How to deal with anxiety attacks? Even the best productivity tricks do not help when your brain is struggling with your natural and human instincts. Instead of fighting your brain, it’s better to learn some good ways to control your emotions and anxiety and increase your productivity.
It has probably happened to many of us that the delivery date of a project is very close and we did nothing for it. In these situations, anxiety makes our work even harder. Lack of concentration of thoughts and senses is one of the problems that usually occur and a person can not focus all his thoughts on an important topic.
There are several ways to focus or increase productivity. Many of these methods are really useful and effective. But experience has shown that even when you are anxious, even these methods can not help you. Even the best ways to increase productivity will not work in these situations. Therefore, in the first place, it is better to try other ways to control anxiety and move things forward one by one.
1. Do less
With a little more care, you will find that you can prioritize your plans and work in a variety of ways. However, when you are worn out, depressed or anxious, your performance is drastically reduced and the number of things you can do is significantly reduced. How should we deal with this problem?
No need to do this! Work less.
Or at least accept orders or less work. Many managers emphasize that when planning, it is better to choose fewer tasks and tasks but to do them with much better accuracy and quality. If we look at this issue from a percentage and statistical point of view. Doing 2 out of 10 tasks equals 20% of the tasks. However, doing 2 out of 3 tasks equals a 66 percent completion rate.
Of course, sometimes you may not even be able to complete these two tasks, and this is okay. Sometimes you just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people. For example, it may even be enough to lower your expectations of a very stressful day to just waking up in the morning, taking a shower, eating breakfast, and getting to work on time. The rest are in the next priority. It is true that a lot of work can be accumulated, but do not worry about it.
2. Simplify your priorities
In the same way, when your brain is struggling with itself and you can not do useful things, how do you categorize and prioritize your work? Our advice is to simplify everything. There is no need for complex strategies to prioritize tasks.
Here we are going to introduce you to a relatively simple decision-making framework. This framework is taken from the book Making Ideas Happen. This book specifically targets creative people who come up with great ideas, but when they want to implement them, they get confused and unplanned.
Based on this program, you organize your tasks in 3 levels:
- Steps: These are the things you must do to get through the process. If you do not do them, you will postpone things.
- The second category is tasks that are important, but not doing them will not cause your work routine to be blocked and interrupted.
- The third category is references and includes various side effects that can affect your main job. Like reading project descriptions, blogs, or anything else that takes time to read.
On a normal day, you should naturally prioritize the first set of tasks. If you still have enough time, go to the second category and do them, and often even ignore the third category. Many times you only spend once a week doing these things.
On days when you are very busy or depressed, it is not a bad idea to focus only on things that are nearing their deadline. If the project or work in question does not have a deadline, then there is no rush for it and you can wait longer. This simple system can be very useful and efficient. On days when you are very anxious, your brain usually overreacts to things and can not categorize things well; So it’s not a bad idea to categorize your tasks well in advance. Proper categorization of tasks may even help you to avoid stress and anxiety.
3. Limit the number of your applications!
You may think that you have no problem doing several things at the same time. But most likely such a thing is wrong. Experience has shown that changing the subject matter of work and the environment significantly reduces productivity and concentration. Imagine for a second you were transposed into the karmic-driven world of Earl. It may seem a lot easier to do things at the same time on days when you are at your best and focused. But on days when you are anxious, be sure to avoid doing so, because it takes a lot of energy from you and reduces your productivity much.
Maybe it’s better to automate a lot of things. Today, various websites and applications are designed to manage workflow. With this software, tasks are automatically organized and arranged without the need to move from one application to another.
4. Avoid anything that distracts you
Dealing with too much information under normal circumstances may not be too strange or difficult. But when you are not mentally prepared, this information can take a lot of energy and focus from you. In this situation, your mind is not able to process the same amount of information as usual. This amount of information not only overshadows your performance. It may even increase your anxiety and stress.
This is not just a matter of work and profession. Even in your personal life, if you have so many options, it can be very difficult or even impossible to decide and process them all.
Therefore, when a large flow of information flows to you and you can not process and pay attention to all of them, stop these streams of information or distractions. These could be TV, radio, cell phones, the sound of an open window, multiple messages and emails, talking loudly, or anything else.
Of course, saying this is easier said than done. But do your best. Some programs can help you with this. One of them is the Focus app. When this program is turned on, it closes all peripherals and does not allow you to use it. So you will have to focus on your main job. Smartphones also have capabilities and you can use them in the same way. Only rent activity to apps that you feel are very important and necessary.
In general, if there is any technology, device, or subject around you that is affecting you and hindering your efficiency and focus, turn it off. Find something that calms you down, so you can focus on one task at a time.
5. Do not be afraid to ask for help
No one likes to be seen by those around them as vulnerable or failed; So many times we hide our true feelings. Hiding anxiety and unpleasant feelings inside may sometimes be appropriate and no one will notice your problem. But it is not a permanent solution. Your manager or co-workers will probably notice your poor performance and poor mood.
Hiding real feelings and pretending to be in a good mood may cause you to completely collapse emotionally and mentally after a while. Experience, on the other hand, has shown that people, co-workers, and managers are well aware of personal problems, mental health, or employee anxiety. So it’s better to talk to them and raise your problem. Your manager can help you re-prioritize tasks, make tasks easier, take more time off, or split your tasks.
No one likes to admit that they need help and it is very difficult to do. But you should not consider this a sign of weakness. Instead, it’s a sign to your manager that this is not all I can do and that I can do much better. It is better for them to hear these words from you than to realize when you reach the deadline that your work is incomplete.
If you have a good relationship with your friends and some colleagues, it is okay to let them know about your problems as well. When your workload is too high, they may be able to help you too. If they do not help, they may be able to listen well and encourage you!
Lastly, if you feel overwhelmed, depressed, or overly anxious. You may want to discuss this with your doctor as well.
6. Changing jobs can also be a good solution
What if all this could not help you? Maybe your job is difficult and this job is not suitable for you. Think about it, do you really need this job or is it time to spend your time doing something else?
A perfectly appropriate and lovely work environment is an advantage that not everyone enjoys. Many people have problems with the work environment, especially their managers. If you feel you can talk honestly with your manager, then you are lucky. On the other hand, leaving a job will inevitably come with various financial worries for you.
With all that said, you should always prioritize your mental health. If this does not really work for you, the best solution is to change it as soon as possible. Of course, there are other jobs where you can feel more relaxed, and this relaxation will undoubtedly affect your performance.
Source: Fastcompany
