For most of us, it’s normal to feel anxious about work. With so many deadlines to beat and colleagues with difficult personalities to interact with, it can be stressful and our anxiety level goes up to the roof. In some cases, we suffer from anxiety attacks, which can have so many negative impacts on how we deal with work and on our bodies and mental health.
Once we start getting scared of how things may never work out in our jobs, we feel that panic that consumes our well being. You cannot think straight and your whole body either freezes or trembles. What’s worse is how feeling anxious can become a bad habit which can stop anyone from achieving progress towards a better and healthier life not only at work but even at home.
For millennial engineers, it’s easy to understand why a lot of them suffer from anxiety attacks. When there’s too much pressure from one’s surroundings, those who aren’t emotionally prepared for such environments often give in to it. They feel anxious and lose the focus and peace of mind one needs to get the work done. This is why it’s important to learn mindset hacks that can help anyone deal with anxiety.
With enough practice and proper mindset, these hacks may help anyone deal with anxiety:
Learn how to relax your muscles.
One of the most used strategies in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in dealing with anxiety is systematic muscle relaxation training. It’s simple: just choose a specific muscle (or a set of muscles like your upper legs) and tense them for seven seconds. After that, relax these muscles for fifteen seconds. Repeat until you feel better.
For more details on how to do muscle relaxations, there are several guides that can be found on the internet.
Don’t focus on things that don’t help you achieve your goals.
Why do we like to make life hard for us? Instead of stressing over things that upset us at work – such as not getting to achieve our goal using a specific method, find one that can and focus on it. Instead of panicking over something that doesn’t work out for you, find a better way to fix things and put all your energy into achieving it. Not only will you avoid feeling anxious, you can be productive too.
Have a ‘worry time.’
Another method used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that can help anyone with anxiety is having a ‘worry time.’ All you need is to set less than an hour for yourself and start writing down your thoughts that are keeping you anxious. Do this in a quiet space, free from distractions. Ask yourself these: What’s a better way to deal with my current problem?
Once you’re done writing, end ‘worry time’ with meditation or through muscle relaxation. When you start feeling anxious again, save those thoughts for your next ‘worry time.’
Never get caught up with the fear.
When things are starting to get messy, it’s normal for anxiety to take over. This ends up with you overthinking and creating more problems that don’t really exist. Find a way to avoid getting caught up with fear by looking for a positive distraction or reciting a helpful mantra. Eventually, you will find peace despite a chaotic environment.
