I remember the lockdown days. There was a specific kind of anxiety then, wasn’t there? It was the anxiety of isolation, of uncertainty, of blurred lines between the living room and the office. We told ourselves that once the world opened back up, that feeling would disappear. But for me, and for so many people I know, it didn’t. It just…changed. The anxiety of isolation morphed into the anxiety of readapting. The fear of the unknown was replaced by the stress of the “new normal,” an environment of constant digital pings, back-to-back virtual meetings, and the unspoken pressure to be “on” all the time.
That dull, persistent hum of anxiety became my unwelcome co-worker. It sat with me during team calls, making my heart pound for no reason. It whispered doubts in my ear when I was working on a challenging project. It was the last thing on my mind before a restless night’s sleep and the first thing to greet me in the morning, often before my alarm. I realized that this wasn’t a temporary phase. This was the new texture of professional life, and if I didn’t learn how to manage it, it was going to manage me.
I knew I needed more than just a list of things I “should” do. I needed practical, actionable strategies that fit into the messy reality of a demanding job. This wasn’t about eliminating stress entirely, an impossible goal, but about learning how to turn down the volume. It was a journey of trial and error, but over time, I discovered a few things that truly worked. These aren’t magic cures, but they are real, foundational practices that helped me reclaim my sense of calm and control.
1. Master the Art of the “Mindful Pause”
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When we feel a wave of anxiety rising, our first instinct is often to either ignore it or to get swept away by it. I used to do both. I would try to power through the feeling, which only made it stronger, or I would let my mind spiral into a dozen worst case scenarios. The real game changer for me was learning the simple power of a pause. This isn’t about sitting down for a 30 minute meditation session, which felt impossible on a busy day. It’s about creating tiny pockets of stillness right where you are.
One of the most effective techniques I learned is what I call the 4-7-8 breath. Before a stressful meeting or after reading a difficult email, I’ll find a quiet moment, even if it’s just turning my chair away from the screen. I inhale quietly through my nose for a count of four, hold my breath for a count of seven, and then exhale completely through my mouth for a count of eight. Doing this just three times acts as a pattern interrupt for the nervous system. It pulls my mind out of the future worry and plants it firmly in the present moment. It signals to my body that despite the perceived threat, I am safe. It’s a micro habit that has a macro impact on my ability to handle pressure.
Also read: 21 Micro-Habits To Improve Wellness
2. Learn to Tame Your Calendar
My calendar used to be a source of immense anxiety. It was a chaotic mix of meetings, reminders, and deadlines that felt more like a list of demands than a tool for productivity. A huge part of my work anxiety stemmed from a feeling of being reactive, of my day happening to me. I realized that if I didn’t define my priorities, everyone else would define them for me.
So, I started treating my calendar like my most valuable asset. Every Friday afternoon, I now spend 20 minutes planning the week ahead. I don’t just fill it with meetings. I schedule blocks of “deep work” for my most important projects. I schedule a block for “admin and email” so it doesn’t bleed into every hour of my day. Most importantly, I schedule my breaks. A 15 minute walk, a proper lunch away from my desk, and a hard stop at the end of the day are now non negotiable appointments I keep with myself. This proactive approach gave me back a sense of agency. My calendar is now a reflection of my intentions, not just a record of others’ requests. It helps me see, visually, that I have enough time for what matters, which is a powerful antidote to the feeling of being overwhelmed.
3. Draw Your Lines: The Power of Boundaries
In our hyper connected world, work can easily spill into every corner of our lives. For a long time, I thought being a dedicated employee meant being available at all times. I would answer emails late at night and check messages first thing in the morning. I didn’t realize that this lack of boundaries wasn’t demonstrating commitment; it was fueling my burnout and anxiety.
Learning to set and enforce boundaries was one of the hardest but most rewarding things I did. It started small. I turned off email notifications on my phone. The world did not, in fact, end. Then, I created a clear shutdown routine at the end of my workday. I’d take five minutes to review what I accomplished, write down my top priority for the next day, and then say, out loud, “My workday is now over.” This verbal cue helped create a mental separation. I also became more comfortable communicating my boundaries. Instead of instantly replying to a late night request, I learned the power of a scheduled response or a simple, “Thanks for this, I’ll review it first thing in the morning.” People learn how to treat you based on the boundaries you set. By respecting my own time, I taught others to respect it too.
Also read: How To Master The Art Of Saying ‘No’
4. Rewrite Your Internal Monologue
I am a world class expert in catastrophizing. A piece of neutral feedback could send my mind spinning into a narrative where I was about to be fired. A simple mistake felt like a career ending disaster. My internal monologue was a harsh critic, and it was a primary source of my anxiety. A therapist once explained to me that our brains are wired with a negativity bias, a survival mechanism from ancient times. That was helpful to know, but I still needed to figure out how to work with it.
The technique I found most helpful was simple: questioning my own thoughts. When an anxious thought popped up, like “Everyone on the team thinks my idea was terrible,” I would stop and ask myself a few questions. Is this 100 percent true? What is a more generous or alternative explanation? What would I say to a friend who had this thought? More often than not, I’d realize my initial thought was an exaggeration. Maybe one person was quiet, but another was nodding along. Maybe the feedback was not a judgment of my worth, but a constructive point to make the idea stronger. This isn’t about toxic positivity or ignoring real problems. It’s about challenging the automatic negative stories our brains are so quick to write and choosing a more balanced, realistic perspective.
