Work can be one of the most stressful areas of our lives and cause us much-unwanted anxiety.
Between difficult bosses and managers, quirky co-workers, angry customers, and tight deadlines, work-related anxiety can wreak havoc on not only our work lives but our personal lives as well.
There have been times in my professional career when I thought about quitting jobs due to the anxiety it caused me outside of work.
Now, it’s crucial to understand that you’re going to endure some level of stress & anxiety in almost any career you pursue – that’s just the nature of a professional career. I’d even argue that if your job is too easy, is it challenging to enhance your professional growth? The answer is likely a no.
The work anxiety I’m talking about is extreme, over the top, and affects almost every other area of your life. Your relationships, social life, free time, children, and hobbies are all negatively affected by your work-related anxiety.
That is when it becomes a greater burden than it’s worth.
But you can learn the tools to manage and reduce your anxiety levels no matter what the career.
Even in highly stressful jobs such as stockbrokers, first responders, law enforcement, military, medical professionals, lawyers, and firefighters, you can learn how to maneuver around your anxiety instead of letting it get the best of you.
But there are a few different elements that set work-related anxiety apart from other forms of anxiety.
- Since work takes up one-third of our lives, it’s difficult to escape.
- And since work provides us with our income and means to survive, we can’t always leave the job or find a quick fix.
This is why covering this topic is something I take to heart. I have covered both the stress and anxiety aspects of careers in my articles on Upplifter.
WHAT CONSTITUTES AS WORK-RELATED ANXIETY?
Work-related anxiety can take on many different forms and definitions.
Work anxiety can come from many areas, such as:
- Relationships with co-workers, managers, and customers.
- The work itself is dangerous, overwhelming, volatile, etc.
- Low salary or stagnant wages.
- The effects of the work (if you work construction, for example, you may come home physically beat up).
- First responders may experience traumatic situations that affect their mental health
- Confusing and conflicting job descriptions.
- Excessive workloads
- Lack of work advancement opportunities.
As you can see, there are many types of work-related anxiety that a person can experience.
5 PROVEN WAYS TO REDUCE WORK-RELATED ANXIETY
1. TRACK YOUR PAIN POINTS
Every job and career will present different challenges and obstacles.
No two jobs are created equal. Even if you’re in a familiar position, you might have a different type of boss or co-worker. Your office may be colder or hotter than you’d like, or you may be in a sea of cubicles. If you work outdoors, you’re presented with the changing elements of mother nature, especially in a climate that consistently fluctuates. There is no shortage of possible stressors with every job. Even stay-at-home jobs come with unique stressors, especially if you have children.
With all of the potential stressors, you must pinpoint which specific stressors are causing you the most problems. Sure, your manager may get on your nerves now and then, but his personality doesn’t leave you anxious at home.
Write down precisely what issues are becoming your greatest anxiety while you’re not at work.
Which of them keeps you up at night? Which of them stays on your mind most days?
These anxiety-inducing stressors can be anything from the mundane to the super challenging, so don’t discriminate.
My rule of thumb: any stressor you think about consistently outside of work should be written down.
Then you want to ask yourself these two questions:
- Which stressors can I control?
- How can I improve on these stressors?
Once you have these answers jotted down on paper, you’re ready to start attacking the issue.
2. CREATE A SYSTEM FOR ANXIETY
James Clear, the author of the New York Times best-selling book “Atomic Habits,” always talks about systems over goals.
Goals are helpful, of course, and setting them is a great way to plan your future.
But systems, Clear argues, are what make the difference.
What is a “system?”
It’s the process by which you do something.
For example, take checking and responding to work emails. You may be someone who regularly checks your emails every fifteen minutes and then gets caught up with any new email that trickles in the door. Whereas, if you “batch” your emails, meaning you only check and respond to them at certain, strategic times throughout your day (maybe 10 am, after lunch, and 4 pm), you tend to free up more time to get other, more important tasks done while still cleaning out most of your daily emails. Email batching would be your process.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What are the processes throughout my workday?
- How do I handle anxiety-inducing situations when they arise at work?
- How do I manage that work-related anxiety at home?
Then, you want to create a system for your anxiety.
Think of how you would handle these situations and what procedures you would follow if the anxiety becomes overwhelming.
These systems can be as simple as email batching or more in-depth like performing specific deep breathing techniques throughout your more anxiety-packed days or tracking your moods at home to spot any patterns of higher anxiety such as, “I seem to be more anxious first thing in the morning or before I go to bed.”
Developing a system for your anxiety that you can fall back on during high anxiety times will help you become adept at managing it better.
3. LEARN THE 90-SECOND RULE
The 90-second rule is a term coined by Harvard brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor.
She discovered that when a person has an emotional reaction to something in their environment, there’s a 90-second chemical process. Any emotional response beyond that 90-seconds is the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop.
What does this mean?
According to Taylor’s observation, from a neurological standpoint, we can choose moment by moment how we want to be in our environment.
So anytime you are emotionally triggered and feel that anxiety coming on, think of the 90-second rule and let the chemical process run its course while you move on to a different thought.
4. IMPROVE YOUR TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS
Time management (TM) is a trendy area of research nowadays.
There have been many time management practices introduced for decades, some with powerful feedback.
One of the links between work-related anxiety (especially for project managers, business owners, or anyone who needs to keep a strict schedule) and TM is that when you fall short of your daily task list, it’s usually because of a lack of quality TM.
There are dozens and dozens of TM techniques to experiment with at your job.
Many of them will work, some better than others.
The idea is to dig into TM a little more and discover the areas you need to improve.
Questions to ask yourself when considering time management issues:
Are you always late for meetings?
Do you have trouble catching up on emails or missed calls?
Are you spending too much time on social media?
Do you never seem to have enough time to finish a big project?
Are you constantly multitasking to catch up?
Once you understand the areas you are struggling with, you can begin to deconstruct ways to improve those areas.
5. PRACTICE MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness is staying fully present in the moment.
One of the most exhausting work-related anxiety areas is that many people take that anxiety home. Compartmentalizing is difficult, and the anxiety from work can pour into other parts of our personal lives, our family time, and our alone time.
Learning to practice mindfulness and stay present in the moment instead of ruminating about the past or worrying about some future event at work holds many benefits, namely, helping to calm down our fight, flight, or freeze response, which can be activated when we are anxious and worrying.
Mindfulness can consist of many different activities, but meditation, journaling, or taking hikes in nature are all techniques I have found helpful.
IN REVIEW
Work-related anxiety is challenging because it stays with us outside of working hours. Work-related anxiety can put a damper on our daily joy and cause health problems if not dealt with long-term. Putting the simple steps and techniques into place can help reduce that work-related anxiety so you can enjoy your work time and free time a little more.
If you have any questions or would like a free anxiety coaching consultation – contact me at brad@upplifter.com!
Although we strive to provide accurate general information, the information presented here is not a substitute for any kind of professional advice, and you should not rely solely on this information. Always consult a professional in the medical and health area for your particular needs and circumstances prior to making any medical or health-related decisions. For your health-related questions, please seek the advice of a licensed physician or any other qualified health care provider immediately.
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