Tips for Dealing with Stress and Disappointment at Work

The workplace can be one of the hardest environments to be in if you suffer from depression. Expectations, deadlines, and feedback can all either help your condition or make it insufferable. When you come across difficult situations in the workplace, it’s helpful to have a game plan for how to deal with them ahead of time.

It’s important to remember that your job does not define you. Always try to do your best, but acknowledge and be gentle with yourself when your intentions aren’t met with equal action every day. If you can compartmentalize your work and your life outside of work, you may find it easier to cope with disappointments and stress in both places. Consider the following tips for dealing with stress at work.

• Talk to HR. If you are prone to anxiety and depression, it’s good to speak to either HR or a direct supervisor about your difficulties, if you feel like you are able. After you’ve been hired, most employers want to help you become the best employee you can be. That may mean that you need to ask your manager to communicate with you differently or help you build back up your confidence instead of throwing you straight into a difficult situation. HR representatives can help you determine your course of action if you have difficulty. You can also talk to them if you need further help or medical attention.
• Try to stay prepared. If you know you’re going to be facing a difficult project, presentation, or other anxiety-evoking task, do some extra preparation. Even though it takes more time, a positive experience doing something you dread can build confidence and make subsequent tasks easier to handle.
• Be kind to yourself. You can’t be great at everything, and sometimes disappointments come more often than congratulations. The difference between overly stressed people and others is the way they handle the disappointment. Let yourself feel sad and angry for a minute, but then force yourself to look at everything you did right. By not dwelling on the mistakes, you can identify your strengths and help yourself bounce back. Instances of disappointment can only affect your life if you let them.
• Finally, enlist your support group. If you’re struggling emotionally, it may be difficult to see things in the right light. If you have a hard time implementing any of the other techniques, call on someone in your support group. Relating what happened to a third party can sometimes clarify a situation and help you see the circumstances in a rational light. It may be that simply talking out loud about a situation will help you see points that were skewed in your head.

The worst thing you can do is bottle up your emotions and keep your struggle to yourself. While you may think it’s the professional way to handle your feelings, it can actually be detrimental for your health.