The Impact of Workplace Anxiety on Your Career and Well-Being
And how to deal with it
How Workplace Anxiety Affects Your Career Growth and Success
Workplace anxiety can significantly hinder professional performance, stall career progression, and limit opportunities for advancement. It leads to symptoms like difficulty focusing, fear of failure, and withdrawal from team activities, creating a cycle that reinforces anxiety: as anxiety increases, performance compromises, which in turn exacerbates anxiety. This cycle can be difficult to break, affecting both short-term achievements and long-term career potential.
Here’s a list of 10 common signs of workplace anxiety:
Perfectionism and Over-Preparation
Constantly double-checking work or spending excessive time on tasks to avoid any mistakes, often resulting in missed deadlines or overworking.
Avoidance of Tasks or Responsibilities
Putting off tasks, avoiding meetings, or delaying responses due to fear of judgment or failure.
Frequent Physical Complaints
Experiencing headaches, stomach issues, tightness in the chest, or muscle tension before or after work.
Irritability with Colleagues
Feeling easily irritated or defensive with colleagues, often due to underlying anxiety or stress.
Difficulty Concentrating or Decision-Making
Struggling to focus on tasks or overthinking small decisions, often due to anxious thought spirals.
Withdrawal from Social Interactions
Avoiding team lunches, after-work gatherings, or meetings due to fear of judgment or not feeling “up to it.”
Constant Worrying About Job Security
Often fearing that you’ll be laid off, or that others view your work negatively, despite positive feedback.
Procrastination on Important Tasks
Putting off high-priority tasks due to fear of failure or criticism.
Difficulty Disconnecting from Work
Boundary between life and work blends. Feeling unable to “switch off” after work hours, often ruminating over mistakes or upcoming tasks.
Self-Doubt and Impostor Syndrome
Feeling like you’re not good enough or that others will discover you’re a “fraud,” despite evidence of your capabilities.
Breaking the Cycle: How We Can Help You to Manage Anxiety for Better Career Outcomes
Mindfulness and Relaxation Exercises
As mindfulness-based therapists, we introduce you to mindfulness practices, like deep breathing or progressive muscle relaxation, to help reduce stress levels at the moment. These exercises calm the body’s stress response, allowing you to approach work challenges from a centered place.
Learning to Say “No”
Many people with workplace anxiety feel pressured to say “yes” to every request, which can lead to burnout. At Spark Relational Counseling, I will provide you with a safe space to practice how to set healthy boundaries, allowing you to protect your time and energy without feeling guilty. I will also explore the hindrance to saying “No” with you, to reach a higher level of self-understanding and self-awareness.
Asserting Needs Clearly
Through role-playing and guided practice, therapy helps you communicate your needs assertively, such as requesting reasonable deadlines or clarifying expectations. This skill reduces anxiety by helping you feel empowered and in control.
Challenging Negative Beliefs
Many people with workplace anxiety struggle with self-doubt or impostor syndrome, fearing they’re not “good enough.” Therapy addresses these beliefs, helping you identify and challenge these thoughts, replacing them with more balanced and empowering perspectives through mindfulness exercises.
Reflecting on Career Values and Goals
Therapy can also help you explore your values and what you truly want from your career, which can lead to greater job satisfaction and reduce anxiety. Clarifying goals allows you to make decisions aligned with your well-being and career aspirations.
In each of these cases, I will work along with you to navigate deeper insights into how these anxiety symptoms developed, as well as actionable steps to overcome them. Therapy can help you set realistic standards to reframe the belief that perfection equals your worth, identify the root of perfectionist tendencies, and explore self-compassion practices.
Why Talking to a Therapist About Workplace Anxiety is Different from Talking to Friends or Family
While friends and family often mean well, discussing workplace anxiety with a therapist offers a unique level of support and guidance that goes beyond what personal relationships can provide. Here’s why working with an online anxiety therapist is uniquely helpful:
Non-judgmental, Unbiased Perspective
Therapists are trained to approach every client’s situation without judgment, offering a neutral and supportive space. Unlike friends or family, who may have their own opinions or stakes in your life choices, therapists remain impartial, allowing you to explore thoughts and emotions freely. This unbiased support enables you to be fully open about work-related struggles—whether it’s conflicts with coworkers, fear of failure, or feelings of inadequacy—without fear of criticism or disappointing loved ones.
Confidentiality and Privacy
Your confidentiality is legally protected in therapy, ensuring that what you share remains private. This security allows you to discuss sensitive topics, like workplace dynamics or personal insecurities, without worrying about it reaching others in your circle. Knowing that conversations are completely private allows you to dive deeper into issues you may avoid with friends or family due to fear of gossip, judgment, or misunderstanding.
Focus on Self-Understanding and Growth
Online anxiety therapy provides dedicated time to understand the roots of your anxiety, including patterns or beliefs that may be intensifying it. Therapists help you recognize these patterns, explore why certain situations trigger your stress, and how to break the cycle. Understanding the deeper reasons behind your anxiety helps you take proactive steps to manage it, leading to healthier relationships and greater resilience.
Four Steps to Start Treatment for Work Place Anxiety:
1) Request to Talk to a Therapist and learn more about your caring anxiety specialist therapist：
Fill out our brief contact form and one of our therapists will contact you within 24-48 hours ( except for holidays)
2) Talk to a Therapist and Schedule an online counseling session
One of our expert therapists will contact you by phone for a free 15-minute consultation to ensure we're a good fit. Then you'll be able to schedule an online counseling session.
3) Share with Us a Little more Background on Yourself.
We will send you a secure in-take link to give us some more background information on your situation to help your therapist understand you a bit more so that they can make your first session as effective and helpful as possible.
4) Have your First Online Counseling Session
Your first session will mostly be assessment in nature, but we do want you to have a good experience and to start learning some effective tools right away. Most people experience a sense of relief that they have taken the first steps toward a positive change and feel hopeful to have found a therapist who can help.
Other Services We Offer For Couples & Individuals
Therapy for work anxiety can be a valuable resource for your needs. In addition, we understand your needs for support don’t usually fit into one box. At Spark Relational Counseling, we offer a variety of mental health services. We provide online therapy for anxiety in Washington, Oregon, and Illinois. For individuals with struggles in anxiety, we offer anxiety treatment at our Portland anxiety clinic. For professionals, working women with concerns around dating and intimacy, we offer individual therapy for loneliness (dating therapy, for example) that helps you feel more confident in building a strong romantic relationship. Additionally, for those in a relationship, we specialize in infidelity counseling, marriage counseling, and premarital counseling. If you are a small business owner, we offer therapy for entrepreneurs to help you navigate the ups and downs of owning a business. Whatever your mental health needs may be, we are here to help.
