Overcoming Workplace Anxiety: A Personal Trainer's Guide to Awareness, Acceptance, and Adaptation

Feb 5

ABSTRACT

Discover practical strategies to overcome workplace anxiety in this comprehensive article. Learn how to increase self-awareness, accept your anxiety, and adapt to challenging professional situations. Explore specific solutions to common anxiety triggers, such as unrealistic demands and critical assessments from colleagues or managers. Find valuable insights to boost your confidence and productivity, improving your work experience. Don't let anxiety hold you back; take control of your professional life with these practical tips.

KEYWORDS

Workplace anxiety
Overcoming anxiety
Self-awareness
Acceptance
Adaptation
Professional challenges
Managing anxiety at work
Handling unrealistic demands
Dealing with criticism
Boosting confidence at work

**Anxiety at work affects all of my personal training clients. / Photo:** **Yan Krukau**

THE CHALLENGE FOR MY PERSONAL TRAINING CLIENTS

Typical quote: “I experience anxiety in many professional scenarios, including interactions with clients, managers, and colleagues.”
The reactive assumption, without breaking down the problem: “I’m not educated or equipped to handle the professional demands of my position.”
The personal trainer breakdown: The cyclical process of awareness, acceptance, and adaptation can steer you through most anxious situations.

AWARENESS

I wish I had a simple solution to overcoming any form of anxiety. It often begins as situational but most commonly becomes generalizable. You probably experience a spectrum of anxiety in different areas of your professional AND personal lives and sometimes need a specific plan of action for each.

Before you choose a path, though, step one will always start with a focus on YOU. How do you think, behave, and interact with the world? Your success will depend on this awareness. Your observations will help you understand how you approach challenges and the underlying influences on your decisions and feelings. Eventually, you might be able to understand the “why” of your approach to life.

Study yourself for two days by recording every anxious feeling you experience in a pocket notebook (no matter the strength). Attempt to answer these questions: What are your thoughts at the moment? What were you thinking before the moment? Did you feel in control? Do you feel in control now? What external factors contribute to this feeling (e.g., last-minute demand, unrealistic demands, a colleague critically assessed your results and productivity, etc.)? What internal factors contribute to this feeling (e.g., you don’t feel that you can’t adequately meet the demands of your work, you feel insecure about your role in the company, you fear that your colleagues will unfairly scrutinize everything you do, you fear making a mistake in front of others, you don’t trust your reactive ability to respond to a problem effectively, you perceive your peers’ efforts as superior to yours, etc.). These questions not only steer the reflection process but also help identify the root of your feelings. If you need help with your anxiety, consider getting in touch with a mental health professional at BetterHelp.

ACCEPTANCE

Once you become aware of the root of your anxiety, or at least the feeling of it, can you accept it? Can you accept the current status of “being”? Can you accept the anxious feeling and what led to it without judging yourself? Before moving to the next step, you must decide whether you can accept your current findings. You’re a human scientist, after all. If not, your emotional connection could steer you down the wrong path or at least blind you from the correct one.

By accepting the moment, your findings, your tendencies, and YOU, you are deciding to take an objective path to minimize your anxiety. You’re choosing to adapt your approach in a logistical, strategic way. If you have truly honored the process up to this point, you are ready to adjust your strategy.

ADAPTATION

Here are specific strategies to overcome your anxiety at work. You’ll notice that many solutions involve examining your approach, reframing your mindset, and being assertive. With consistent self-talk over time, you can develop the right mindset to handle any challenge with minimal anxiety. It will require reflection as well as confidence in the professional environment. With the proper examination of yourself and your approach, some solutions will become more accessible than others. Your diligence and respect for yourself will help you overcome the more difficult challenges.

What makes you anxious: Your manager has unrealistic demands and expectations of you.
Solution: Be assertive and communicate your feelings.
What to remember: Being assertive doesn’t equate to failure. If you sense unrealistic (or unfair) demands and expectations of you, it’s acceptable (and encouraged) to communicate this feeling with your manager. While you may fear looking weak or incapable of meeting demands, you’re only setting yourself up for tremendous success with this action. In fairness to your manager, she may not be aware of your workload and might be willing to subtract a task or two, or she may see strengths in you that you haven’t reasonably identified yet. Instead of stressing yourself to produce what could be less than your best effort, seek more understanding of the assignment and why you are chosen to complete it. Use that time to communicate your strengths and current status on projects, too. If needed, seek the manager’s advice on handling a large task load more efficiently. If you intend to do your best, always know that your wisdom and productivity will only grow with the guidance of others.
What makes you anxious: Your manager has last-minute demands daily.
Solution: Reflect on your processes and stay ahead of your day-to-day responsibilities, or build in a buffer zone.
What to remember: Nothing is more frustrating than being swamped with projects….and then your management adds a last-minute task to your list. To make it worse, your manager probably needed today’s request completed yesterday. While it’s always tough to drop everything you’re doing to complete a task you didn’t expect, you should ask yourself if it’s a surprise. Professionals gripe daily about the fire alarm demands from their bosses but rarely realize that (1.) this is consistent and a buffer zone most likely needs to be carved into their daily schedules and (2.) their professional approach is just a set of inefficient systems and time is wasted daily. At what point will you accept that last-minute demands are part of your position and that you must create a 30 or 60-minute period each day to handle them? Schedule it as a free period. If nothing pops up by the day's end, then use the time to complete another project. At least you’ll approach the day with the healthy mindset that something may randomly appear on your desk, and you won’t be stressed by the expectation to complete it quickly.

