Anxiety at Work: Causes and How to Stop It

A job is a huge part of life, and it’s where people spend the majority of their time. When working a job you love it’s easy to put in the hours and get stuff done, but a large group of people do not like their job.

Whether you love your job or hate it, it’s possible to experience anxiety while working. Feeling anxious anywhere is hard, but it can be exacerbated to experience anxiety at work.

In this article we’ll talk about:

• What causes anxiety at work
• Ways to deal with workplace anxiety

What Causes Anxiety in the Workplace

Experiencing anxiety at work can be caused by several things. You may be bringing anxiety into your work, or your work could be generating anxious feelings.

These are common reasons people experience anxiety. 

Related Articles: Silent Anxiety Attacks

A Drop in Performance

Sometimes it's hard to get stuff done at work. You might be working on a new kind of project or it’s just one of those weeks. When experiencing a drop in productivity, it’s easier to get worried about the stability of your job or if other people will notice the change in your work performance.

Experiencing a dip in your job performance can cause anxiety. Especially when coupled with a demanding work environment.

Returning to Work

Taking time away from work is important to avoid burnout. It's good practice to take time for vacations, mental health days, general physical health, and refresh days.

For some people returning to work after time away can cause anxiety. Most people need some time to get back into the swing of regular work, and that initial shock can cause distress.

High Stress

Roughly 65% of U.S. workers identify work as being a somewhat significant or very significant source of stress. Working in a stressful environment is common yet detrimental to general health. 

Work related stress is closely related to anxiety because anxiety is often triggered by stress. How much stress is required to cause anxiety is dependent on the individual’s window of tolerance. Some people can handle more, some people can handle less.

Workplace environments that generate a lot of stress are hotbeds for anxiety.

Giving Presentations

75% of people experience a fear of public speaking. It’s hard to get around for some professions, while other jobs don’t require any public speaking.

If fear of public speaking is crippling your ability to pursue your career, you should consider attending counseling. General mental health counseling is a great option for finding help for your fear of public speaking.

Workplace Conflict

The workplace is not perfect, and it's common for conflict to arise on occasion. However, some workplaces have a persistent issue with conflict due to toxic people or cliques.

Having to worry about office politics or water cooler gossip will only bring down people’s productivity and cause anxiety.

Difficult Customers

Those in the food industry know just how frustrating some customers can be, and it always seems to happen on busy days. Having to deal with customers who are difficult or combative can make the workplace more anxiety inducing.

Social Anxiety

People who experience social anxiety may have difficulty working in some environments. Some jobs won’t require any kind of social interaction, especially remote jobs, but jobs that require meeting people or talking to customers require a lot of social interaction.

Social anxiety in the workplace can be particularly hard to navigate, especially when the work demands social interaction. People who experience a social anxiety disorder will experience high levels of anxiety while performing certain jobs.

Related Articles: Does Social Anxiety Get Worse With Age?

Burnout

Burnout is an intense feeling of exhaustion created by high levels of stress and feeling overwhelmed. Burnout typically happens when things get too busy to take time to rest.

To most people, burnout is a red flag that something needs to change. However, it’s not uncommon for people to work through burnout. This is unhealthy and if prolonged will lead to greater complications.

The Work Itself

Sometimes it’s hard to disconnect anxiety from the work itself. Professions like:

• Bank teller
• Law enforcement
• Health professional
• Telephone operator
• Delivery driver

People can’t be slotted into any job. Someone might make a great nurse, but bartending migt be stressful. If your work is causing tremendous amounts of anxiety, it may not be the best career option for you.

How to Combat Anxiety at Work

If you’re experiencing anxiety at work, you’re not alone. It’s common to experience anxiety at work, but it can be overcome.

Learn About Yourself

Getting to know yourself better is the first step to dealing with workplace anxiety. You can start this process by keeping a ledger of your feelings.

After a hard day at work, write down how you were feeling in a journal. Take note of the tasks that you worked on, who you talked to, what kind of meetings you attended, and how busy it was.

