How do I deal with anxiety before work?
It's my fourth shift at a organic upscale butcher store. It's in a high class area so the customers are all dicks, but I smile through it and kill them with kindness.
I have previous work experience as cashier, so the job isn't that hard, it's just that they have me closing produce by myself. They said they would help me through it, but my last shift, the girl I was shadowing left me alone. I slowly did it myself, but it was a struggle because I wasn't sure entirely on what to do, I was panicking through it.
I know i'll eventually get the hang of it, but I find myself panicking as the hours pass and I'm getting near the start of my shift and getting really bad anxiety attacks. This usually happens at almost all the jobs I've had.
I've never had any complaints with what I do, I just hate the anxiety of being new and not completely knowing the role of my job.
Produce is easy street bud, you're mostly dealing with old people and people who slightly care about their appearance.
Just relax, its all good.
>>16911294
Well, i'm only closing produce the last hour of my shift when the store is closed. It's the process of closing it which gives me anxiety because it's pretty lengthy with lots of specific steps. Like, we have to move certain veg to certain boxes, some get water, some get ice, etc. I try to follow the list but it gets over whelming. Especially since they left me alone last time.
I just don't want to be slow and have to make everyone else stay longer and help :(
If anxiety before work irritates you you have two ways. Either you try to be preoccupied with something else before work so you forget about work. Running in the morning maybe? The trick is of course not to flee from the emotions, but for a short time forget about the thing that triggers them. Or be prepared for what work throws at you, but as you said that takes time to achieve.
I felt similarly as a machinist. Lots of pressure. The best you can do is work through it methodically I think. Perhaps make a list, to use or just to study. If you break the process down into clear steps, it makes it much more manageable. Don't worry about speed at first, just work on doing the current step well and efficiently. As random inspirational guy says, don't think about where you want to be, it will scare the pants off you. Just focus on the moment and what you need to do now, and do the work.
Another relevant quote is about target shooting, which I don't do but I think it's wise: the rings on the target are not to determine the score but to tell you how many clicks to adjust your rearsight.
ask the person who is supposed to know something for help making a list to make sure everything is 100% good
that way the responsibility is on them
if they refuse its still on them
Write down the steps on a note card or piece of paper so that you could refer to it whenever your forget what to do.
