Whether you have just started at a new company, got a promotion or have been working in the same role for years, you may have experienced work anxiety at least once in your life. It’s defined on VeryWellMind as feeling stressed, nervous, uneasy or tense about work, including anxiety about job performance, interaction with co-workers, or even public speaking.
As humans, it’s totally normal to have these feelings. It’s how humans have stayed alive for centuries by triggering the ‘flight or fight’ response to keep us safe. It’s a great mechanism, however sometimes our minds can get confused between the feelings of ‘discomfort’ and ‘danger’.
Speaking from personal experience, my anxiety at work really intensified when I started a new role that pushed me out of my comfort zone. I had sleepless nights, mental breakdowns between meetings and moments where I struggled to focus as my mind was too cluttered with reasons of why ‘I wasn’t good enough for this job’ (aka imposter syndrome, but we can cover that in another article). To be frank, it’s not something you can fix overnight, but can be improved with some changes to your mindset, perspective and lifestyle.
Here are a couple tips that have helped me deal with my anxiety at work:
Bring awareness to the core reason of your anxiety
Take a moment to ask yourself why you are putting so much pressure on yourself. Is it because you have financial pressures to have a stable income? Do you feel like you haven’t progressed? Perhaps you feel like a failure and you’re just not good enough for role. Whatever the reason is, take a step to acknowledge it and understand what it truly is.
List out the ‘truths’ that surround that reason
Sometimes the feeling of anxiety can mislead the mind to make things seem worse than they really are. That’s why it’s important to list out the ‘truths’ within your reason. Using the reason you’ve pinpointed above, state out the facts.
For example, if you feel like you haven’t progressed in life, think about how far you’ve come, all the roles you’ve had in the past and the skills you’ve learnt. Compare yourself to 5 years ago. You’ve probably progressed more than you realise.
If your reason is financial pressures, think about the present moment. You are currently okay, alive and have managed to tackle your financial ‘hiccips’ all the way up to this point in your life. Put a little more trust in yourself.
For me, I felt like I wasn’t good enough in comparison to my colleagues, but my ‘truths’ were: I always had positive performance reviews, I never missed any deadlines, and my team loved working with me. It made me realise that I was getting anxious over the fake scenarios and pressures I was making up in my head.
Go out on daily walks
When I’m stressed or anxious, I found that going for a walk really helped. It repurposes your energy from worrying to walking, and is a great way to remove yourself out of the environment/headspace to reset. Remember anxiety takes a lot of your energy, so why not use that energy for a healthier alternative.
Speak to someone
It doesn’t have to be your manager, but sometimes having a rant, expressing your feelings or asking for advice from a trusted friend or colleague can help with your anxiety. You may find that other people are feeling exactly how you are feeling. Anxious thoughts that sit and bake inside your head can escalate into more falser narratives that make you feel worse.
Practice breathing and meditation
In stressful moments, take a second to breathe and mediate. If you’re not a regular meditator it may not feel like it’s working at first, but over time it will help you relax and unveil the real ‘truths’ behind that scenario. (My fave meditation videos coming soon).
And finally, remember that most people are too busy thinking about themselves
If your anxiety revolves around how you look, sound or come across to others, remember that 95% of the time that person is most likely just thinking about themselves and will not remember the tiny things you do. So that presentation you thought you flogged – everyone’s probably forgotten about that by now!
To conclude, anxiety at work runs on a very broad spectrum of reasons, but is experienced by pretty much everyone. At the end of the day it’s important to remind yourself that it is just a job and you are free to leave it at any time. Most of the time, when you look to your ‘truths’ you are probably doing lyf just fine ♡︎
Any other tips, please comment below!
Disclaimer: General advice only. If you need further assistance with your mental health, please speak to a professional or visit Beyond Blue for further mental health support.