Managing Your Anxiety

Make anxiety work for you.

Work is stressful: We race to meet deadlines. We extend ourselves to return favors for colleagues. We set ambitious goals for ourselves and our teams. We measure ourselves against metrics, our competitors, and sometimes, our colleagues. Some of us even go beyond tangible metrics to internalize stress and fear of missing the mark—ruminating over presentations that didn't go according to plan, imagining worst-case scenarios, or standing frozen, paralyzed by perfectionism. But hypervigilance, worry, and catastrophizing don't have to hold you back at work. When channeled thoughtfully, anxiety can motivate us to be more resourceful, productive, and creative. It can break down barriers and create new bonds with our colleagues.

Managing Your Anxiety will help you distinguish stress from anxiety, learn what anxiety looks like for you, understand it, and respond to it with self-compassion at work. With the latest psychological research and practical advice from leading experts, you'll learn how to recognize how your anxiety manifests itself; manage it in small, day-to-day moments and in more challenging times; experiment and find a mindfulness practice that works for you; and build a support infrastructure to help you manage your anxiety over the long term.


  1. Generative AI : The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review

    Harvard Harvard Business Review

    audiobook
  2. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy, Updated and Expanded (featuring "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy" by Michael E. Porter)

    Harvard Harvard Business Review

    audiobook
  3. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Change Management, Updated and Expanded (featuring "Leading Change" by John P. Kotter)

    Harvard Harvard Business Review, John P. Kotter, Frances Frei, Vijay Govindarajan, Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez

    audiobook
  4. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Data Strategy

    Harvard Harvard Business Review

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  5. HBR Guide to Thinking Strategically

    Harvard Harvard Business Review

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  6. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Projects and Initiatives

    Harvard Harvard Business Review

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  7. Authenticity, Identity, and Being Yourself at Work

    Harvard Harvard Business Review

    audiobook
  8. HBR's 10 Must Reads for New Managers

    Harvard Harvard Business Review, Linda A. Hill, Herminia Ibarra, Robert B. Cialdini, Daniel Goleman

    audiobook
  9. HBR's 10 Must Reads on AI (with bonus article "How to Win with Machine Learning" by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb)

    Harvard Harvard Business Review

    audiobook
  10. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Across Cultures

    Harvard Harvard Business Review, Jeanne Brett, Yves L. Doz, Erin Meyer, Hal Gregersen

    audiobook
  11. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Making Smart Decisions

    Harvard Harvard Business Review, Daniel Kahneman, Ram Charan

    audiobook
  12. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy (including featured article "What Is Strategy?" by Michael E. Porter)

    Harvard Harvard Business Review, Michael E. Porter, W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne

    audiobook