By Barbara Odozi
Anxiety disorder, one of the most common mental health issues affecting the American population, often goes unnoticed at the workplace. Though largely ignored, workplace anxiety is quite common and has now started taking a toll on people’s life. The condition not only severely affects employees’ emotional and physical health but also impacts their career by interfering with their productivity and performance.
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), employees have admitted that stress and anxiety most often impact their workplace performance (56 percent), relationship with coworkers and peers (51 percent), quality of work (50 percent) and relationships with superiors (43 percent).
Overall, a certain level of anxiety, preferably within a comfort zone, at the workplace is not always bad as it helps one in staying focused and improving performance. However, if stress triggered due to the pressure of meeting deadlines, interpersonal relationships, etc., begins to interfere with one’s personal life, it’s time to seek help or reflect.
Nevertheless, there are some simple techniques that one can adopt to overcome on-the-job anxiety. A few of them are mentioned below:
- Keep oneself busy: Generally, it is believed that the after office hours should be used to take rest. But, it is also important to make sure that one’s brain is not left idle and is engaged in some activity that keeps the work-related thoughts at bay. Spending time with friends and family, creating new memories or engaging in a hobby are few of the simple ways to make sure that work does not bother one at home. At the same time, it is important to ensure that work-related thoughts or problems at work do not make one sulk.
- Exercise: Being a stress reliever, exercising before and after work hours can help one feel better and improve his or her mood. This can help in relaxing both the mind and body. Exercise releases endorphins, natural painkillers, in the body, which helps in improving mood and reducing discomfort. By burning the stress hormone cortisol, it helps in relieving the symptoms of anxiety. Further, exercising before work is supposed to be particularly beneficial in alleviating stress throughout the day.
- Be creative: One of the best ways to turn mundane office tasks into something more interesting is by being creative. Besides one should ensure that he or she takes criticism positively. One can also try setting new challenges for oneself, such as completing work in less time and making his or work more exciting, engaging and fun.
- Get enough sleep: Stress and anxiety can cause insomnia that can further disrupt emotional balance, which is essential for coping with any kind of stress. The inability to take proper rest also triggers anxiety. Therefore, it is important for an individual to ensure that he or she takes proper rest and does not engage in any kind of stressful activities closer to bedtime. Being away from the technology at least 45 minutes before bedtime can also help improve the quality of sleep.
- Set realistic goals: It is possible that seniors at workplace may overload a person with work. Being a dedicated employee, he or she might desire to complete all the assigned tasks in one go and that too with perfection. This is quite an unrealistic goal. A person should always make sure that the goals set by him or her are realistic. He or she should also pat his or her back even on the smallest of accomplishments to stay positive. Above all, one should try and find humor in the smallest of situations to beat anxiety.
If you know someone who is dealing with an anxiety disorder, contact the Anxiety Treatment Advisors of Colorado. Call us at our 24/7 helpline number 866-891-2539 to connect with the best facility offering anxiety treatment.
