
The pandemic resulted in many of us losing our jobs. And some of us who have to stay on are experiencing a different kind of hell.
- Working more for less because of paycuts, hiring freezes and retrenchment? Check
- Completely burnt out because of an increase in workload? Check
- Finding it hard to strike a balance between work and life, and in fact, you end up working a whole lot more due to the new Work-from-home policy? Check
In this post and podcast episode, I explore 7 worrying signs that you are working in an incredibly toxic work environment and offer some solutions of how to deal with such a situation.
Experiencing Constant Work Rage
Are you constantly in anger at work? An email, a small task, a conversation can set off your anger, annoyance and irritation? And you find yourself dragging out all the past incidents and misdeeds all over again?
You, my friend, are experiencing what I call Work Rage. It means being in a constant state of anger and irritation when it comes to whatever anything that is work related. This shows some deep-seated resentment and anger towards people or issues at work that are unresolved and still bubbling in the background.
Carrying around your rage is not a healthy way to live. Repressed anger is a fast-track to heart disease. The same article also found that it increases your risk for stroke, depression and anxiety and more.
So yeah, you are a ticking, walking time-bomb for all sorts of diseases if you are holding in your anger at work.
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Getting sick for no apparent reason
Are you suddenly stricken with colds, stomachaches, chest pains, backaches, headaches or any other ailments that you’ve not experienced often before this?
This is sign that you are experiencing emotional and mental stress from work.
When I once worked in a job which was characterised by – very little planning, little to no control over my tasks or my job role as things happened very suddenly and randomly, short tight deadlines with a ton of things to do within those days, unreasonable clients who only cared about their KPIs and had unreasonable, subjective requests for a whole lot of things.
I’ve not gotten migraines in a couple of years since I was a college student. But in that role, I had throbbing migraines every time there was a project or a deadline coming up. And it happened almost every other week.
I also could not sleep well every time there was fieldwork to do and I’d feel completely drained at the end of the day.
When you are experiencing stress, your body goes into fight-or-flight response which results in high amounts of cortisol being released to your body. Overtime, this will manifest in a myriad of physical ailments as your body tries to restore this chemical imbalance.
High amounts of cortisol in your system has damaging long-term effects on our bodies and can lead to cancer, heart problems and other long-term health issues in future.
Struggling with your career? Aren’t sure if you are in the right job? Nervous about the upcoming interview? Or perhaps you have a really toxic work culture/boss/management and you are not sure how to deal? Come drop your question in 100 words over here, and I will write back with some solutions 🙂
In the podcast, I cover the above as well as the following points:
- Burnout
- Emotional/stress eating
- Insomnia
- Workplaces with a condoning culture
- Unpleasant clients/bosses/colleagues with nasty demands
What to do about your toxic workplace?
Accept the situation for what it is
As humans, whenever we are faced with situations we loathe being in, our first reaction is to dig in our heels and refuse to accept whatever is happening to us.
How many times have you told yourself – “Things should not be done this way!” when you’ve encountered a frustrating work issue (or person)?
Well, sometimes when we speak to ourselves in that way we are actually resisting the present situation. So instead of letting things happen naturally, we are always in “fight mode”. When you are constantly in this mode, you will feel stressed, angry and frustrated with everything. This makes it difficult to have that peace of mind for work.
I’ve found that, being open to situations and suggestions – without allowing your boundaries to be crossed – helps a lot more. There’s a lot more ease and flow to the situation which also makes yourself feel a lot better about it.
I talk more about this and discuss the following solutions in the podcast as well:
- Find ways to leave asap
- Knowing your boundaries & being firm with them
- Knowing when to throw in the towel (and doing it!)
Listen to or Download the Episode Right Here
Or subscribe through the following:
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Never fear leaving a toxic environment. Be true and caring to yourself. Trust there is peace and positivity out there.
Brendon Burchard
I also talked about Toxic Workplaces and how you can determine if you should stay or leave a workplace like that. I also wrote about my experiences working in a tiny company which had a lot of these stressful-inducing practices in this post.
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