If your anxiety revolves around work, you might be a victim of workplace anxiety, often addressed as work stress.
As per the Mind the Workplace 2021 report from Mental Health America, over 83% of respondents feel emotionally drained from their workplace. This means that nearly 9 in 10 workers have stressful mental health because of work. And this is quite alarming.
Of course, we are not alienating the remote workers. You do not have to experience workplace anxiety when working from the office or job site. Instead, after the widespread remote working standards, work stress has triggered in the employees. Many employees working from home have experienced loneliness and stress. And not to forget the much talked about Zoom fatigue.
Identifying Workplace Anxiety
Remote work has its own pros and cons. Many employees are not ready to let go of the flexible working standards that came with work transition amid the pandemic. However, remote workers often complain about the zoom fatigues, which come with endless hours of Zoom meetings. Besides that, many employees working from home are not well-equipped with the right working essentials. Working from home with a slow internet connection is an ingredient to triggering anxiety and stress. Finding stable Internet Service Providers for remote work is not only an employee’s job. Rather, remote work leaders and employers should make sure they connect their staff with the right internet service provider that can provide them an amazing internet package which eventually improves their productivity and lowers their work stress.
However, the situation does not solve here. There is a lot more to address to put an end to growing work stress among employees. Here are some of the essential factors to combat the growing and alarming stress.
The Signs
First things first, know that discovering whether an employee is suffering from workplace anxiety or not is not that easy. Sometimes, an employee might be dealing with some personal things, and people may confuse it with workplace anxiety. Other times, employees may not willingly accept they are having trouble performing their best—thinking that their employers and leaders will judge them for sugar coating reasons to justify their poor work performance.
However, some clear-cut signs can identify work stress in employees. For instance, if an employee feels relieved and has less stress on the days off, this behavior signifies work stress as per Annie Palacios—a professional counselor with Tightrope Therapy.
Other than this, Annie believes if you work from Monday to Friday, and the feeling of anxiety overshadows your weekend, you have a lot to work on to combat the stress.
If an employee is having a tough time talking about their problems with their colleagues or facing stress because of competitive work culture, employers need to find ways to put an end to a toxic work environment.
Be Gentle With Yourself
When you feel your stress level is rising, it is natural to incline towards self-criticism. However, the healthier solution is to be patient and understand yourself. Giving yourself some free time to watch a light-hearted TV show with reliable TV service, like the one from Cox Contour TV, is also a great way to treat yourself gently.
It is always good to show gentleness towards your loved ones dealing with stress. However, it is even more important to show similar understanding towards yourself. You can always tell yourself it is okay to feel overwhelmed or stressed because of work. But at the same time, you must keep your spirits high and encourage yourself to do your best. And not let the anxiety overshadow your fun times.
Bottom Line
It is easier to let work stress and anxiety kill all the fun time you can have on your days off. However, it is in your hand to be gentle with yourself, understand your emotions, and talk about your feeling with your employer—or a therapist, if needed.