Retail job is giving me terrible anxiety! Any tips?

[Whathaveidonenoww]

Ive only ever worked in HR or only ever in an office environment. Since having DS I’ve been desperate just to get out there and make some extra cash instead of being at home all day.

I have 3 DC’s 2 at school I will go back into HR but not many part time roles come up in our area so I am holding out.

The amount of anxiety it’s causing me I feel sick every morning and it’s only 4 hours a day. I’m just trying to get through it. It’s on my mind all evening! Im even staying up later to avoid going to bed. However I refuse to quit.

Any kind words or tips anything wouldn’t go a miss.

Good on you for getting out there, I love your attitude!

I have a 2nd job in retail and its quite a culture shock. This will sound flippant but I like to watch Superstore and then pretend to myself I'm in that show. It passes the time and I'm basically a different version of myself when I'm doing that job.

Good luck- give it time, you're doing great.

Is it the customers? The public are horrific. I wouldn’t do a customer facing role ever again unless v v desperate. If you know it’s temporary though and you don’t want to quit then I’d do some sort of mental disassociation game and pretend I’m someone or somewhere else probably 😄 survival mode.

I’ve been working in retail for over 20 years and love it, why is it causing you anxiety?

Which aspect of it is making you anxious?

Either accept it's not for you or become a lot more laissez-faire about the job you have. You're there to get on with your work and that's it. If you're stressed because you feel like you're struggling with the work, ask for help. Otherwise, just be a peaceful cog in the machine and leave it all behind when you leave.

I've done very, very stressful jobs and learning not to care was really crucial. I found over time that stress genuinely stopped bothering me just from forcing the habit of being flippant.

Not flippant about work. Just, if things go wrong - so what? You don't own the business.

I will echo others to say well done for getting a job, and 4 hours is nicely doable as well. Any new environment will be stressful, because it's new.

You will get used to it. Would a little notebook to write up procedures/what to do if' etc be helpful? Just keep smiling, and fake it til you make it - that's pretty much what everyone does. When you get home, have a nice brew and try to forget about it.

I can cope with the horrible customers that doesn’t bother me. It’s the feeling out of place! A lot of the people I work with are kids just leaving school and they’re not great at keeping conversations or they just don’t talk at all. I’m only late 20s so not ancient yet. But yeah I just feel uncomfortable.

The training was very poor you just get thrown out there to deal with it. But i can appreciate you have to just get out there to learn how to do it.

You will gradually 'acclimatise ' to it.
Hang in there.

Fake it till ya make it. I had a job in an art gallery once, I was petrified whenever anyone asked me a question, but managed to blag my way through!

I totally get it re the youngsters. I'm 20/30 years older than my colleagues... but you know what... they just accept it. At first I felt very awkward, like why is a grown up doing a kids job, almost like a wierdo who has gatecrashed 6th form. However - you just have to get on with it. My main challenge is remembering I am not their manager or mum, I am equal to them and not responsible for them in any way. Which is actually lovely when you get used to it!

I took on an extra job in retail and love the lack of responsibility compared to my other job and the interaction with the customers.
I am much older than some of my colleagues but was quite flattered when one called me her “checkout mum” . It is daunting at first but stick with it and well done on getting the job

Ive been in retail for years. Its definitely getting worse, customers are getting really rude and entitled. And companies are reducing staff and increasing workload for no more money and usually crap or no training.
And people think a wee shop job is cushy