The modern day office goers often suffer from workplace anxiety. It has become a really common issue in workplaces these days. However, it is not healthy at all and should be dealt with utmost importance and urgency. Pressure of performance, presentations, reaching on time – there is a lot to balance and cope with in the corporate life these days. It takes away mental peace and adds pressure. This leads to development of workplace anxiety. Studies have shown that this condition tends to worsen over time if not treated early. Workplace anxiety depletes one’s energy and deteriorates their health. Not to mentioned the decrease in the performance standards.
Self-protection is basic human nature and when suffering from workplace anxiety, a worker can perceive the most generic of situations as a personal threat. This reduces work productivity and leads to unethical behaviour. Work ethics is a really important part of the corporate life but workplace anxiety stands in the way of it. However, there are solutions to the problem and if one follows the tips mentioned later in this article they can cure themselves of the condition or learn how to control it themselves.
What causes anxiety – Know the origin?
There is a lot of stress and a lot of work pressure that a worker has to undertake in a workplace. The environment becomes too heavy sometimes. There is fierce competition, time-constraints and overwhelming work in hand. The rush of completing a task, reaching a goal or fulfilling a target imposes a physical as well as a mental toll on the body. The accumulation of this stress eventually leads to workplace anxiety. This anxiety causes distress and leads to a steep drop in the performance rates of employees.
Taming the Workplace Anxiety – Control It and Reduce It
As mentioned before, there is a way to get rid of the trouble that is workplace anxiety. Following the steps mentioned below can help an employee curb the effects of condition and maybe eventually get rid of it completely. The tips to tame and control it are as follows:
- Spending time away from desktops – People who stare at the computers with unblinking eyes, succumb to workplace anxiety faster than the others. The eyes and the brain need rest to process information and to stabilize itself. Staring at the computer continuously stresses the eyes and the nerves out, leading to increase in anxiety. To avoid this, employees should get away from the desktop from a while in regular or irregular intervals.
- Stretching and releasing – On a busy schedule, workers barely get time to move around and take some time off. The thing to do then is to stretch gently. Siting in one position for a long time makes the body muscles weary and uptight. They need to be relaxed using gentle exercises that you can do while sitting in your computer chair. Relaxing the muscles can reduce work tension and therefore, anxiety.
- Drinking water – A fact unknown to most people, drinking enough water throughout the day can relieve stress and curb anxiety. Drinking water does not miraculously cure anxiety but it reduces stress and keeps the body over all healthy. This is really necessary if one wants to perform optimally at his or her workplace. Both physical as well as mental exhaustion can lead to anxiety and drinking a lot of water can keep that a bay.
- Communicating with colleagues – Saying it out loud releases the pressure from the system and makes you feel a lot better almost instantly. Sometimes, due to anxiety, people feel like they would implode. It is wise to not keep it all shoved down inside. Sharing problems and communicating with a friend about anxiety or even generic topics can help you let loose and that is essential if one needs to get rid of workplace anxiety.
- Alone time – When you feel like you cannot bear with it anymore, you should go to the washroom and spend some time with yourself. You can choose what you want to do during this break. You can meditate, watch something funny and keep yourself entertained and light-hearted. This can help a lot.
These are a few things that a person can do when they feel that workplace anxiety is becoming too much to handle. Practising these at work can help a person eventually get over the condition as well.
