How to Handle Workplace Anxiety: 8 Practical Tips for Calming and Managing

Anxiety is a normal part of life. We all feel fear, moments of discomfort, and butterflies that appear when we experience change. However, when anxiety persists and affects your daily life, something has to change. 

One type of anxiety you might experience is work anxiety. When it becomes persistent, it can affect your overall well-being. From tight deadlines to managing office politics, anxiety at work can be caused by many different things. Learning how to recognize signs and manage workplace anxiety can help you feel more grounded and secure at work. 

At CONQUERing, we create functional, fidget jewelry that is designed to help manage anxiety. Our fidget jewelry can be a subtle calming mechanism that you can bring with you to work. In addition to our fidget jewelry, this post will explore other tools you can implement to help manage your workplace anxiety. 

Why Does Work Make Me Anxious? 

Workplace anxiety can be caused by a lot of different factors. First-day jitters and fears of public speaking are small examples of situational workplace anxiety that eventually go away on their own. 

There are also causes that might not just go away on their own. These causes require you to  face them head-on and make some changes to get the anxiety to ease: 

• Extra long work hours
• Lack of work-life balance
• High-stress projects
• Unrealistic expectations set by you or a superior
• Lack of managerial support
• Office politics
• Change in leadership
• Revised employee policies

You might also feel anxious at work if you have a preexisting anxiety disorder. If your anxiety begins to take over your life, you might consider talking with a mental health professional to explore your options. 

What Are 5 Signs of Work-Related Stress?

Being able to recognize workplace anxiety is important. It can prevent your anxiety from taking over your life and can help you develop a stress management plan before it gets out of control. 

Anxiety caused by work can show up in physical and emotional ways. Recognizing the signs early can prevent burnout. Here are five common signs to watch out for: 

1. Constant worrying. Feeling like you can't quiet your thoughts can be a sign of workplace anxiety. Worrying about deadlines, big meetings, and anything else work-related during all hours of the day can be a sign that something has to change. 
   
2. Dreading going to work. Waking up every morning and feeling total dread is a sign you're experiencing anxiety caused by work. We don't just mean having a case of the Mondays. If the thought of going to work makes you feel physically ill, it's time to start coming up with a plan for managing your anxiety. 
3. Lack of focus or interest in work. Having a hard time concentrating and losing interest in your work are signs that you're experiencing workplace anxiety. Both can negatively impact your job—you might find yourself missing deadlines, forgetting important pieces of projects, or just showing a lack of care in your deliverables. 
4. Impatience and irritability. Snapping at coworkers and feeling impatient at work are signs of anxiety caused by work. This can affect your relationships with your colleagues and your job performance. 
5. Withdrawing from friends and family. Avoiding the people you love because you know they're going to ask about work is a sign of workplace anxiety. This could stem from embarrassment that things at work aren't going well or an avoidance of facing what's making you feel anxious. 

There are many other signs to look out for to determine if you're experiencing work anxiety. Listen to your body and pay attention to what makes you feel anxious. Take note of how long negative feelings persist and develop a plan for management when they appear. 

What To Do If Work Gives Me Anxiety: 8 Practical Tips for the Workplace

A lot of people feel anxiety caused by work. Even people who adore their jobs experience workplace anxiety from time to time. Learning your triggers and knowing what to do when you feel anxious can make a world of difference. 

While everyone is different, these eight practical tips might help you out when you deal with work anxiety: 

1. Identify the source. Pay attention to the people and situations at work that make you feel anxious. Are they one-offs or do they frequently occur? Once you know what's causing your anxiety, you can come up with a targeted approach for managing it. 
2. Adopt healthy habits. Taking care of your mind and body is a great way to deal with persistent feelings of anxiety. Getting enough sleep, eating healthy, exercising, and cutting back on caffeine are all healthy habits that can help with anxious feelings. 
3. Use fidget tools. Fidget tools, like fidget jewelry, are used by many people to help with managing anxiety. The tools help distract your mind and get out excess energy that might be making you feel anxious. Fidget jewelry is a fashionable, discreet way that you can fidget at work without distracting anyone.  
4. Map out your week. At the start of each work week, map out everything you need to do and make note of all of your deadlines. This can help you visualize your priorities and give you a sense of how much capacity you have to take on additional work. 
5. Clearly communicate. Tell your colleagues when you're at capacity and can't take on additional projects. Ask for help if you think you're going to miss a deadline or would benefit from delegating tasks. Your coworkers can't read your mind and might not know that they're contributing to your anxiety. 
6. Set realistic deadlines. Be honest with yourself and your superiors about how long it will take you to complete a task. For larger projects, set smaller deadlines to ensure you're staying on track to completing them.
7. Lean on your support system. Don't push your friends and family way. Lean on them for support and brainstorm management techniques to help ease some of your anxiety. These people love you and want to see you succeed. 
8. See a professional. If things don't seem to be getting better, consider setting up an appointment with your primary care doctor, therapist, or career coach to discuss your options. 

Remember, anxiety in small doses is normal. When it feels out of control and is affecting your ability to live, that's when you know something needs to change. 

Dealing With Work Anxiety and Stress

Work takes up a majority of our time which is why managing workplace anxiety is so important. Feeling anxious during something that takes up 40+ hours of your week can lead to long-term stress. 

We hope these tips help guide you as you work to manage your workplace anxiety. Remember, everyone manages with stress in different ways so you might find additional practices that work best for you.