Overthinking/work anxiety any tips please

[Moirarosesgarden]

Going through a very stressful time at work and can’t stop thinking about all the impending tasks and worries over things going wrong.

I’ve never had any negative feedback at work and even this week have been told I’m doing a good job, but my mind is constantly full of tasks and anxiety that I won’t get them done to a good standard, especially ones where I’m relying on others for input. I’m worrying about things going wrong before they have done.

Any tips to help calm my mind and rationalise things would be amazing.

Make a list, or lists. Prioritise what needs doing first. Tick things off when they're done. That way you know you won't forget anything so you needn't worry about that.

I totally hear you on this, I have periods of work where it’s unbelievably manic, it’s project work so peaks and troughs.

I’m in a quieter period at the moment and was reflecting the other day on how I’ll be doing things differently in my next period of madness.

1. I will remember that this too shall pass, ie. there is always an end point.

2. Talk to your manager and close team members as much as you can, no doubt you are all as busy as each other and it sometimes
   really helps to vocalise things out loud to people who understand it most.

3. Block out time in your diary for focusing, responding to certain emails or completing tasks. Preserve time for breaks and stick to them.

Hopefully some of this is helpful, and I’d be keen to see others tips.

I’m very much a list person/planner so it’s not really about that. It’s more the sheer amount that has to be done, and to a good standard, by a certain time, that worries me. Pushing deadline back is not an option it’s more about how can I just plough through, stop procrastinating and get other people to get things done to the right standard. And not let worrying about things outside of working hours affect my mental health.

Similar type of work here and that is very sensible advice, thank you!

Any other advice from the Sunday crowd would be good. Already got that knot in my stomach about work :(

I went through a really stressful time a few months ago. It was partly due to mental health so did have some help there.
I also spoke to my manager and arranged to have a weekly meeting to catch up which helped make me feel a bit overwhelmed. If you can't do it all let them know as they need to help you.
My therapist suggests things like breathing exercises and making sure you go for a walk and get a break from things.

I wasn't going to post again after my post about lists was deemed to be so unhelpful.... but, depending on what your job is and what your manager is like... if you have one, they can be useful not only to keep things straight in your own head, but also as 'evidence' if work is being piled upon you. I have used them when, in a discussion with a manager, I'm being given yet another thing to do that is going to impact my other work - specifically how much time I'm going to have to do it to the standard it needs to be done. I haven't said - bluntly - I don't have time to do that as well as everything else, but I HAVE asked what the priority is. I have used my list of tasks (high level) to show exactly what I have to do already and to show that timescales will slip if I have to add this extra thing to my list. Sometimes the extra task is given to somebody else, sometimes my own idea of the standard something needs to be done to is too high, sometimes there is something on my list which is no longer required.

This may not be useful to you @Moirarosesgarden , but hopefully it will be useful to somebody.

I did actually “like” your post but I was just trying to get across in my reply that it’s not (to me) about making lists, that is my natural way of working so was looking for some other ideas. Sorry if it came across as rude, that was not my intention.