Are you feeling anxious while working from home? You're not alone. Let's delve into the roots of WFH paranoia, understand its triggers, and explore effective strategies to manage and overcome these unsettling feelings.
Paranoia causes you to irrationally scrutinize yourself and the behavior of others
Paranoia can lead you to fill in the blanks when someone doesn’t respond to an email or message, assuming it’s because your work isn’t up to *****
- Without the reassurance and informal nods of approval you experience in an office environment, it’s easy for negativity to run rampant
- It’s entirely possible to take your power back from paranoia
Depersonalize others’ actions
Empathic powers can be a gift and a burden
- Don’t take others’ behavior personally
- Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and try to figure out what might be leading to their reaction
- Martina used this strategy when her manager seemed upset about a lack of progress on a deliverable. She quickly realized that her manager’s reaction wasn’t because of Martina making a mistake or performing poorly, but because her manager was drained and irritable after a long day
Compartmentalize your anxieties
Put stressful situations from your day into an imaginary backpack that you shrug off and leave in the corner of your home office overnight.
- While being vigilant and attuned to goings-on at work can be a competitive advantage, if taken too far, it can devolve into paranoia and paralyze you.
Make expectations explicit
To head off erroneous assumptions and misinterpretations, proactively set expectations with your manager, colleagues, and stakeholders around communication style, how decisions will be made, and even touchy subjects like how to handle conflicts and differences of opinion
- One way to make expectations explicit is through a list of formal team working agreements that specify guidelines for positive collaboration
- Another tool is to complete a “user manual” that outlines factors like your work hours, how you learn best, and things you struggle with
Beware of scope creep
In an effort to stay relevant and in the loop, you may say “yes” to sitting in on every meeting, even if it doesn’t require your participation
- Look for meetings you can eliminate or cancel
- Delegate attendance to a direct report or collaborator who can take notes and report back to you
