Managing OCD at Work: Tips for Success

Music. Hello and welcome to the OCD and Anxiety Podcast where we explore how to have a more positive relationship with anxiety disorders, taking back control so that you can start living the life you choose and not the one chosen by your fears. Music.

Hello and welcome to episode 459 i hope that you're doing very well today wherever you are and if you are struggling with ocd or anxiety you can get a free session with me to get that you can head over to my website robertjamescoaching.com there you can book in for that free session or if you prefer you can send me a message and let me know about what you're struggling with. In today's podcast I'm talking about OCD and the workplace.

Now of course OCD can be so difficult at times that it can really impact your work and your career in different ways. So today's episode is really kind of breaking that down. I'm going to be sharing three actionable tips that you can take to help you to manage OCD and anxiety a bit better in the workplace moving forward. If you find the podcast helpful, it would be amazing if you could follow and like on Instagram. My Instagram handle is at robertjamescoachinguk.

And also if you could consider leaving us a review, that really does make a big difference as well. So many thanks. And if you have any questions at all about anything I speak about today, do please let me know and off we go. you.

When I was really struggling with OCD, one of the most challenging things about it was the fact that it was really impacting my work life. I would turn up at work and so often I would be feeling incredibly anxious. Maybe, you know, that morning before actually arriving at work, I would have spent an enormous amount of time and energy going over my obsessions, trying to have certainty about them.

Almost like there was this idea that, you know, if I just think about this enough before I arrive at the workplace, I can figure it all out. I can have that certainty and I won't need to think about it for the rest of the day. But obviously, OCD is a very good liar. It knows exactly how to kind of get us stuck in its trap. And one of the ways it does that is by whispering this kind of big lie in our ear all the time, that if you think about it a little bit more, you can figure it out.

And maybe then you'll have a good day at work and it won't be too challenging you'll be able to overcome those those tricky obstacles in your way you'll be able to deal with those difficult colleagues or you'll be able to manage the anxiety during that meeting or you know you'll be able to to do a really good presentation but so often the OCD likes to come up during these moments and to make them you know much more complicated

than they need to be certainly for for myself looking back at my career before I became a coach working with people with OCD. I remember one particular occasion actually where I was in a meeting and before that meeting I'd been really struggling with a particular obsession that had absolutely taken all of my energy. I'd been thinking about it you know pretty much the whole day and when it came time for that meeting in the afternoon I was completely burnt out.

All of my energy was gone because I'd put it all into trying to figure out that particular obsession to have more certainty about it. And so by the time I arrived at this meeting, you know, I wasn't really as prepared as I would have liked to have been. You know, I didn't have all the resources ready for it. And I was called upon to kind of speak and to, you know, to actually do something in the meeting, to not just be there.

So often these meetings feel like a waste of time. But in this situation, I was called upon to say something.

And because I'd spent so much time ruminating during the day I wasn't able to you know to perform that that well and you know when I when I kind of felt myself you know kind of not performing in the way that I wanted you know of course my anxiety went through the roof there was a sense of perfectionism that was present there that made it even harder I was getting really angry with myself because I wasn't performing to the level that I wanted you know afterwards I had

to speak to my manager and you know he didn't seem that pleased because you know i didn't seem like i was prepared you know for for that meeting and of course i wasn't because i'd wasted so much time with the ocd and these are things that that can happen i think to a lot of people who struggle within with anxiety and ocd if you're not careful and if you don't you know really look out for some of these snares or traps that OCD is so good kind of getting us into.

One of the most common ways that OCD manifests itself is actually through perfectionism and this goes beyond simply wanting to do a good job. For individuals with OCD tasks can take significantly longer because there's an overwhelming need for everything to be done just right.

Now you might spend an excessive amount of time rechecking a report or maybe going over a presentation one more time trying to make sure that actually it's formatted in that perfect way that you just like unchecked this can lead to missed deadlines reduced efficiency and even burnout as you pour all of your energy into perfecting small small details instead of focusing on the bigger picture and just getting things completed getting things done. Another important area is reassurance seeking.

Now, I'm sure you've heard about reassurance seeking and OCD because people talk about it all the time. It's that kind of annoying little voice in your head that is constantly wanting to know that everything's going to be all right, that you haven't made a mistake, and it kind of wants you to go onto Google and start checking things, or maybe it wants you to ask a colleague. You know, to make sure that you've done something correctly.

Another area is reassurance seeking. and this might actually involve repeatedly asking co-workers or supervisors for confirmation that your work is correct even though on some level you really know that it already is correct you feel like you need to ask anyway you might send multiple emails asking for feedback on something that you've already completed just to ensure that you didn't make a mistake in some way and while it might

feel helpful in the moment this can actually strain professional relationships and reinforce self-doubt making it harder for you over time to actually trust in your own abilities another problem is hyper responsibility you know and this actually occurs when someone feels an exaggerated sense of accountability for outcomes even those that are actually beyond their control so if a team project doesn't go as planned you might actually blame yourself entirely

for that even if it wasn't your fault at all even if it was somebody else who clearly wasn't working hard enough you know you may actually take on that responsibility and all of the stress that might actually come with that as well for some OCD may manifest as avoidance certain tasks or situations that trigger anxiety are avoided entirely which can obviously limit opportunities for for growth in the workplace.

