As anxiety mounts surrounding the coronavirus outbreak, David Price, workplace wellbeing expert and CEO at Health Assured shares useful tips for business leaders to manage anxiety in the workplace.
COVID-19—known to most as coronavirus—looms large in the news right now. The number of confirmed cases—and the deaths resulting from them—is rising exponentially, and it looks like we’re in for a bumpy ride.
You or people you work with might be feeling somewhat anxious about this. It’s getting a lot of media coverage, and most of that coverage is a bit apocalyptic. But you can combat this anxiety, and continue as usual with these five tips:
- Be aware of your anxieties: sometimes the best way to manage anxiety is to acknowledge that it’s there. Whenever you find yourself drifting into thoughts about the coronavirus and the dreadful anxiety that it brings, make a conscious effort to change the subject in your mind. Practising mindfulness is a great way to do this—spending a minute concentrating on the things around you, rather than the worry in your head, goes a long way.
- Get away from the negativity: remember, news and media outlets sell papers by grabbing people’s attention. It’s natural for them to concentrate on the negativity around an event like the coronavirus outbreak because scary headlines capture people’s attention more effectively. It’s an unfortunate fact, but a true one nonetheless. Cutting down on the news will help you out here – turn off phone notifications, avoid the rolling 24-hour news channels and take every doomsaying prediction with a pinch of salt.
- Follow the expert advice: the World Health Organization has published some guidelines on preventing transmission of COVID-19— put simply, you should wash your hands thoroughly, avoid touching your face as much as possible.
- Official UK government advice is as follows:
- Stay at home for seven days if you have either a high temperature or new continuous cough. This will help to protect others in your community while you are infectious.
- Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
- You do not need to contact NHS 111 to tell them you’re staying at home
- The Government will not be testing people who are self-isolating with mild symptoms.
- This advice is fluid and evolving as the situation progresses. Keep an eye on the official advice pages for more. In the meantime,
- Don’t worry too much about your reaction: it’s natural to be stressed at a time like this. By keeping yourself full of the facts, avoiding too much negative news and practising good self-care per the WHO’s guidelines, you’ll help to reduce that stress. If you have kids, extend that care to them—keep to a routine, explain what’s happening and keep them confident.
- Check-in on people: stay in contact with your friends and loved ones, and make sure they’re doing ok—again, especially if they’re older. Reaching out to people can help with your anxieties and worries, as chatting through your fears with people you trust can help you realise that it’s not actually so bad, after all.