Our Nervous Systems at Work

Have you ever really noticed your nervous system at work? Think back to a moment where you felt threatened that seemed “minor” in hindsight. Perhaps you received a passive aggressive message from a coworker or had your performance review rescheduled. Neither of these workplace triggers may have been physically dangerous, but your nervous system may still have responded as if they were.

Our nervous system is an important part of our biology. Over time, it has evolved to keep us alive in the face of perceived threat. It helps us mobilize when there’s danger, but it also lets us know when it’s safe to rest or the best option is to collapse. 

The challenge arises when it’s activated out of context. Our system doesn’t know that getting yelled at by a client is not the same thing as being cornered by a predator! That’s what makes emotional regulation at work such an important part of showing up at our best.

Let’s talk more about your nervous system at work –  what activates it, different stress responses, and some advice on managing your emotions at work based on your unique stress response.

Workplace Triggers – what activates your nervous system at work?

Work environments are full of stressors that can all impact your nervous system. Things you experience every day – a difficult conversation with a manager or an unexpected deadline – might trigger a response in your body before you’re consciously aware of it. Some common examples of workplace triggers may be…

• Getting overlooked for a promotion that you’ve worked hard for

• A coworker gets upset with you but you need to continue to work together without a clear resolution.

• A tight deadline or unrealistic expectation that you feel you feel stuck with.

• A talk with a manager leaves you feeling insecure about your abilities..

• A comment or interaction unexpectedly reminds you of personal trauma, making it difficult to do your job.

If you’re not quite sure what your workplace triggers are, the best guide is your own body. What creates a tight sense in your chest? Feelings of being hot? A sense of urgency?

It’s important to remember that what activates your nervous system may not activate someone else’s. It all comes down to a unique blend of developmental experiences, genetics, context, and other factors.

Freeze, fawn, fight, or flight at work

We can’t control our initial reactions to workplace triggers. What we can do is understand what’s happening to our nervous system and why. Our nervous system tends to react in one of four ways when we’re dysregulated at work: fight, flight, fawn, or freeze.

Below are some examples of what these stress responses actually look like.

Fight response

Activation leading to a fight response shows up as anger and/or aggression. In the workplace, these are usually people that yell or even display violent behavior (e.g. slamming their fist into a table). This person will likely put a lot of perfectionistic demands on others, yet be unable to trust fully.

Flight response

The flight response frequently shows up with a need to constantly be busy. “Busyness” is used as a shield and as a way to hide.

These people almost always have a keen sense of urgency and care a lot about details, sometimes to the point of getting lost within them.

Fawn response

The fawn responders do their best to meet every need, be perfect all the time, and are constantly violating their own needs and boundaries to give 110%. It is very important in a fawn response to avoid being a burden to anyone and to never say no to anything.

This often leads to burnout as fawn responders prioritize others’ comfort over their own well-being. Over time, they may lose touch with their own desires and struggle to advocate for themselves out of fear of conflict.

Freeze response

A freeze responder generally dissociates or engages in “hiding” behavior. These people avoid getting noticed, even in a positive way. These folks may appear burned out, be exhausted all the time, and generally avoid social interaction.

Reflection Question: Think of a recent example of when you were dysregulated at work. What type of responder are you? It may be a combination of more than one.

Guidance for Regulating Your Nervous System & Managing Your Emotions at Work

What each of these stress responses has in common is that your nervous system activation quite literally amps up your animalistic functioning and turns off your higher cognition. What I’d like to stress is that there’s no moral meaning in what you default to. We all learned different responses based on our early environments – learning how to emotionally regulate is something we can all get better at, and learning your style is just one tool to help in that process.

So, what can we do to help with emotional regulation at work?

1. Recognize when you’re in an activated state

The first step is to learn what activation feels like for you and understand your typical primary (and/or secondary) nervous system responses. Some potential clues for activation include physical symptoms: change in heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, digestion, etc. Other clues are extreme thoughts: feelings of being unsafe, sudden anger, sadness, etc. 

Once you know what being dysregulated at work feels like, you can begin to understand the patterns of what causes your nervous system to activate. This very important step also gives you the opportunity to engage with rather than being overwhelmed by your reactions.

2. Take steps to get closer to a grounded (non-activated) state

Your process for getting into a grounded state will depend on your nervous system response. For example, a fight response might require a “cooling down” activity while a freeze response might require a “warming up” activity. Below are a few ideas based on your stress response.

Grounding for Fight Responders

If you have a fight response, you might benefit from a cool down activity like a power walk around the block or another activity that allows you to vent your emotions in a non-harmful way. You may want to go to a private space (like your car, if accessible) and yell or otherwise vocalize to move energy up and out.

Grounding Tips for Flight Responders

If you gravitate towards a flight response, you might need to first honor that and discharge some energy (by moving away from your desk). Afterwards, see if you can slow things down and practice building safety in between “doing. Some tools that might help are deep breaths and or sensory exercises that bring you into your surroundings (notice five things you see and focus in on the most pleasant one, for example)

Grounding Tips for for Fawn Responders

If you tend towards a fawn response, it’s good practice to reconnect with your own needs. Some grounding strategies might be journaling or affirmations that remind you of what you want, independent of external factors. Start by asking yourself, “What do I need right now?”. It’s okay if there’s no clear answer at first. The act of asking yourself demonstrates that you matter and your needs matter.

Grounding Tips for Freeze Responders

If you’re most often having a freeze response, try something that will help bring you back into your body like gentle movement of your fingers and toes or stretching. If you’re sitting at your desk, try pedaling your feet under the desk (pushing the ball of one foot into the ground and then the other).

3. Once you are more grounded, move forward with decision-making or strategic work requiring complex thought

With your prefrontal cortex – the area of the brain responsible for executive functioning – back online, you will be better able to do your best and most innovative work. You’ll also be much more likely to avoid interpersonal conflict.

Why is emotional regulation at work so important?

One of the major tenets we live by at Cressana is that knowledge is power. Knowing yourself is the ultimate super power!

Understanding your nervous system and how it works is one of the keys to both longevity and success – in life and at work. 

Consistently monitoring your levels of activation will decrease the likelihood that you will experience chronic stress and burnout. Chronic stress has a whole host of negative mental and physical effects like depression, anxiety, poor immune functioning, chronic headaches and pain, heart disease, and many more. 

Additionally, the ability to engage with and manage your own nervous system will increase your ability to recognize activation in others, leading to a much stronger ability to facilitate team and group interactions.

Managing Burnout with Personalized Self-Care Stategies

Would you like to take this work farther?

I just came out with a course – Managing Burnout with Personalized Self-Care Strategies – where we go deep into your nervous system at work. The course will help you gain a better understanding of where you might be neglecting your self-care at work and come up with tailored strategies.

If it sounds like something you’d benefit from, I invite you to learn more here.