Most of us spend one-third of our life working, meaning we spend about 90 thousand hours working. Therefore, it is not strange if there comes a time when we go through a difficult period, days when it becomes tough for us to concentrate and continue working. How can we deal with the problem and continue our work? In this article, we are looking for the answer to this question. Stay with us.
What factors disrupt our work focus?
Many personal and impersonal factors may affect our job performance. Emotional failure, unfortunate events, and the death of a loved one are among the unique characteristics that affect us significantly. Sometimes impersonal issues such as natural disasters and the end of thousands of people, social violence, poverty, and social inequalities affect us. Maybe we have been victims of systematic discrimination in the workplace just because of our gender.
How can you show up at work and continue to work in such a situation? Should we give up, or are there ways to help us continue on our path?
Solutions to focus on work on difficult days
1. be patient
When you see something sad in the news or something unfortunate happens to you or your loved ones, your first reaction is anger, sadness, or sadness. It is essential to accept these feelings and not blame yourself for them. Although it’s fashionable these days for people not to express their emotions and appear strong, it’s a positive thing to do to let go of these stereotypes and accept what you’re going through.
Sometimes these feelings weigh us down so much that it becomes impossible to function. In this case, stop working briefly to maintain your mental and physical health. You can walk or take help from mindfulness exercises and meditation. In any case, you mustn’t work for at least a short time.
2. Connect with colleagues or support groups outside of work
Some organizations have in-house support groups that you can turn to when you have a problem and get support from them. If your workplace does not have such groups, you can seek help outside the workplace (for example, by seeing a psychotherapist). The purpose of this support, both in and out of the workplace, is to create a space to understand your feelings. A place where you can share what you have experienced and your feelings with reliable and listening people.
3. Discuss the issue with your managers
Sharing your feelings and the difficult times you are going through with managers depends on how much you trust them. If your organizational culture is such that people look weak by sharing their problems, it is better not to tell your colleagues, especially your managers.
So, considering managers’ organizational culture and leadership style, discuss the matter with them. If you doubt how they will treat you, it is better to refer to previous experiences. Did the organization’s managers do anything for people with the same problems as you? Did they show empathy, or were they treated inappropriately? What kind of work culture do the organization’s managers advertise in their speeches? An environment in which people must continue to work stubbornly in any situation, or is there a space to retreat in critical cases? The answers to these questions will determine whether you can go to the managers.
4. Don’t consider the work environment a cure-all
If you decide to bring up what you’re going through at work, you should still draw a line between work and personal life. Remember that the work environment allows you to earn money, learn skills and develop your career, but it cannot provide all your life needs.
One of the common mistakes people make is that they believe they should keep their heads down and try harder when times are tough. Some people think that drowning in work is the solution to all problems. This false belief, rooted in society’s customs and education, has dangerous consequences such as depression, job burnout, and family problems.
To overcome any problem, the right solution should be used. Many of our needs are also not met in the work environment, such as entertainment and sexual and emotional needs. Therefore, we must pay attention to other aspects of our life to meet different needs. It is better to divide our needs into parts and provide each through its proper channel. For example, let’s consider the work environment as a space for our professional development. Then, to meet other needs, we should look for personal growth, interpersonal relationships, and family formation.
Conclusion and final recommendation
Some life events may seem crushing at the moment, but in the end, tough days also pass, and gradually, the intense emotions we experience fade away. We often tend to think of what we feel is fixed and stable. But the reality is that many of our feelings are transient and give way to other surfaces after a while. Given the transience of emotions, we can face the unfortunate events and heartbreaks that plague us in life, consider these challenging situations an opportunity to know ourselves better, and see the healing process as personal growth and development.
To better understand our emotions, we can ask ourselves daily in a personal notebook how we feel today. We can see the healing process after a bitter and painful experience by writing down our daily feelings. Although this process is not linear, the overall path will often be one of improvement.
