4 Things To Remember When Dealing With Anxiety At Work

Anxiety can negatively affect a worker's performance, work quality, and relationships with colleagues and supervisors. The effects of work anxiety can be detrimental to your quality of life, leaving you counting down every minute until your day is over. Although it is important to note that anxiety at the appropriate levels can be beneficial in giving a person the motivation to increase one's attention, issues may arise when it becomes too overwhelming. These struggles may prove even more challenging if you have an anxiety disorder.

Even simple tasks like emailing or collaborating with colleagues can feel overwhelming when you suffer from an anxiety disorder. We do not only experience workplace anxiety at our job site or office. These feelings can also be experienced when working from home. Feeling uneasy while working is a common emotion among working adults. According to a Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey done in 2019, an astounding 92 per cent of working Singaporeans are stressed (Cigna, 2019). Further emphasising the prevalence of work-related stress is the statistic that 80% of people in Asia work in an ‘always on’ environment (Cigna, 2019).

However, it is possible to manage your work anxiety by remembering these four tips.

Set limits

You can manage anxiety more efficiently and improve your job performance by finding a work-life balance, managing your workaholism. For example, you may feel pressured to be available for work 24/7 with mobile phones that give you access to work emails no matter the day or time. Due to these constant demands, you could lose concentration, energy, and mental health.

By setting boundaries, you can keep yourself from burning out and gain professional fulfilment. For example, do not check your email at night or take work calls on weekends or during your lunch break.

Work within your limits

It is common for anxious people to agree to deadlines and timelines they know they will not be able to meet. Although not every deadline can be negotiated, being honest upfront and working at a manageable pace will save you hours of anxiety. When you are honest upfront, you are less likely to have to apologise later. Moreover, working at your own pace helps you to gradually figure out the balance between pushing yourself too hard at work and not taking up too many responsibilities.

Seek professional help

If you feel stuck in your anxiety, you may benefit from speaking with a mental health professional. Seeking services that provide individual counselling for adults in Singapore can help you determine the root of your anxiety and work with you to make changes to manage it.

Mental health professionals may also recommend medications or other treatment options if your anxiety is due to an anxiety disorder.

Practice self-care

It is possible to reduce anxiety, increase energy, and sharpen your focus by making simple adjustments to your self-care routine. You can boost self-care by making small lifestyle changes, such as exercising regularly, consuming the proper diet, and getting enough sleep.

Mental health benefits are also available in some workplaces. To learn more about resources you can access through your employer, double check your benefits package or speak with someone in your organisation's human resources department.

Conclusion

Learning how to overcome workplace stress might be challenging for many, especially in Singapore, where the culture values hard work and success in a career. It takes constant self-reassurance and effort to get your mind to where it needs to be. However, taking the first step in overcoming work anxiety by remembering these four tips could go a long way.

Taking care of yourself is an essential step in overcoming stress. If you are still feeling too overwhelmed by workplace stress, consider considering seeking counselling services in Singapore and speaking to a professional so that you don't have to face your troubles alone. You will find that slowly managing your anxiety will help you to be more productive at work in the long run.

References

Cigna. (2019). 2019 Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey: Well & Beyond.

Cigna (2019). Chronic Stress: Are we reaching health system burn out?.