whom you have a dispute. Remember the good things about your job and your life. Don’t drag others down as well as urge in-person relations.
  • Learning to utilize neutral and calming language in the workplace can assist reduce everybody’s anxiety at work.
  • Ask your superiors for assistance if you got stuck at the job. It can reduce overall stress and anxiety about responsibilities.
  • Not every deadline is negotiable, but it will certainly save you hours of stress and anxiety if you can be honest upfront and work at a manageable rate. Typically it’s better to be straightforward upfront than to apologize later.
  • Analyze what you fear will happen and ask on your own whether it is an irrational worry.

Try positive affirmations.

Verbal confirmations, also known as affirmations, are words you willfully use, and by that, I mean you think, speak, and believe in order to flesh out the reality you seek. Your mind constantly reaches out to power words to reinstate all that it plans to practice.

In fact, there’re probably several of these “power words” running through your head, just as we speak. Use absolute positive statements to bring life to all your dreams and aspirations. Use statements such as;

  • I love myself and am at ease with my mind.
  • I can and will overcome this trouble quickly.
  • I believe I can make this happen.
  • I can do this.
  • I am good at what I do.

Work at Creating a Work-Life Balance

To manage workplace anxiety, you must balance your professional and personal life. You must take time off work to make room for things you love; spending time with your loved ones, engaging in your favorite sport.

Spending time in doing the things you love with the people you love during your time off and on weekends is important. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how rejuvenated you are likely to feel.