Work Anxiety: 8 Tips to Survive Until 5pm

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Work Anxiety
Work Anxiety

Workplaces can cause many people to develop severe work anxiety; there can be a dozen reasons why: it can either be due to the toxic workplace or tremendous work pressure — whatever the reason, it can cause some people to develop anxiety disorders in the long term. Work anxiety affects the quality of your life and leaves you counting down the minutes until the clock strikes five.

Avoiding work anxiety is a difficult task, especially when you need to work to maintain a comfortable lifestyle —however, it’s not impossible. There are several Online Support Groups where you can seek help, but another way is just to follow a few tips and add them to your daily life. In this article, we have jotted down 8 tips that can help you fight your work anxiety.

1. Stay Busy After Work

What most people with work anxiety look forward to is going home and taking the rest of the day off. This, however, can be another source of stress since doing nothing after work forces you to think about the long stressful day that you endured.

What you should do is try to stay busy after work, either by spending time with your friends or family or maybe indulging in your favorite hobby. This will keep your mind off your occupational stress after a restless day at work.

2. Exercise Before and After Work

Exercise has proven to be an effective remedy for anxiety and other mental health issues, which is why anyone who is dealing with any kind of stress or anxiety should incorporate exercise in their daily routine. When you exercise, your body releases natural painkillers called endorphins that significantly lower the level of stress hormones (cortisol).

Yoga has also shown impressive results in reducing stress and anxiety. Working before work can help relieve tension throughout the day while exercising after work can help you enjoy a restful sleep.

3. Know Everyone’s Name at Work

Building strong relationships at work can help bring down your stress levels, especially in medical healthcare jobs.  When you address issues to your colleagues, you build strong one-on-one relationships with them, thereby allowing you to channel your stress more productively.  Start by learning colleague names and their work responsibilities; if you forget someone’s name, don’t hesitate to ask again.

4. Ask for Help

When things start to get hard at work, what becomes easy is saying yes even to the things you don’t understand. This later causes stress when you try doing the job without any clue how to. Asking for help may feel uncomfortable or embarrassing in the beginning, but it’s beneficial in the long run. This also gives you a clear idea of what is expected of you and will make your boss believe that you really care about doing your job right.

5. Set Honest Deadlines

One reason for anxiety is not being able to meet your deadlines. The solution to this is straightforward; start setting honest deadlines that you know you can achieve without having undue stress. When you are given a timeline that you feel you won’t be able to meet, don’t hesitate to ask for more time. We believe all deadlines cannot be negotiated but requesting for more time can save you hours of anxiety. Setting an honest target date will help you work at a comfortable pace. Plus, if you get done before time, it will make you look more efficient.

6. Find What Feels Good

Most people with anxiety issues are over-achievers, perfectionists, and people who expect a lot from themselves. Consequently, you are unable to perform your best, which in turn makes you angrier at your own self — and that is the last thing you need. It’s better to remember that nobody is perfect; we all make mistakes and have flaws, but we need to embrace them. Use different strategies and find out what works best for you.

7. Encourage In-Person Conversations

Deciphering intentions and emotions through electronic mediums can be quite tricky and frustrating. Most of the workplace anxiety starts from a misinterpretation of emails and long, nerve-racking meetings with your boss after you fail to give your best effort. If an issue is bothering you, don’t hesitate to have an in-person conversation. This will help clarify things and relieve your stress.

8. Make Your Stresses a Game

One tip that works for many people – and they also find it fun – is turning your work stress into an exciting game. For example, making bingo cards out of the things that make you anxious. Try coming up with as many specific issues you can and when you get a bingo, reward yourself with a sweet treat. This will help you change your mind set about certain things and will help in alleviating work stress.