10 quick tips to calm your sensitive nature at work
Office environments are rarely harmonious conditions for a highly sensitive person. Your senses can be overtaxed in so many ways.
The florescent lighting can hurt your eyes.
The noise from your surrounding office mates can make you very distracted.
The energy from your computer can short circuit your mind.
And if you add to this mix, any level of tension, low morale, or a toxic environment, you can find yourself wanting to go home and crawl under the covers and not come out again.
Several years ago, I worked at a very large financial institution. The office environment was highly toxic and I spent more days than I could count driving home from the day emotionally and physically drained. And most of the time the conditions brought me to tears. My sensitivities were assaulted from every direction at this job.
The tension in my department was so tense you could cut it with a knife. The meetings between the department heads made you feel like you were in a mortal combat zone.
And I had a 90 minute commute in traffic each way to/from work on roads that were always under construction. It is an amazement I lasted for three of the longest and most challenging years of my life.
Ironically, the job itself was really easy. If the environment wasn’t so horrible and I could have taken away the commute, I might have had a day or two of enjoyment. But that wasn’t the case.
Unfortunately, I had no real understanding of how to take care of my sensitive nature and protect myself in this toxic environment at the time. But I learned some extremely valuable lessons from the experience and also some effective strategies that I’ll share. These will help you cope in an office environment as a highly sensitive person.
#1: NEVER stay in a toxic work place.
If I could go back in time and mentor my former self. I would have told myself to run for the hills and quit that job pronto. When my sister passed away a few years ago very suddenly, it all became so crystal clear that life is too short to live each day in dread, fear and with NO joy. And that’s the way I spent three years of my life. NO more. And I can’t stress this message loud enough. Life is way too short for you to subject your mind, body and soul in the few precious waking moments each day to a toxic environment. There is ALWAYS an alternative and a better place for you to flourish.
I finally had enough and quit five weeks before I was to receive a five figure bonus. I couldn’t take one more day of the horrible stress I experienced to collect the money due to me. I just quit. And never looked back. My only regret is that I had stayed as long as I did.
#2: Get fresh air every day.
Unless it is below zero temperatures, hailing, raining or snowing, you need to get some fresh air. Being cooped up in an office can take its toll on your physical body. And when your physical body is depleted, your mental state takes a nose dive. The fresh air will make you feel renewed and give you more energy during the day.
#3: Drink plenty of water at work.
Water helps you with mental clarity. When you spend a lot of time focused on your work, you start to overtax your nervous system. Instead of having six cups of coffee to stay awake, drink a lot of water. This is a much healthier option.
#4: Take breath breaks throughout the day.
You have to open up the flow of energy into your body on a frequent basis throughout the day. Every hour or two, stop what you are doing, close your eyes and focus on taking deep breaths. This will keep your nervous system more calm and prevent you from going into overwhelm.
#5: Don’t have your back to the door in your office or to your office mates.
A highly sensitive person is most susceptible to taking in other people’s energy through the front of their body and through their back. If you have your back all day long to other people, you will be taking in their energy throughout the day into your body. It is best to position your desk chair so your back is to a wall.
#6: When you are in a meeting, do not face anyone heart to heart.
In other words, do not face someone directly with your body. It is best to have your body at an angle and then have your head turned so it is facing the person you are talking to in a meeting. The reason you don’t want to face anyone directly is so that you protect yourself from taking their energy directly into your heart.
#7: Never face your computer screen directly.
For the same reason you shouldn’t have your body directly aligned with a person, you also shouldn’t have your body directly aligned with your computer screen. Words and images have a very powerful energy. If you open up your computer and there are disturbing visuals of natural disasters or violence, you will easily take that energy into your heart without realizing it.
The same is true of a negative or mean spirited e-mail. The words on your computer screen can feel like a knife to the heart. It’s best to turn your body to an angle of your computer screen as you work.
#8: Wash off the negativity from highly charged meetings.
Have you ever been in a meeting that got very heated, mean spirited or the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife? That described my three years working at the bank. Here are some survival tips for those meetings. First, make sure your back is to a wall in the meeting and your front is NOT facing squarely to anyone in the room.
You do NOT need their energy in your body. Next, become the observer in the room. What I mean by this is you do NOT have to take on the energy of other people’s tension by connecting to their tension. You can observe the people in the room and even respond to them, but you don’t need to own their tension in your body.
When the meeting is over, head straight to the bathroom. Turn on the water and wash your hands and tell yourself you are washing off any negative energy that you picked up from anyone in the room. If at all possible, the next stop should be to go outdoors. Being out in nature gives you have an opportunity to get regrounded.
#9: Add touches of nature to your office.
If you are allowed to decorate your office, then add a live plant or two, a water fountain or pictures of nature that calm you. I love the ocean and the beach. So I have pictures of the beach all over my office. It’s my happy place!
#10: Take a quick shower at the end of the day to release the energy of the day
Finally, make sure you take a quick warm shower at the end of your day. Let the water stream down your BACK. This will help wash down the drain any tension or negative energy you took into your body through your back from the day. And it will help reset and ground your body.
The most important thing to remember is that as a highly sensitive person, you always want to take care of your physical body in the most harmonious way. It’s not often that you have control over your office environment. But you do have control on how you take care of your body throughout the day. These few tips can make a big difference to your mental and physical state while you work.
Click here for a free copy of Debbie’s Audio for the highly sensitive person on “How To Tap Into The Goldmine Of Your Prosperity.”
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© 2017, Debbie Lynn Grace. All rights reserved.
