When one is in a position of working in a negative work environment, especially one that starts getting labeled as “toxic” it can be difficult to not let it have an effect. Often negative work environments can affect our quality of work, commitment to work, our emotional health causing anxiety and depression, our physical health causing stress related illnesses and difficulties, and our out of work relationships. Below are some mindset shifts and practices to help you cope with a negative work environment and focus on what’s important to your well-being.
Focus On Your Goals And Purpose
Remember why you are there in the first place and what the job is that you must accomplish. Although it can be hard to separate negative and distressed feelings that arise when you work in an environment that causes you stress, it’s important to do your best to set your mind to focusing on the objective tasks at hand as opposed to getting involved with the drama of co-workers or company politics. First and very important is to keep your focus on your purpose at work and the goals you have in front of you to accomplish. Remind yourself why you are there in the first place and be very conscious in making this the focus of both your physical and mental energy. For example, if you are a healthcare professional, remind yourself that your purpose is to provide the best care to your patients and clients. If you are in technology or business, remind yourself of the importance of your position in the bigger picture, whether the purpose is to serve clients or contribute to innovations. Or your purpose may even be that you are in your current job as a means to another more important goal, such as gaining required experience or a personal goal such as paying off debts or saving for your dream home.
Remember Who You Are Separate From The Work World
Remind yourself that you are a person with a whole life composed of a variety of areas and experiences, and your work experiences only make up part of it. If you work a full-time job it may feel like you already spend all your time involved with work – doing work, thinking about work, stressing about work. And if on top of that your work environment is a negative one, you’ll feel that even more of your time and energy even outside of work hours is knotted up thinking and stressing about work. It starts to seep in and take over your ability to experience happiness and joy in other areas, and can lead you to holding negative beliefs about your whole self that just aren’t true. Don’t you deserve better than letting a negative work experience consume all your extra time and energy?
When you are not at work, do what you must to separate your mind from your work stresses and save those for the working hours. Take some time to immerse yourself in the things that you enjoy such as spending time with others, your hobbies, or learning something new that you always wanted to do. If though you are reading this and find yourself getting stuck because you realize you haven’t yet set clear boundaries around your work time, you’ll need to start there first so that you can immerse yourself fully without feelings of guilt, shame, or resentment. Take a moment and think about how you would feel and the beliefs you would hold about yourself when you start to spend your thoughts, energy, and time on positive experiences outside of work. Visualize then how this would change your relationship to that negative work environment. By being more balanced, work experiences will affect you less because you’ll make the choice to expend your energy on it as much or at all.
Be Yourself, Don’t Feel A Need To Fit In
When involved in a high stress and emotional work environment it can be really easy to get wrapped up into the bandwagon of communal commiserating which starts from wanting to show support to your co-workers but can quickly lead to a situation where it becomes more about bonding than problem solving. Don’t misunderstand, there is nothing wrong with bonding, and building relationships with others is such an important aspect of business and life in general. It can be problematic when you find yourself getting distracted from your focus and purpose or you start adjusting how you think, what you say, and what you do so that you are more included in the group.
Just remember that everyone’s experience is different. Everyone experiences interactions with others differently, different communication styles, different work ethics, etc. It’s ok if that boss who is difficult for others to manage is one that you happen to have a neutral or positive relationship with. If you find others tending to approach projects in a certain way (e.g. procrastinating, not putting in their best effort) say because they are holding underlying resentment towards a boss or the company, it’s ok if you approach your projects differently tending to continue to put your best effort in and get it done on time. This doesn’t mean that you don’t experience the negative aspects of the work environment or don’t agree with your co-workers perceptions, it just means that you are looking past them and choosing to focus on your purpose.
Take Care Of Yourself Throughout The Day
Take care of yourself throughout the day and don’t just save it for after work or when not at work. Make sure to add in time to both physically and mentally replenish your energy and spirit. Choose things that you know make you feel good and contribute to your overall positive well-being. Activities can include taking a walk, meditating, stretching and light exercise, listening to your favorite music, aromatherapy with scented oils or lotions, going to a quiet place for a power nap, browsing your favorite magazine, reading a few pages or chapter from a book, texting or calling a friend or significant other for a quick chat, any crafting or art activity (doodling/drawing, coloring, knitting/crochet, etc), the options are limitless.
Don’t Take It Personal
It’s work so don’t take it personal. If you find yourself getting wrapped up into personality and power struggles with others, take a step back and view the situation from another perspective. It’s easy to find ourselves getting personally offended by others in the work environment though step back and remind yourself that 1.) this is my work environment and not my personal environment, 2.) would I even involve myself with this person outside of work, 3.) what’s happening for this person that they may be acting this way and not aware of it, and 4.) is there something that I can do to stop these negative interactions.
Since 1 and 2 are obvious, we’ll focus on 3 and 4. When trying to understand the dynamics and pattern of interactions between you and another person you must step back and make an objective analysis. This requires you to put your emotions and interpretations aside and “investigate” the situation as if you are an outsider looking in. By doing this you may notice what situations negative interactions arise in (e.g. certain meetings, around certain people, certain times of the day, etc), how others handle that particular person, and info about your own response style (what you say/don’t say, what you do/don’t do) that open yourself up to these interactions.
Know Your Work Role Models
Consider who in the work world, either at your current job, someone from the past, or someone you’ve never met but admire and imagine to yourself what they would do to handle these situations. How do they approach their work? How do they communicate? What do they communicate? How would they handle a difficult boss or co-worker? How would they keep a positive and forward moving mindset? What do they do to not let negative thoughts and feelings about work get in the way of their goals and purpose?
Take Notes And Learn From It
When we are experiencing a negative work environment it has a funny way of messing with our beliefs about ourselves. It can make us question our own abilities, intelligence, confidence, and value. It can also makes us question what our future holds and creates a lot of doubt about it. It can even make us question our choice of professions and take us away from remembering all the things we love about it. It can cause a lot of anxiety, depression, stress, and sleepless nights.
To help reinstate your confidence and to hold a positive mindset about your work-life future pay attention to what you are learning about yourself and the ideal work environment you desire. Take this information and visualize putting them into action, and if you are hit face forward with things that you see must change, take the action to make those happen. Although in the moment the work environment is difficult, change to a positive mindset by being grateful to these lessons learned that will aid you in your future.
Don’t let anything or anyone define you. You are what you are because of what you make of tough situations in your life.
– Demi Lovato
Additional reading you might like:
Self-Care: Simple Daily Practices
Moving Forward With Daily Intentions
