So you wake up Monday morning and realize that last night’s anxiety is still with you. But that’s not all. You also soon realize that you have to be at work in a couple of hours and pretend like you’re not feeling terrible, which is a real special kind of double whammy. It’s something I remember experiencing quite often. I’d fluctuate between wanting to connect to the wider world and getting stuck inside my own head about all the potential disasters that could befall me. That’s why I thought it was important to discuss workplace anxiety this week. After all, we do spend an awful lot of time there. Some estimate that we spend something like 30% of our lives trying to earn a buck. That’s a ton. The tough part is that being anxious at work is different from feeling bad at home. At least at home you might feel safer or like you have more options to help calm yourself down. What makes work anxiety painful is that while you’re panicking or flipping through worried thoughts you have to well, work. You have to talk to folks on the phone, in person, or plow through a bunch of paperwork, and you might even have deadlines to contend with on top of all that. It’s no walk in the park.
I sat down over the weekend and thought about some of the major areas of work life that stress people out. Then I set out to note specific steps that you could take to help manage each one. Instead of writing a long form version of my findings I’m simply going to post my outline. Here it is:
1. Learn how to manage feelings of anxiety at work
- Identify what is bothering and be as specific as you can be
- Identify anxiety triggers that exist at your workplace
- Develop coping and relaxation skills that you can use at work
2. Nurture positive relationships with coworkers
- Be on the lookout for and manage workplace bullies
- Cultivate a positive persona and social relationships at work
- Set boundaries and assert yourself when you need to
3. Improve work productivity
- Get organized
- Break large tasks into smaller ones
- Learn how to say no to people
- Use all available resources
4. Follow your modified dreams
- Why settling for less is always a bad idea
- Find a compromise between your dreams and “the real world”
- You don’t have time to wait to fulfill your dreams
5. Get help when you need it
- Use your EAP at work
- Seek your own private treatment if you’re concerned about privacy
- Make use of your support network
- Learn how to communicate your needs to others
Given that this outline is pretty sparse I encourage you to listen to this week’s podcast to get all the details around how you can reduce workplace anxiety. I also discuss the launch of my private therapy practice here in California. I hope you enjoy the show!
To listen, you can click the play button below or visit the AG iTunes page.
Nice article Paul, I think the thing you pointed out in 2nd point is very important. Most people do not disclose their problem at workplace due to embarrassment. If it is disclosed there are chances of getting appreciation and helping hands.
thanks.
It’s like you have read my mind again!!! I am at work at a very high stress company working for a large brand. Thanks as always for this podcast. My job creates so much stress it no longer makes sense for me to stay here but for now I have to cope until I can get into a low stress environment.
Thanks Paul! This is a great podcast and very timely for me as I work in a Toxic work environment.
Whatever the stress be, I think the most important thing is Self Control. Not acting instantly to any situation, thinking calmly also help to solve most of the major problems. And you have pointed out most of the things in your podcast. which are really helpful to discourage anxiety disorders.