Back to work anxiety?

Back to work anxiety?

A lot of us are feeling that ‘return to work’ anxiety as lockdown eases and things begin to open up.

Here are 5 tips that may help you manage it:

1.      Communicate with your manager

Let your manager know how you are feeling. Think about your triggers and how you might be able to manage them. For example, if you are worried about the commute, it may be possible to arrive a little later or go home a little earlier so you can miss rush hour. Your workplace will be putting in place mechanisms to ease staff into their return to work, so speak to them.

2.      Take things slowly and rest

We know this year has been long! The excitement of seeing friends, and shops and services opening may mean we start to overload our diary with things to do.

In life, we need to find a balance between doing and resting, so we can support the nervous system and reduce levels of stress.  A balance of Yin and Yang! When you return to the workplace, try to reduce your social commitments and give yourself more time to rest.

Be kind and set yourself realistic expectations for those first weeks back. Scale back the expectations and create clear ‘to do’ lists with bite sized actions to focus on.

3.      Coping tools

One of the big challenges with anxiety is that we get caught in negative thoughts, and tend to catastrophise and get caught up in ‘what ifs’…

When you notice the negative voice in the head getting louder and the chest feeling tighter, pause and focus your awareness on something else. You could draw your attention to the breath, awareness of your surroundings or listen to the sounds nearby.

You could do a simple breathing exercise to refocus the mind like Square Breath. You simply breath in for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, exhale for a count of 4, pause for 4. Repeat a few times until you feel calmer.

We recommend carving out time for regular meditation, as this will help you develop awareness of your thoughts and when you are getting caught up in unhelpful thinking habits. A Fine Balance offers meditation classes that are themed to support your self-care. Book here.

Regular physical exercise will also help you to cope with feelings of anxiety. We know things may feel tiring in those early days back to work, so a lunchtime walk, a short exercise class or some yoga stretches may help boost those feel good endorphins. A Fine Balance offers daily wellness classes to help you find balance whenever, wherever.

4.      Kindness and compassion

Quite often when we are feeling anxious, stressed and overwhelmed, we are not being kind and compassionate towards ourselves and others. It is important to take time to ground yourself, connect to our heart centre and choose to think more compassionately.

If you are finding going back to work hard, try to use kind and supportive towards yourself. It is hard, we are just coming through a global pandemic… a year of isolation… things will feel difficult as we return to work. You will get thorough it.

Affirmations can be useful at changing those negative thoughts for kind ones, perhaps consider repeating the following:

I am capable of hard things

I am enough

I do enough

I am loved and I show myself the same love that I show to others

I release negative thoughts and choose positive ones

5.      Speak to a professional

If you are regularly feeling low and anxious, speak to your doctor about getting professional help.