5. Incorporate “Movement Snacks”
When you feel anxious, the last thing you often want to do is exercise. I know the feeling. But I also discovered that anxiety is a form of stored energy in the body, and movement is one of the best ways to release it. The key for me was to stop thinking about it as “exercise” and start thinking of it as “movement snacks.”
Instead of trying to force myself to go for a run when I was already feeling overwhelmed, I started building tiny bursts of movement into my day. After a long meeting, I’d walk up and down the stairs a few times. While on a phone call, I would pace around the room. I set a timer to go off every hour as a reminder to stand up, stretch, and walk to the kitchen for a glass of water. These small acts of physical activity helped break the cycle of anxious energy building up in my body. It provided a physical release for the mental tension, often leaving me feeling more focused and grounded when I returned to my desk. It’s a reminder that our mental and physical well being are not separate; they are deeply intertwined.
6. Communicate with Clarity and Courage
So much of my anxiety used to come from assumptions. I would assume my manager knew how overloaded I was. I would assume my colleagues understood what I needed from them on a project. I would suffer in silence, and my anxiety would grow as deadlines loomed and expectations felt unclear. The antidote was something that sounded simple but felt incredibly brave: proactive communication.
I learned to have conversations I was afraid of having. I started scheduling brief check ins with my manager to align on priorities, letting her know what was on my plate and asking for help when my bandwidth was maxed out. Instead of “I’m so busy,” I learned to say, “I’m committed to doing a great job on projects A and B. I’m concerned that if I take on project C right now, the quality of A and B will suffer. Can we discuss the timelines or delegate some tasks?” This shifted the conversation from complaining to collaborative problem solving. With colleagues, I started being more explicit about my needs, deadlines, and expectations. It felt vulnerable at first, but it replaced the anxiety of ambiguity with the comfort of clarity.
Also read: When Important Workplace Conversations Get Lost
7. Create a “Third Space” Ritual
The biggest challenge of modern work, especially with remote and hybrid models, is the lack of separation. We close our laptops, and we are immediately in our personal lives, with no time to decompress. A friend introduced me to the concept of the “Third Space,” the idea of creating a transitional ritual between two different environments. In the past, this was our commute home from the office. We need to consciously recreate that transition.
My “Third Space” ritual is simple but sacred. At the end of my workday, after my shutdown routine, I put on my headphones and go for a 15 minute walk around my neighborhood. During that walk, I am not allowed to think about work. I listen to music or a podcast. I pay attention to the world around me. It’s a mental reset. It’s a bridge from my professional self to my personal self. By the time I walk back in the door, I have shed the stress of the day and am ready to be present with my family. This small ritual prevents work stress from contaminating my personal time and has been essential for my long term mental wellness.
8. Build Your Support Network
Anxiety loves isolation. It thrives when we feel like we are the only ones struggling. For a long time, I kept my feelings of stress and overwhelm to myself, thinking it was a sign of weakness. The moment I started opening up, everything changed. I found a trusted colleague, and one day, I simply said, “This week has been really tough for me. I’m feeling pretty underwater.” To my surprise, she responded, “Me too.” That conversation was like opening a pressure release valve.
Building a support system at work isn’t about complaining. It’s about finding people you can be vulnerable with, people who can offer perspective, and people who can remind you that you’re not alone. This network can also include mentors, friends outside of work, or a professional therapist. Actively nurturing these relationships gives you an outlet and a source of strength. Knowing you have people in your corner who you can talk to honestly makes the heavy weight of anxiety feel significantly lighter and easier to carry.
A Leader’s Role in a Low-Anxiety Workplace
Through my journey, I realized that while these individual strategies are powerful, they are most effective in a supportive environment. Leaders and managers have a profound impact on the collective anxiety level of their teams. If you are in a leadership position, you are not just managing tasks; you are managing the emotional climate.
Creating a psychologically safe environment where people feel comfortable speaking up about their workload or admitting a mistake is the foundation. This involves modeling vulnerability yourself, celebrating learning from failures, and actively listening to your team’s concerns. Providing clarity on roles, responsibilities, and priorities can eliminate a huge source of ambiguity driven stress. Championing work life boundaries, for example by not sending late night emails and encouraging people to take their vacation time, sends a powerful message that you care about their well being, not just their output.
Also read: How Leaders Can Foster Psychological Safety at Work
The Journey Continues
Managing work anxiety is not a destination you arrive at, but a continuous practice. There are still days when that familiar hum of stress gets a little louder. But now, I have a toolkit. I have a set of practices that I know can ground me, empower me, and remind me that I am in control.
The most important takeaway for me has been this: struggling with work anxiety doesn’t mean you are broken or bad at your job. It means you are a human being navigating a demanding and complex world. The challenge for all of us, and especially for those who lead and develop people, is to build more human centric workplaces where conversations about mental wellness are not just welcome, but are an integral part of the culture.
Creating a mentally healthy workplace is a journey. If you’re looking to equip your teams and leaders with the tools to build resilience, communicate effectively, and foster supportive cultures, let’s explore how we at FocusU can help.
