How to Prevent Anxiety in the Workplace
Do you find yourself experiencing feelings of anxiety while at work? If this is something you relate to - hopefully you find some solace in knowing you are not alone in this! Around 40% of Americans report feeling stressed throughout their work day.
Stress and anxiety in the workplace can often be chalked up to four common things:
1. Deadlines: Do you feel overwhelmed with getting all of your work in before deadlines?
2. Interpersonal relationships: Do you feel isolated from your coworkers? Do you feel worried about speaking up to your boss about things?
3. Staff management: Do you feel spread too thin having to manage multiple people’s schedules and stay on top of it all?
4. Dealing with issues/problems that arise: Do you ever feel like you are playing a game of “whack a mole” and that there is a never ending line of issues that arise that you have to deal with?
These four reasons are some of the most common reasons for someone feeling anxious at work, but there are many other possible reasons for this anxiety as well. It’s important to also consider that there are life stressors external to work that can be contributing to the anxiety you feel while at your workplace. But no matter where the anxiety stems from, the consequences of this anxiety or stress at work can be varied and you may find it affecting things from your relationships with your coworkers, to your quality of work, or to your mental health outside of work hours. If you're feeling particularly overwhelmed and anxious while at work there are a few things you can do.
First and foremost check in with yourself about whether you are feeling anxiety or fear. Fear is a response to imminent danger, whereas anxiety is anticipation of something that may or may not happen. If what you're feeling is fear and there is true danger you are feeling a reaction to, your workplace might not be a safe environment. If this is the case, an entirely different conversation needs to happen. But, once you've done a personal safety check and you've come to the conclusion that it is anxiety you are feeling, here are some things to ease those feelings.
Pay attention to when you feel the most anxious at work. Maybe even keep track of this on the notes app of your phone. See if you can find any patterns. Perhaps you find that you get the most anxiety after your lunch breaks? Or maybe you seem to get pretty consistent spikes in anxiety when you have a second cup of coffee in the afternoon (because coffee's free in the office so you always thought, what's the harm in another.)
Also pay attention to when you feel the least anxious. Maybe you notice you feel the least amount of anxiety when you remember to have snacks throughout the day? Or when you have consistent check-in meetings with your supervisor? Or when you make a detailed schedule of your day beforehand. Whatever patterns you start to find, begin limiting the situations that cause you to feel anxiety and start to lean into those that make you feel least anxious.
Another tip for feeling anxious at work is to take mindfulness breaks. This can look different for everybody, but some examples are: doing a five minute meditation, taking yourself for a walk around the block, calling a (non-work) friend, treating yourself to a yummy treat etc.
Hopefully these quick tips on how to reduce your anxiety at work, in addition to the reminder that you are not alone in your anxiety at work, is a good first step in working on your mental health at work. If you are someone experiencing anxiety at work, getting professional therapeutic support can be really valuable. You deserve to find peace in your daily life and if your workplace feels like a barrier to this, reach out to Be You Psychotherapy to further explore this anxiety you find yourself facing.
