Have you ever found yourself suffering from a case of the “Sundays”, wasting part of your precious weekend feeling nervous about returning to work on Monday? 

It’s more common than ever as employer expectations continue to grow exponentially.  A few ugly office encounters can quickly morph into a general sense that work is a scary place where bad shit tends to happen, otherwise known as workplace anxiety.

Anxiety tied to your job can be crippling and lead to declining work performance, dwindling motivation, attendance issues and a host of other challenges.  Fortunately, there are some tools and techniques used by top performers to get back on track to success.

Get Specific

The human mind is not well equipped to plan for every infinite possibility of what could go wrong.  However, it is quite capable of planning for and overcoming a defined problem.  The first step to conquering anxiety over your job is defining it by asking, “why?”

• Original anxiety:  Work is going to be awful tomorrow.
  • Very general.  There is no obvious place to start when considering how to improve the situation.   It implies you’ve already lost just by showing up.  Let’s dig a little.  “Why is work going to be so awful tomorrow?”
• More specific version:  Bossy Bill is probably going to be a jerk to me tomorrow which will be awful.
  • You’ve realized it’s Bossy Bill you’re worried about.  He’s cornered you a few times with painful interactions which is creating a general sense that work is going to suck.  You could make a plan for Bill and survive, but let’s go deeper first.  “Why is Bill going to be a jerk tomorrow?”
• Much more specific version:  Bill is not a morning person and is unpleasant to anyone he crosses paths with before 10 AM.  Knowing it will probably happen to me again is awful.”
  • Now we have something to work with! We aren’t preparing for the entire universe of things that could go wrong tomorrow.  We just need to avoid Bill for a couple hours and life gets much better.

Get Control

Workplace anxiety can be the result of focusing too much on something out of your control.  It makes perfect sense you’d feel awful if you were laser focused on an issue you felt you can’t prevent.  However, the solution can be found in another question: “What do I have control over?”  There is always something within your control, even if it’s just your own thoughts and actions.  Let’s revisit the situation with Bossy Bill from two different perspectives:

1.  ‘When I walk past Bill’s desk tomorrow, he’s going to be in a foul mood and rip into me again’ – The focus is solely on Bill’s state of mind which is not something you can control.  If Bill is upset, bad things happen.
2.  ‘I don’t want to deal with Bill’s morning tantrum tomorrow.  Maybe I could go in early tomorrow before he’s at his desk, avoid his Monday meltdown and have a leisurely start to my day’ – The focus has shifted to choosing your own actions and how it will change the situation with Bill.

Get Empowered

When job anxiety creeps in, it is often accompanied by a feeling of powerlessness.  It differs from lack of control in that control is your relationship to something external (like Bill’s anger issues).  Power comes from within.  It is a fundamental belief that “you can.” 

Empowerment is when you instill this belief in someone.  Have you ever empowered someone?  You probably encouraged them to change their mindset and then told them they could do something.  “I know that was rough Carrie but keep working at it!  You are great at this and will totally crush it!” 

If you have people in your life that empower you in tough times, seek them out when you’re struggling.  Better yet, empower yourself.  “Self, Bill’s outburst Friday morning was totally uncalled for BUT… you are fucking amazing and Bill’s an idiot!  You don’t need him so brush it off and move on to plan B.  He’ll be wishing he treated you differently when he’s trying to figure out how you became his boss.”

Make a Plan

Once you’ve identified the source of the anxiety, refocused on what you can control and taken back your power, it’s time to make a plan!  Planning doesn’t have to be hard.  You’re choosing actions in advance that you believe will move you toward your desired outcome (which creates a feeling of preparation and confidence about the future.)  It can be as simple as: 

If (insert scenario) happens, I will (insert action) to get (insert desired result.)

“If I think that Bill is going to be a cranky asshole tomorrow morning, I’m going to go in early before he’s at his desk and have a leisurely start to my day.  If I’m not early enough to avoid him, I’ll get on a work call from my cell (or pretend to) before I walk past and eliminate the opportunity to talk.  If he’s persistent, I’ll propose we meet in the afternoon when I am not as busy (and he has had enough coffee to be a reasonable human being.)”

Putting it all together

Everyone faces anxiety related to their job at some point, but the ultra-successful know how to overcome it quickly and move forward.  When you notice the stress creeping in, start asking questions so you can understand where it’s coming from and what’s within your control.  This will open the door to empowerment and figuring out how to apply your talents to enjoy the future of your choosing. 

Do you have a favorite method for overcoming workplace anxiety?  We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.