After a while you may begin to notice some common triggers that flare your anxiety. These are important to know as you move forward.

Set Boundaries

Because we spend so much time at work, it’s easy for it to become inseparable from our daily lives. America has an issue with work culture and this is seen in how often work life can bleed into personal life. This unhealthy relationship with work can quickly lead to burnout and other issues.

Setting healthy boundaries with work will help you combat anxiety by giving you space to rest. To do this, consider what you need to do for work and what is extracurricular. For example, checking your work email over the weekend might not be important especially if you can’t actually do any work until Monday.

Protect your weekends and evenings by setting healthy boundaries for yourself. This may require a conversation with your boss, but once those boundaries are set your rest time will be much more enjoyable.

Disengage From Toxic Coworkers

Water cooler chatter can be a healthy social interaction that boosts workplace morale, but most businesses will have a couple toxic employees that seem to thrive off drama.

If you want to reduce anxiety at work you should cut out toxic coworkers at least on a personal level. Keep things professional by only engaging in workplace conversations. Of course you can share information about your life outside of work, but once the gossip train leaves the station, that’s a good time to disengage.

Toxic work environments negatively contribute to mental health. If your work is causing too much anxiety and you’ve exhausted all your options, you may need to start looking for a new job. Your health will thank you.

Improve Healthy Habits

Changes to daily habits can make a big difference on your mental health. Sitting under fluorescent lights, or consistently pulling long shifts will begin to wear on your health.

The three things to prioritize are:

• Diet
• Sleep 
• Exercise 

When you decide to work on healthy habits, start small. You don’t need to immediately change everything, but small changes like going for a walk, choosing a healthier meal, or making a strict bedtime can go a long way.

Attend Therapy

Workplace anxiety is not a joke, and it should be taken seriously. If your job is causing major anxiety in your life, talk to a trained counselor. You don’t need a formal diagnosis to talk about your mental health.

General mental health counseling is a great way for you to find support for any issues you’re experiencing. Issues like grief, feeling stuck in life, and anxiety in the workplace are all welcomed topics in general counseling.

Request a consultation with Inner Balance Counseling to start the process of feeling better.

Get Organized

Your workspace—whether it be a desk, workshop, garage, or kitchen—should work for you, not against you. A disorganized workspace makes it hard to find items, can make tasks feel never ending, and make it hard to focus.

It might seem like a small salve for a big problem, but organizing your workspace can go a long way in combating workplace anxiety.

A disorganized workspace may not be a main contributing factor to your workplace anxiety, but reorganizing and clearing your space will help clear your mind.

Learn and Practice Micro-Medication

Micro-medication is the exercise of meditating in brief intervals. It doesn’t require much time, and it can be done anywhere. You can micro-meditate while you eat lunch, on your commute, in between meetings, and any other time. 

Methods of micro-meditation include:

• Breathing exercises
• Tactical distractions
• Tapping into your senses
• Examining your current sensations

Practicing mindfulness brings you back to the present moment and realigns your perspective to reality. Think of it as a quick mindfulness boost while giving your brain some much needed rest.

Related Articles: What is Micro-meditation

Kill Procrastination

Despite what most people claim, procrastination doesn’t help. In fact, procrastination is linked to higher levels of anxiety. Procrastination is seen as a problem for students, but people in the workforce may struggle with it. People who have fluid working hours or who work from home may struggle with procrastination more.

Once you admit procrastination makes things worse you’ll be better equipped to kill procrastination and stop the anxiety it causes.

Tell Someone You Trust

Having an ally at your work can make a world of difference. They can check up on you and you can develop a sense of camaraderie. Even if they don’t actively check on you, it can be comforting to know that someone knows what you’re going through.

Anxiety Therapy At Inner Balance

Anxiety is a common issue in most people’s daily lives. But just because it’s common doesn’t mean you have to live through it. You’re not alone, and it is possible to overcome anxiety at work by attending anxiety therapy.

Therapy for workplace anxiety can happen in-person or in an online format. You don’t have to live life plagued by anxiety. Reach out, show up, and feel better.