Going to work anxious?
Here are 10 tips to help combat your triggers and overcome anxiety in the workplace
More than 800,000 people were thought to be affected by work-related stress and anxiety in 2020 and 2021, equating to around one in 40 workers.
According to the same report by Bupa, around 18 million working days are lost each year due to poor mental health caused by work. Similarly, Anxiety UK claim that mental illness costs the UK economy almost £100 billion per year and is the leading cause of sickness absence.
Whilst a certain amount of stress can be helpful and motivational, it can become all-consuming and begin to have a detrimental effect on your wellbeing.
When you consider that the average UK adult spends 1670 hours per year working, that is a great deal of time to be feeling anxious and under pressure whilst going to work.
What is workplace anxiety
If you were to give a presentation to your colleagues or attend a conference you would expect to feel apprehensive and the chances are you would use your nerves productively to enhance your performance.
However, when you feel a debilitating level of fear at the prospect of going to work, this is no longer helpful and could actually be holding you back.
In a medically reviewed article by Psychiatrist Dr Ranju Joseph, workplace anxiety is defined as:
‘the presence of the symptoms of anxiety, such as feelings of unease, worry or apprehension, about work’.
These feelings can occur whilst you’re going to work, in the workplace or outside of working hours, the latter leading to a sense of constant worry that disrupts everyday life.
Malik Nishah worked for a Leicestershire based accountancy firm for five years before resigning due to anxiety. He says: “
The culture of the business was to strive to be the best and reach your targets but the management could not see how much pressure was mounting on us.
“I got to a place where I couldn’t think about anything other than work, even when I was at the gym or watching football. I feared for my reputation, what my manager would say if I under-performed and how I’d cope financially if I lost my job. It took over my life.”
Not only can it impact daily living, suffering from anxiety at work can seriously affect your ability to do your job.
Causes of workplace anxiety
There can be many causes of anxiety at work and amongst the most common are:
Long hours
Heavy workload
High expectations
Changes within the organisation
Tight deadlines
Changes in responsibilities
Job insecurity
Insufficient training for the job
Lack of support from management
Inadequate working environment
Poor relationships with colleagues or bosses
It is predominantly the volume of work placed upon us and a lack of confidence in, or support from, management that manifest feelings of stress and being overwhelmed.
Malik continues:
“The company I worked for did have a Mental Health lead but I was too ashamed to approach them. I think it’s a man-thing – I didn’t want to appear weak or like I couldn’t handle it.
“I was absolutely out of my depth though and the more worried I got the less able to work I became. I’d sit at my desk just staring into space, almost paralysed with fear and losing valuable time to get anything done.”
Symptoms of workplace anxiety
Anxiety can feel all-consuming and affect several aspects of life. The main symptoms can be placed into three categories: physical, psychological and behavioural.
Physical symptoms include:
Tiredness and fatigue
Muscular tension
Headaches
Heart palpitations
Panic attacks
Sleeping difficulties, such as insomnia
Gastrointestinal upset such as diarrhoea or constipation
Psychological symptoms include:
A persistent sense of worry, apprehension, dread or hopelessness
Depression
Negative and catastrophizing thoughts
Feeling trapped and unable to find a way out
Irritability
Feelings of being overwhelmed and unable to cope
Cognitive difficulties, such as a reduced ability to concentrate or make decisions
Behavioural symptoms include:
An increase in sick days or absenteeism
Aggression
Diminished creativity and initiative
A drop in work performance
Isolating yourself from others
Problems with interpersonal relationships
Mood swings and irritability
Lower tolerance of frustration and impatience
Of course, everyone is different and not all affected by stress in the same way but when you consider the breadth of these signs and symptoms of anxiety, it’s no surprise it’s becoming such an incapacitating issue.
So how can you stop worrying about going to work and overcome work anxiety? How can you prevent burnout and letting the anxiety get the better of you? Let’s have a look at the best ways to manage and overcome workplace anxiety in detail.
1. Monitor your stress levels
Debra Kissen PhD, a clinical psychologist, believes it can be helpful to take a look at how you’re feeling throughout the working day by tracking your wellbeing and stress level scores to see when you feel uncomfortable or anxious. She says:
“Maybe there are some trends, like at the beginning of the day when you’re first looking at everything that’s due, or maybe it’s at the end of the day when you still have so much on your plate but you really need to leave.”
Using HeadClear to track your wellbeing and stress management scores can help to unearth these patterns and begin to address and approach them differently or alter your work routine to reduce your anxiety levels.
2. Look after yourself
Ensuring you get enough sleep, a balanced diet and regular exercise is not exactly new advice but an important way to be in the healthiest place for work. Not drinking too much alcohol or caffeine can also be good for body and mind.
3. Meditate
It might not be for everyone, but performing simple breathing and meditation exercises can lower your heart rate and calm you down.
Whether it’s taking long deep breaths or doing muscle relaxation exercises at your desk, it can help you feel more able to tackle your tasks and reduce stress.
4. Organise yourself
Whether you prefer digital diaries or a good old fashioned paper to-do list, being able to see your tasks in front of you will make you more thorough and efficient when it comes to prioritising them.
Mindtools state:
“To-do lists are essential if you're going to beat work overload. When you use them effectively, you'll be much better organised, and much more reliable. You'll experience less stress, safe in the knowledge that you haven't forgotten anything important.”
Similarly, clearing your computer and desk might not seem high priority, but can save you lots of time and frustration in the long run.
5. Be honest with yourself and others
It’s much easier said than done, but if you don’t have enough time for them, try not to take on additional tasks and projects you can’t complete.
That’s not to say become a ‘no person’, rather be assertive and state your capabilities. There are polite ways of responding when assigned extra work, including: ‘I can make time for that if you suggest something else I can delay for a while’ or ‘if the deadline for this can be extended I can make time to do it’. If you reduce the number of projects you take on, you will start to feel less swamped and overwhelmed.
6. Ask for help if you need it
If you’re struggling, speak up. Your manager might not realize you’re spread too thin or juggling too many things.
It can also help to confide in a colleague that you trust. Having someone at work who knows about your anxiety can be comforting and it might ease some of that stress and fear.
7. Know your triggers
If you know that certain tasks and people cause your anxiety to flare, learn to deal with them in a more positive manner.
If it’s something on your to-do list causing you worry, try making yourself as comfortable as possible, in non-restrictive clothing with food or drink you find soothing. If you want to put your headphones on as you work or sit in your favourite chair, do all that you can to take the discomfort away.
If there’s a colleague you find difficult but can’t avoid, try to schedule in down-time with friends or people you love afterwards to cheer yourself up and de-stress.
8. Celebrate your achievements
We all know how good it feels when something you’ve been working on is finally finished. Taking time out to reward yourself with something you enjoy is a great way to acknowledge how well you’re doing and motivate you to keep achieving.
9. Set boundaries
Try not to work overtime or bring work home with you on a regular basis. Not only does this make work feel inescapable and never ending, but it also becomes a hard habit to break as your colleagues begin to expect more from you.
10. Take breaks
Whether this is annual leave or just a ten-minute screen break during the day, make the most of your down-time and escape your work environment as much as possible. It can refresh your mind and improve your creativity when you return.
We hope that these practical tips can help you managing and ultimately overcoming your workplace anxiety, and remember: do not hesitate to ask for help when you are struggling.