Ryan Rivera joins us this month to share his first hand experiences with anxiety. This article has some great idea's. I particularly like Ryan's discussion of the Japanese approach to the psychology of anxiety: don't fight it, treat it as a friend.
Finding Humor in an Otherwise Abusive Workplace
by Ryan Rivera
In my years as an anxiety outreach advocate, one of the most common causes of anxiety is the workplace. It's one I understand as well, as several years ago I found myself stuck at a job where I was woefully mistreated by managers with few people skills and an even weaker awareness of what was going on under their own supervision.
Ideally, one could simply quit the job and find a better career elsewhere. But in today's economy, and with the financial struggles that the modern family goes through, that's not necessarily an option anymore. The problem is that it's very hard to change people's minds, and in the end you find yourself experiencing the emotional toll of being forced to go to work at a job where your stress and anxiety are put under constant pressure every day.
The Theories of Japanese Psychology
While there are ways to find relaxation at work, and methods of relieving anxiety that are certainly effective at controlling the amount of stress you experience, one of my favorite strategies is actually related to Japanese psychology. It's the theory that one should embrace anxiety like a friend, rather than fight it, and use it to make their lives more enjoyable.
At first glance that may not make much sense, but the reality is that when there's anxiety that we can't control and stress we can't prevent, fighting it often seems to make it worse. Most of your time is spent running away from problems, or holding in rage that only creates more stress. Instead, you should consider focusing on ways to greet your anxiety like an old friend, treating it like something you welcome instead of something you fear, and using it to make your workplace more enjoyable.
Turning Your Work Into Fun
This may sound easier said than done, but there are actually many ways to create a workplace that is more fun using your anxiety as leverage. Consider the following examples:
- Make a Bingo Game of Anxiety Stimulating Events – There are usually several causes of anxiety in the modern workplace. You can use each of those to create a bingo game. Every time one of those issues causes anxiety you mark off a spot, and if you get a bingo or a blackout, you can treat yourself to a prize. You can also play this game with a coworker if you find that they're suffering from anxiety as well.
- Wait for Anxiety to Work Harder – No matter how much anxiety you experience at work, it's often not every minute of every day. There are usually breaks, or times before you start work that you're generally anxiety free before the anxiety kicks in. In these cases, work at only a regular, not-that-hard pace until you experience anxiety. Then when you feel the anxiety coming, use that as your cue to work as hard as you can. Make it into a game as well, seeing if you can complete your tasks more quickly with each passing day.
- Create a Light Hearted Workplace – If you can't leave your job, make your job better. One activity that I found fun when I was suffering at my anxiety-producing workplace was creating small notes with obscure references, like "the purple cow rises only in the west at midnight" and hiding them around the office. No one had any idea they were there, but knowing they were there caused me a "good anxiety" that I found made my workplace better.
You cannot control every aspect of your workplace, and if you have an abusive manager or coworkers that treat your poorly, there's not always much you can do. But you can make your career more fun for you, so that your anxiety attacks become something less debilitating and the stress of your work becomes less draining.
About the Author: Ryan Rivera has dedicated years of his life to helping others control their anxiety better. He writes about panic and anxiety attacks at www.calmclinic.com.
