Workplace Anxiety: How to Cope When the Job Feels Overwhelming

There comes a time in everyone’s job or career when they experience burnout. You may wake up dreading starting your workday and feel you’ll mess something up. Anxiety follows you as you drive to the office and as you sit down to begin working. It’s a horrible feeling. You’re tired of all the constant worrying and stress. Is there anything that can be done to soothe all this anxiety and feel even just a bit more confident when you’re working? Yes, you can make easy, small changes to your work routine that can make things run smoother.

Coping Strategies For Workplace Anxiety

Here are some things you can try for managing your workplace anxiety:

Break Large Tasks Down Into Small Ones

A more extensive assignment can feel overwhelming when you first look at it. That’s why the often-suggested “breaking down tasks” is a popular solution for this problem. Breaking down the pieces into smaller tasks as you go can allow you to breathe as you cross things off the list. The project will seem less intimidating. Before you know it, the entire assignment will be completed. Not only will it be finished, but you will gain a new sense of accomplishment at what you achieved.

Take A Breather When You Need It

Staying focused on a difficult task for long periods of time can be exhausting. That’s why breaks were invented. However, you can’t just take a long break when you want to. There are designated times for that. But what you can do is take a short trip to the bathroom to splash a little water on your face. Or you can take a short stroll to grab some water. Even a brief time away from your work can help you with your energy levels and help you see more clearly as you start to take it on again.

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help

It wouldn’t hurt to ask for advice if you are close to a particular co-worker or even a boss. Ask them what they do when they experience anxiety and burnout when working. Their answers may surprise you, and you may get some good tips that you can use. Some people have more trouble asking for help than others. If you are one of those people, think about this question: What do you have to lose?

Everyone Needs A Vacation, Eventually

This tip can really only be done if you have available vacation time.  But did you know that a lot of people actually avoid taking a vacation when they should? This is most likely due to the times, how hard things are now, and how expensive everything is. People feel that they can’t take a vacation. However, even taking a personal day can help with feelings of anxiety and burnout. Everyone needs a little break from time to time to recharge and then get back to doing their best.

Seeking Professional Help

Suppose you’ve tried everything to relieve your workplace anxiety and haven’t seen a difference. In that case, you may want to consider seeking an anxiety therapist. You may even have an anxiety disorder that you are unaware of. Some people might reject this idea due to the stigma that seeing a therapist carries. Your mental well-being carries more weight than incorrect stigmatization.

There are small, manageable steps you can make to relieve workplace anxiety. However, if nothing works, you really should consider at least talking to an anxiety therapist. After all, they are specially trained for what you are going through. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.