Anxiety in the workplace and how to handle it

Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.

Marcus Aurelius

This week was mental health week, a subject that many of you that follow the blog is close to my heart! One of the things highlighted in the news was the sharp increase of work-related anxiety, and worryingly only a quarter of workplaces are estimated to actually have plans in place to support people should they experience chronic stress. What are the common themes at work that people find anxiety inducing? Tackling these could reduce chances of chronic stress or burnout. I read a really good article in the week that broke down common workplace anxieties and what you can do to support people experiencing them.

When it comes to tackling experiences of anxiety at work, it’s key to think about what it is about the workplace that induces anxiety. Of course, what makes one person feel anxious might not make another person feel anxious, and for people living with a diagnosed anxiety disorder, the support they might need at work will differ completely. However, there’s common workplace experiences we all go through, that tend to make many of us feel worried or stressed. The article identified some of the common themes, and what we can do to help ourselves and others who experience them, read on McDuff!

Juggling a work-life balance

Many of us are actually stressed and anxious at work not because we’re worrying about work, but because we’re worrying about our home life or other areas of our lifestyle. We spend a lot of time at work, but that doesn’t stop life from continuing. With families, relationships and our personal lives to be thinking about as well as our workload, it’s no wonder that many of us struggle with obtaining a balance of prioritising home-life alongside the demands of work. Feeling out of control about any parts of our life, can induce anxiety at work. So, what can be done?

Utilise annual leave as a chance to relax and help others to do the same. Some of us are now finding taking annual leave isn’t worth the stress and anxiety we’re left with when it comes to returning to a packed inbox and deadlines
It can induce anxiety when we have different priorities in different areas of our lives. We might have deadlines at work, but there might also be expectations you need to fulfil in your relationship, duties of childcare or the pressure to keep up with your own hobbies and making time for yourself. It can feel like a weight off your shoulders to simply write down everything that is a priority in your life so you can gain a clearer picture of what is of the highest most importance and what can move to lower down “the list”, this is something I find really helpful.
When it comes to a heavy work load, always reach out if you feel you’re sinking, as stress and anxiety can eventually lead to burnout at work. By reaching out to a manager or a colleague, you might be able to distribute workloads or get help identifying key priorities that will allow you to focus on smaller amounts of projects at a time.
By the way, I only realised recently, Burnout is actually a clinical diagnosis, you can learn more about it here.

Relationships with colleagues

Unlike personal friendships, we don’t necessarily pick and choose who we get to work with. Many of us can therefore find that navigating relationships with other colleagues can induce feelings of stress and anxiety. It can make going to work overall, feel harder and less enjoyable if we feel we have difficult relationships with co-workers. Bullying in the workplace is also said to affect 23% of UK workers, causing people to avoid work or work situations all together. If you’re finding managing difficult relationships at work is making you feel anxious, there’s some steps the article highlighted that you could take.

Have an honest conversation. Speak to a co-worker privately if they do or say something you find upsetting and have an open conversation about what’s happened. This can often be the quickest way to resolve a disagreement or misunderstanding, by simply communicating with the other person and expressing your feelings. I know, this in itself can cause a great deal of stress!
Focus on what’s positive. You might find your working relationship can be straining, but maybe there’s something outside of work you both enjoy or a common hobby you both have? Talking about other nonwork-related topics together could help improve your relationship and ease feelings of anxiety.
Keep a professional distance. Ultimately, if you do find a specific relationship difficult or anxiety inducing, you can keep a distance. You don’t need to be friends with everyone at work. You can aim to do your job, be civil, but not spend more time than needed with the colleague.
Keep a record of any incidences of that feel like bullying/harassment behaviour. Each incident on its own may seem insignificant but a record of a series of these over time can demonstrate to you and HR if this behaviour is unacceptable in the workplace.

Financial worries and job security

How much we get paid at work or whether we’re guaranteed a pay rise isn’t something we can always control, and especially in times of the cost-of-living crisis, this can induce feelings of anxiety. How we can manage these feelings on unease, relates back generally to how we can manage our mental health when it comes to finance. The article broke down some top tips.

Share your concerns. We may feel unable to talk to managers about money, but you have a right to know what the future holds for your role or for your salary. You may not be able to get immediate answers, but talking to your manager about your concerns will help them to understand how you’re currently feeling, and they might be able to provide you with some certainty or more information to ease your concerns.

When we worry about things that we can’t necessarily control, such as what will happen to our job, it can be useful to adopt self-help techniques that are used in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) such as taking your thoughts to court.

Most large institutions such as your Gas and Electricity provider or your Mobile Phone provider have excellent departments designed to support people that are struggling with their bills, if you do find yourself in difficulty, give them a call, they can be a great source of support and can reduce levels of anxiety

Just a couple of areas that make many people feel anxious in the workplace. One last thing I find useful, and I’ve mentioned it before is the app Headspace. Headspace provides a wide range of content to support your mental and physical well-being. The colourful and quirky interface of Headspace removes the seriousness associated with meditation, but retains its effectiveness.

Headspace was co-founded by Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk. Therefore, the content is authentic and relatable. The app has a diverse range of meditation, exercise, relaxing videos, and sound bites to help you sleep. They are narrated by a small group of experts, which ensures a consistent experience for the listener.

You can choose the duration of any activity, learn more about meditation through courses, and watch bite-sized, motivational videos.

If you’re feeling stressed in general, it’s a great tool to have in your arsenal!