Handling Anxiety in a Job I Don't Love
As I approach my 27th birthday in December I have been thinking about my life and if I am happy with where I am and what I’ve accomplished. Overall, I am insanely happy. My personal life is actually perfect. My family and friends are all healthy. I have the world’s most accepting and inspiring boyfriend. My cat is still as cute as can be. I’ve been fortunate to travel to so many places and have multiple trips on the horizon.
But, I am not happy with my work life. I know we can’t have everything we want so I remind myself to focus on my home life which is more important to me than work. However, I’ve gotten to a point where if not for my great colleagues I’d dread going into the office each day. It’s not because I hate my job! I actually like what I do and enjoy it but the flawed metrics and standards the employees are held to are incredibly deflating and discouraging. I am also insanely tired of working 12:30-9pm. I would love to go out to dinner with my boyfriend or grab drinks with friends during the week but it’s not possible. My job is making my anxiety spike waaaay more than it should. So here is how I’ve been coping with anxiety in the workplace.
Focus on the Good at Work
I have some truly amazing coworkers who are not only hard workers but are also funny, friendly, genuine people. They make me laugh and understand the pressures I go through as they deal with the same things. Another positive is that I am good at my job! It pays well enough, I have good health insurance and other benefits.
Find Something You Enjoy in the Office
I know that fundraising and advocacy are two things that I am incredibly passionate about. I also know that my company participates in the Pittsburgh Heart Walk (benefitting the American Heart Association) every year. Months ago, I asked my manager how to get involved, became a Team Captain for my department’s fundraising, and spearheaded an office-wide Cutest Pet Contest which has raised over $500! Fundraising can be discouraging as people tend to be complacent, and I wasn’t getting the excitement I hoped for from my teammates, but a friend recommended the Cutest Pet Contest, and I immediately knew it was a wonderful idea! I whipped up a basic flyer, sent emails and received a H U G E response from dozens of people I’ve never met. There are 44 pet photos hanging near my cubicle that I see when I walk into work and everytime I get up to go to the bathroom or refill my water bottle. People often stop to admire the photos and I love hearing bits of conversations as they chuckle about a large-eared dog or fluffy cat.
Separate Work from Home
This is very hard for me. You can’t just shut off anxiety. It’s always there but you can learn how to control it. This is where I’m fortunate to have such a great boyfriend. His brain works differently than mine so he reminds me to stop worrying about what I cannot change in the moment. If I come home from work in a bad mood he lets me vent and complain for five minutes and then reminds me to enjoy the good things. There’s nothing I can change about work at 9:30pm. So, I need to enjoy a good late night dinner with Netflix because as I said, for me, home life is more important than work.
Understand My Limitations
The metrics that employees in my department must meet were changed a few months ago. As soon as they rolled out, I had a lot of questions for management and I asked those questions and voiced my concerns. I consider myself a top performer in my job but I knew that the new metrics sounded great on paper but would NOT work in practice due to the timing of different shifts and business demands. My concerns were truly brushed aside when I voiced them but now, three months later, it seems they’re finally being addressed albeit slowly.
Search for New Opportunities
I’m fortunate that since I am good at my job I’ve been given the opportunity to shadow many different departments within the company. Only one of the roles was interesting to me but I was able to learn valuable things that apply to my current role. I know what opportunity within the company is interesting to me and I am working to pursue it. However, I am also looking outside the company for a way to break into communications, marketing, or public relations as I believe those careers would be more fulfilling. I’m being selective with my applications though because if I am to change jobs I want the new one to really excite me.
