By: Ashley Oliver M.S.
I recently started a new job at a school this week and I already am feeling a little (or a lot of) stress! As I get acclimated to the environment, there seems to be a lot of work to be done with very little time to do it. The more I begin to think I am on top of things, the more I quickly realize that things continue to pile up on my to-do list.
New jobs typically present many changes and challenges, however the last few days I have felt pretty overwhelmed with all of the demands of the job. And if I feel like this after week one…what on earth will the next few months be like?!!
As I packed up my things to leave for the day on Friday, I told myself, “I have a mile-long to-do list that I will clearly never get done in a day… I am forever going to be playing “catch-up” at work!” How is it Friday evening and I am flooded with all of these catastrophizing thoughts? For me, feeling overwhelmed has many faces.
When I feel overwhelmed from both external and internal pressures, I experience “high functioning” anxiety where I set incredibly high standards for myself, and then begin to engage in telling myself how the job is too much to handle on a daily basis and how awful I am for not meeting my outrageous demands.
After sitting with my thoughts on my long train ride home, I asked myself “Is running down the list of all the things I have left to do going to help me decrease my list?” Probably not. More likely, attempting to battle my emotions was only leading me feeling more overwhelmed. Let’s say you have a mile-long to-do list, and all you keep thinking is “I’ll never get this done or I have to get through everything or else I will be a total failure during my first week of work!” That’s an irrational and unhelpful thought that was leading to my distress and feeling overwhelmed. Furthermore, I was allowing my rumination of my unhelpful thoughts hinder me from problem-solving and taking action.
First, I decided to shift my expectation that everything has to be completed right now “or else.” Next, I decided to focus on the present and recognize that I am at a new job and there is a lot for me to learn and adapt to. Lastly, I began to ask myself, “In what ways might this [thought] be unreasonable or not helpful?” I can choose to accept that I am a human being who has to adjust to the workload of a new job. It’s typical that some challenges arise when adjusting to a new work situation, however I can chose to embrace a calmer, more realistic attitude toward what I am setting out to accomplish. I can have more patience with myself and be more open to real ways I want to evolve as a new employee.
How do you cope with feeling overwhelmed? What has helped the most with adjusting to a new job?