You might avoid tasks involving shared office equipment, due to fears around contamination or declined leadership opportunities because you know you're fearful of making mistakes or perhaps you don't want to do presentations on a regular basis in front of people and this can really result in you feeling you know not very confident in yourself that you know you're not able to take on new challenges or you're not able to do things in the workplace that you would really

like to be doing because you know your inner critic is is kind of telling you no you shouldn't do that because your anxiety might come up or the OCD might come up and then you won't be able to cope with it and you know what are you going to do then maybe you're going to struggle even more in your workplace another issue is obviously performing compulsions and as I was talking about earlier compulsions can end up taking

up a lot of your time your productivity they take up a lot a lot of energy when you're constantly doing rituals or replaying scenarios or analysing past interactions. Perhaps you might spend time mentally reviewing a conversation that you had with a colleague to ensure that you didn't say something inappropriate which can obviously distract you from the task at hand.

And this mental effort can be absolutely exhausting and can really cause you to slow down on important tasks or things that you really need to be doing the important thing is to recognize these behaviors they may feel like they're they're helping in the moment but often you know they're they're not at all they're kind of keeping us stuck in that OCD cycle making work much more challenging than it already is OCD can you know

it can really make the workplace feel much more stressful than it has to be and.

The right strategies can actually help you to stay in control and focus on what matters. So here are three practical tips to help you navigate work with confidence. Tip one is to time box your tasks. OCD thrives on making you spend way too much time on small details. Time boxing gives yourself a kind of strict time limit for each task and it helps you to break that cycle and move through your day more effectively.

So how do we apply it? Well step one use a timer or set time limits in your calendar. For example allocate 15 minutes to write an email or 30 minutes to edit a report. Step two then is when the timer ends it's important to stop actually working on that task even if it doesn't feel finished in that moment and remind yourself that meeting deadlines is more important than chasing perfection. Step three, move on to the next task and resist the urge to revisit unless absolutely necessary.

Tip two is to use the one and done rule. OCD has a way of pulling you back to recheck or redo tasks which can actually waste a valuable time. The one and done rule helps you draw a clear line and to actually stick to it.

So how do you apply this one? Well before starting a task say to yourself I will complete this once and then I will move on and after finishing close the task by saying it's done and if doubt arises write down those those doubts but don't actually act on them and then finally review your list of doubts at the end at the end of the day you know often you'll realize that these worries weren't as urgent or necessary as they felt in the moment.

And tip three is to try to ground yourself with sensory anchors. When intrusive thoughts or compulsions creep in, the temptation is to start fighting with them, to try to push them away. But I think a really important thing to learn to do is to actually try to anchor yourself into the present moment by actually coming into your body. For example, right now, whilst I'm sat in this chair, I can be very aware of my body being supported by the chair.

I can notice my feet touching the floor and by being aware of that as at the same time as actually speaking to you on the camera it helps me to feel a bit more grounded a bit more in my body so often when we're getting caught up by intrusive thoughts by compulsions we're really getting drawn into our heads and you know in OCD that's the place you don't want to be you don't want to be stuck there in your head trying to figure everything out you want to find a way to really get a

bit more in touch with your body so you know no matter where you are no matter what you're doing you can you can actually practice this so if you're out for a walk try to get a bit more in touch you know with the movement of your body as you're walking if you're in a meeting try to focus on your chair and your body being supported by the chair or try to notice your your feet and the contact that they have with the floor you can use the.

Breath to anchor you you can use different movements to anchor you you can use conversation even to to anchor you have a think about all of the things that might be going on around you in any given moment and try to pay a bit more attention to those things and that will draw you out of your head and bring you a little bit more into your body and into your surroundings and that's really you know what it's all about

when it comes to kind of anchoring and trying to be a little bit more in the present moment.

Remember, working with OCD can be incredibly difficult at times. I've certainly experienced that myself. But, you know, these three tips today can be very, very helpful. Certainly for me, you know, learning to be a bit more in the present, learning to, you know, to kind of set time limits on my work and learning when to say, well, enough is enough.

You know these things have really helped me to be a bit more present and and to let go of things and to stop you know to stop obsessing so much over that perfectionism that we were talking about at the start you know so often with OCD we just want to think about it one more time but actually that's a trap and you know the sooner we can let go of that and actually come back into the present moment the better off we're going to be so many thanks I really hope that you

enjoyed please do subscribe if you found us helpful and I will see you next time.

Just a quick reminder that if you want to get a free session all you need to do to get that is to head over to my website www.robertjamescoaching.com and there you can leave me a message and we can arrange the free session, and now just a quick reminder of my disclaimer any information that you view on my website Instagram page Facebook group or anywhere else online or any information that you listen to on the podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for

actual medical or mental health advice from a doctor psychologist or any other medical or mental health professionals. Music.