You'll want to examine your day-to-day approach if your schedule doesn't allow this free time. Ask yourself these questions: How much time do you waste reading entertainment articles, perusing social media accounts, or indulging in mindless activities? Do you have a specific strategy to handle urgent and non-urgent emails? Do you strategically plan your day and week with looming projects in mind? Do you effectively and efficiently communicate with colleagues and participate in group meetings? Do you inefficiently waste time on tasks that can be automated or left to a colleague with more significant expertise? Do you spend more time than necessary on a decision? Looking at your approach with a fine-tooth comb could identify some areas essentially stealing time away from you. The time to complete this last-minute demand from your boss could be sitting in front of you.
What makes you anxious: You’ve built efficient systems and a buffer zone, but your manager’s last-minute demands are still overwhelming.
Solution: Be assertive and communicate a realistic turn-around time, or help your manager reassign the task.
What to remember: While the world may demand the most out of you, it doesn’t mean you need to accept the responsibility. Unfortunately, many professionals will continue to ask for more of YOU until you draw the line. If you truly understand what you can effectively and efficiently manage within a timeframe, you will know when one additional task is 1 task too many. Everybody has a cutoff line (a boundary line), and you should communicate this to your colleagues and managers (and you shouldn’t lose your job as a result). You don’t need to say no, though (in case you’re worried). Instead, tell them your actual timeline (4 days instead of 1 day) and help them reassign the task to someone else. Ultimately, if you have a hardworking and productive reputation, they should respect your response. If there’s a negative response, you may want to recognize their frustration and put them at ease. You’ll do your best to accommodate, but it must be within a realistic time frame (your time frame).
What makes you anxious: Your perceived experience and age make you inferior.
Solution: Recognize the skillsets and experience that make you unique and learn from your colleagues.
What to keep in mind: No matter your age, everyone brings a unique set of skills and experience that integrally contribute to the culture and success of a company. A young colleague's lack of knowledge might be made up by his or her fresh creative ideas (especially when relating to another generation). What an old colleague lacks in fresh perspective might be made up in her or his experience handling conflict in the workplace. You wouldn’t want 100 people with the same skill set and experience within your company, and your employer most likely doesn’t. Honor the differences between you and your colleagues. You don’t need to be a product of every generation or have decades of experience to participate productively. Feel enlightened when YOU recognize your weaknesses, shortfalls, or failures. You now have the opportunity to gain wisdom from other trained professionals in the same room. Take advantage of this paid education and accept where you stand at a given point. List 3-5 ways to contribute to each project and identify 3-5 ways to learn from your counterparts.
What makes you anxious: A colleague (or manager) critically assessed your results and productivity.
Solution: Understand the reasons for your emotional response and seek understanding.
What to remember: Any criticism can be brutal to accept if you have an emotional investment in what you’re doing or believe. Any insecurities about your value and experience will fuel this fire. Your reaction may be anxiousness, anger, or disbelief. No matter your response, though, you should always seek understanding. Perhaps the message wasn’t communicated properly or effectively, or you misheard it. Give the person the opportunity to explain him or herself….seek understanding. If there’s an absolute truth in the criticism, think about your insecurities. Do you have unfair expectations of yourself? Is your self-assessment skewed? Do you accept that you’re not perfect? Are you willing to work on improving these areas? Are you willing to ask for help? If you wholeheartedly disagree with the criticism, seek understanding and explain why in related terms. Communicate the goal: To be your best and to contribute effectively. Even in disagreement, you might find a way to be on the same productive page.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: MICHAEL MOODY, PERSONAL TRAINER

As an author, a personal trainer in Denver, and podcast host, Michael Moody has helped personal training clients achieve new fitness heights and incredible weight loss transformations since 2005. He also produces the wellness podcast "The Elements of Being" and has been featured on NBC, WGN Radio, and PBS.

Michael offers personal training to Denver residents who want to meet at the 2460 W 26th Ave studio….or in their homes throughout LoHi (80206), LoDo (80202), RiNo (80216), Washington Park (80209), Cherry Creek (80206, 80209, 80243, 80246, 80231), and Highlands (80202, 80211, 80212). Michael also offers experiences with a personal trainer in Jefferson Park (80211) and Sloan's Lake (80204, 80212).

If you’re looking for a personal trainer who can curate a sustainable (and adaptable) routine based on your needs and wants, Michael is the experienced practitioner you’ve been looking for. Try personal training for a month…your body will thank you!