Fight Or Flight? How To Channel Your Work Anxiety Productively
Workplace anxiety can be a formidable adversary, but it doesn't have to be. Discover how to harness this energy, transforming it from a source of stress into a tool for productivity. Learn to navigate the fight or flight response in a professional context.
Anxiety exists on an emotional spectrum
Low-level emotional disquiet: anxiety when you have a big client pitch coming up
- Acute white-knuckle panic: when your adrenal glands dump cortisol and adrenaline into your system, causing your blood pressure to surge and your heart to race
Remember To Go Easy On Yourself
Forgive yourself if necessary
Anxiety vs. Stress
Anxiety isn’t the same as stress, but they are related
- Stress is a response to direct external stimuli that goes away when you tackle the problem
- Workplace anxiety stubbornly refuses to take a day off
- The anxiety wears you out, and your productivity drops lower
Go off the Grid
Your productivity should not depend on your ability to get online
- By disconnecting, you remove a number of barriers to productivity
- You can say goodbye to browser tab overload
- Screengrab important information and put any data you need in a text doc, then disconnect from the WiFi and watch your output levels spike
Don’t Calm Down
“Anxious reappraisal”: reframe the feelings as excitement and convert performance-related anxiety into goal-busting arousal congruency”
- The crucial part is to simply accept you are anxious
- It’s easy to waste time and energy trying to fight anxiety on all fronts
Demand Feedback
If your anxiety spikes when you’re unclear of your goal, demanding high quality feedback is important
- Repeatedly trying to clarify action points can not only hamper productivity, it can make less assertive people feel burdensome to clients
- Need meaningful feedback is the key to reducing productivity-related anxiety
Curb Analysis Paralysis
Anxious people are familiar with the lethargy-inducing hassle that comes with having to make lots of decisions
- Use your anxiety to access feelings of accomplishment
- Set aside three hours to complete one small task, even if that means putting off other urgent tasks
Treat Your Productivity Like An Anxiety Barometer
Closely monitor productivity fluctuations and you’ll essentially have an anxiety early warning system
- Record fluctuations in motivation and mood to spot goal-related triggers and clarify where work-related anxiety comes from
- Once you know what moves the anxiety needle up past 11, you can plan your work accordingly