The pandemic has changed the world around us. What earlier brought us joy and security--our jobs, our well managed homes, cooking for the family, bringing in good news of a raise or bonus--are the very same things that are now creating stress and anxiety in us. What will happen if I am laid off since my team is not showing enough revenue? What will happen if I don’t get the bonus? In such conditions, developing negative emotions like distrust, anxiety, stress are common experiences noted by most working professionals.

“I love my job, but now I am just anxious all the time. What will happen next? Is my job safe? What if the pandemic extends even more?,” says a 26-year-old Anthara, a chemical engineer based in NOIDA. She claims that the company has been shut for almost a month and that she and most of her colleagues are now getting worried about their jobs. Though the company has  sent them an assuring email, they haven’t specified in clear terms any certain measures being taken to retain the employees. 

Such conditions, as Anthara is facing, might make working professionals apprehensive about their job which might in turn also sow seeds of self-doubt, incompetence and lack of confidence.

“My boss has been on my nerves every single day, even on weekends. My company keeps planning trainings which we have to attend since we can’t go in the market yet . I cannot take this anymore but then, I am the only one with a job in our house. I wish this ends soon” says Medha a business analyst at a UK based start-up.

While some are worrying about their job security, others are toiling day in and out with the never-ending work. The team calls – updates – task completion – submissions – feedbacks – and REPEAT is a tiring process that can make any working professional contentious towards his/her colleagues and bosses. Just like Medha, there are a number of working professionals who have lost count of weekends and day-offs--a price they are paying for working from home. They are experiencing an increase in the feelings of anger, not being able to handle all the demands of work, burnout and animosity towards their job.

To lower the negativity and annoyance towards one’s job, a few simple steps can help;

1) Change your perception towards your job:

Remind yourself of all the benefits your job brings you, why you took it up in the first place, and why you want to hang in there. Think back on the status it brought you, how you achieved your small material pleasures from what you earned from the job, how it gave you reprieve when things grew mad at home...and other reasons that will help you  focus back on the positivity of it all.

2) Acknowledge and try to control your feelings: Acknowledging your negative emotions is  the first step to dealing with them. Are you feeling angry, anxious, agonized? Once you acknowledge your emotions you can try and find the reasons for the same. Try and change your perception about these reasons/issues by putting them in categories such as essential or non-essential. Take time  out for what is essential, motivate and talk yourself into doing it whole-heartedly. Deal with the non-essential in a free-er state of mind.

3) Worrying is of no use try to think of expressing and working on hypothesis: As humans we tend to worry about everything. Try to express your worries and find a hypothesis for them. Instead of worrying about what might happen, start thinking about how can I handle a certain problem if it occurs.