Job hunting can be a very stressful moment. According to a 2020 survey of 2,018 people by background check firm JDP, the overwhelming majority of Americans, 93%, experience anxiety about job interviews. This is just one step for her in the process. You may submit your resume and take tests required by potential employers.
“Our brains don’t like uncertainty,” says Judson Brewer, a psychiatrist and chief medical officer at wellness company ShareCare. And the job search process is nothing if not uncertain.
In his book, Unwinding Anxiety, Brewer outlines three steps for dealing with anxiety. For those of you who are working on their own anxiety, here they are.
plan a habit loop
The first step Brewer outlines is planning your habit loops. These are basically periodic triggers that cause anxiety. For those who are feeling anxious while looking for a job, the habit loop looks like this:
trigger: apply for a job
Behavior: worry about not getting a reply
result: anxiety
It could also mean mapping anxiety-triggered habit loops. This can result in behaviors such as procrastination and chocolate his chips he eats an entire bowl of cookie dough.
Mapping your habit loops allows you to “get back in the driver’s seat,” says Brewer. “A lot of people have their brains like this dark room and they’re just hanging around bumping things, scraping knees, tripping and falling.” Understanding how it works is “like turning on an electric switch.”
“What does this give me?”
Step 2 of Brewer’s exercise is to start paying more conscious attention to the consequences of your actions.
Once you’ve planned your habit loop, ask yourself, “What do I get out of this?” he says. Doing this means paying close attention to the visceral sensations, emotions, and thoughts that arise as a result of your actions.
Let’s say you find that applying for a job is triggering your anxiety. Or plan a habit loop that begins with anxiety about applying for a job and ends with procrastinating that application process. If you are, you may find that the physical and emotional effects of procrastination only make your anxiety worse.
Paying close attention to the consequences of their actions can help people “really see, as an example, that worrying doesn’t do anything,” he says. “It just makes things worse.” .”
“Find Bigger, Better Offers”
Brewer’s final step in fighting anxiety is “finding a bigger, better offer.”
Your brain knows how anxiety affects your body and the resulting behavior. you’ve been through them. But if you can provide your brain with a more enjoyable experience instead of a go-to action, it will remember the experience and go back to it instead.
Brewer suggests doing mindfulness exercises when anxiety strikes. Instead of making us feel closed, the curiosity inherent in mindfulness makes us feel open.
If you’re applying for a job and you’re starting to feel nervous, find a quiet, comfortable place to sit, stand, or lie down. Concentrate on what you are feeling right now. Do you feel tight? pressure? Restlessness? Contraction? Where on your body does it appear? What if you notice where it appears? do you feel anything else?
Being curious about what’s going on during your habit loop naturally makes you feel better than getting caught up in it, Brewer says.
check out:
Psychotherapists share 3 ‘amazing’ signs that anxiety is getting in the way of work
Neuroscientists share 3 exercises they do to relieve stress and anxiety in ‘minutes’
‘Positive stress’ can help you be happier and more productive at work, according to new research – how to take advantage of it
Sign up now: Get smart about money and your career with our weekly newsletter
