it’s hard when you feel anxious at work – Discover four practical ways to manage workplace anxiety, stop overthinking, and regain control
Does work leave you anxious, overthinking, and triggered?
Maybe you dread Sunday evenings, spend your days comparing yourself to colleagues, or feel like nothing you do is ever quite good enough. Perhaps you replay conversations after meetings, worry about making mistakes, or feel guilty the moment you switch your laptop off.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
Work is one of the most common triggers for anxiety. And while it can feel like your job is the problem, it’s often the way anxiety shows up within your work environment that’s keeping you stuck.
For some people, workplace anxiety looks like overworking. You stay late, answer emails after hours, volunteer for everything, and struggle to say no. For others, it looks like procrastination. You avoid tasks because you’re worried they won’t be perfect, then feel even more anxious as deadlines approach.
Either way, anxiety steals your sense of control.
The good news? There are ways to break the cycle.
Before I share four ways to reclaim control, I just released a podcast on Work related anxiety that you can listen to HERE
1. Get to Know Your Triggers
The golden core of my work, is supporting with triggers that leave you anxious, overthinking, and reacting in ways that feel irrational.
Anxiety rarely appears out of nowhere (although granted, it sure does feel like it!). Your reactions is usually activated by specific situations, people, or thoughts.
Ask yourself about work:
- Do I become anxious when I receive feedback?
- Is it when I’m asked to present?
- When I make a mistake?
- When I see someone else’s success?
- When I feel like I’m disappointing someone?
The more aware you become of your triggers, the less power they have over you. So grab a pen & paper and record your triggers, if you need to , keep a log for a couple weeks and see what patterns emerge.
Instead of thinking “I’m just anxious” you can begin to recognise “This situation is activating something in me” That awareness creates space to respond differently rather than reacting on autopilot because you can begin to understand yourself and give yourself what you need.
It can be reassuring to know, you’re not actually inferior to your colleague, but at the moment they just trigger that belief.
2. Build a Life That Doesn’t Revolve Around Work
When work becomes your main source of identity, achievement, or self-worth, every setback feels enormous.
That’s why it’s so important to invest in the parts of your life outside your job
- Spend time with people who make you laugh
- Develop hobbies that have nothing to do with productivity
- Exercise because it helps you feel good, not because it’s another task to tick off
- Rest without feeling like you need to earn it.
The fuller your life becomes outside of work, the less your self-esteem depends on how your workday went.
3. Gradually Let Go of the Behaviours That Keep Anxiety Going
We focus on this a lot in therapy.
Anxiety often convinces us that certain behaviours are helping when they’re actually keeping us trapped
You might:
- Stay late every evening to prove you’re committed.
- Make everyone tea because you don’t want anyone to think you’re selfish.
- Skip lunch to get more done.
- Constantly check emails after work.
- Say yes to every request, even when you’re already overwhelmed.
These behaviours reduce anxiety in the short term, but they reinforce the belief that you must overperform or avoid to be accepted or safe.
Dropping them will invite uncomfortable feelings and urges to fix, which is why dropping them gradually is important. If you currently offer your colleagues a drink every morning, allow yourself not to for just one morning and see what happens.
Make a plan: This week I will….Leave work on time once a week, take your lunch break away from your desk, let someone else make the tea, resist checking your emails after hours.
Each small step teaches your brain that nothing catastrophic happens when you stop accommodating anxiety.
4. Heal the Underlying Wound
Ok for those of you where this is really impacting your wellbeing and health, it could be that your workplace is activating wounds that began long before your current job
Signs it’s a deeper wound are if your reaction feels out of proportion, you feel lost, or it’s too scary to change your patterns.
Maybe you learnt that your worth came from achievement, or you grew up believing mistakes weren’t acceptable, or that pleasing others kept you safe.
These experiences can create beliefs such as:
- I have to be perfect
- I mustn’t let anyone down
- If I stop, I’ll fail
- I’m only valuable when I’m productive
Until these deeper beliefs are explored and challenged, anxiety often finds new ways to show up.
Healing isn’t about becoming fearless at work. It’s about understanding why work feels so threatening in the first place and developing a healthier relationship with yourself.
Reclaiming Control Starts With Small Changes
If work is your biggest anxiety trigger, remember this: your goal isn’t to eliminate anxiety overnight.
It’s to stop letting anxiety make your decisions.
Every boundary you set, every unhelpful habit you let go of, and every time you respond with self-compassion instead of self-criticism, you’re teaching your brain a new way of being.
You don’t need to work harder to feel worthy.
You need to feel safe enough to believe that your worth has never depended on your performance in the first place.
How will you reclaim control? Let me know by emailing carly@carly-ann.co.uk
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