Are Poor Mental Habits Negatively Affecting Your Work Performance?

• Author: Jeffrey Simmons
• Posted: 2024-01-27

While it is normal to experience negative thoughts from time to time while at work, pervasive toxic thoughts can add up and affect your work performance. Recognizing what is causing these negative thoughts will help you to address them in an effective way. This approach will go a long way in helping to eliminate this toxic mindset in the workplace so that you can be successful.

Here are a few of the most common reasons for negative thoughts in the workplace and what you can do to combat this line of thinking.

Elevated Expectations of Others

Many people often suffer if they are not able to establish healthy expectations of their work colleagues. For instance, perhaps you are struggling at work because you feel as if your supervisor does not recognize your efforts? Or maybe you are feeling discouraged because your team is not performing up to your standard? It is hard to be satisfied at work if you feel as if the people around you are not meeting your expectations of them.

If you feel yourself getting down over this issue, try taking a step back and trying to look at the situation through an objective lens. Are the actions of others meant to hurt you? Or are your expectations out of line with the reality? If you find that you are often disappointed by those around you, it may be helpful to train your mind to limit your expectations and only focus on what you can control.

Too Much of a People Pleaser

Sometimes the biggest enemy lies within ourselves. Not everyone is going to like you and that is something that you should accept. By putting too much emphasis on what people think of you, you could be sabotaging your own work performance. This is particularly hard for people who naturally want to please others. Being too focused on making others happy may actually stymie your own ability to take risks and push yourself further in your career trajectory.

The best way to control these negative thoughts is to train yourself to stop the negative thinking before it starts. If you find that you are becoming too concerned about what colleagues are thinking of your work, it is time for you to recognize which opinions actually matter. While it may be true that the opinion that your boss has of you is important, what a random co-worker may think about you might not hold any merit. Learning to be discerning about what criticism you should internalize and what you should let go of will help you to stop this toxic line of thinking.

Excessive Self-Pressure

Along this same line of thinking, many people put too much pressure on themselves internally to perform. Placing too much pressure on yourself may often backfire on you if you do not meet these lofty expectations. People who tend to suffer from these types of thoughts are generally not able to recognize the difference between what they can control and what they cannot. Instead of trying to take control of every little situation, try focusing on what you are doing well and reward yourself for that. At the end of the day, it is important to give yourself grace.

Inserting Yourself Into Negativity and Complaints

Who you surround yourself with at work can have a profound effect on your mental state. If you find yourself drawn to people who tend to complain or gossip about others, it is no wonder that you are having a challenging time framing your thoughts as positive. Engaging in conversations with people who are more likely to be negative will naturally impact your own mental habits in cynical ways.

The obvious solution to this problem is to be purposeful about removing yourself from these conversations when they start to go down a negative path. Although it may be uncomfortable to walk away, your overall outlook will benefit if you have the strength to avoid these discussions. Instead, be conscious about putting yourself into groups that carry more positive thoughts about the workplace and your fellow colleagues.

Identifying what triggers your negative mindset can help you to develop strategies to stop these thoughts before they begin to impact your work performance.