Whether we like it or not, the culture we grow up in the Western world caters almost exclusively for non-highly sensitive, extroverted people.
This includes our education institutions, like schools and universities; our sporting clubs; our interest groups; and even our religious communities.
Of course, this includes our workplaces as well.
The pressure to provide excellent customer service, achieve unrealistic KPI’s, continually come up with new and creative concepts, participate enthusiastically in team building activities, and meet strict OHS guidelines or industry standards can leave the introverted highly sensitive person feeling over stimulated and inadequate.
Several years ago, a young man came to me for counselling after recently leaving home in the country and coming to the city to study at university. He was a smart and gifted student who excelled in computer science and was looking to move into work as a programmer in the gaming industry. To support himself financially through university, he got a job at the local supermarket stacking the fresh produce shelves.
His first shift at the supermarket was a disaster. Within thirty minutes or so of starting, my client was approaching a full blown panic attack as a result of being over stimulated by a new and unfamiliar environment. The colours and aromas, the background noise, the constant questions from customers looking for items, and their annoyance when he didn’t know or things were sold out, sent him into a tail spin. His new manager took him to the lunch room after half an hour, sat him down and helped him take some deep breaths.
The super-charged central nervous system of the highly sensitive person can make new and chaotic work place environments seem impossibly overwhelming. Our brain starts to tell us that we’re in danger and kicks into flight or fight mode. We can feel ourselves sliding, but don’t want to disappoint our colleagues or boss and so the people pleasing kicks in. We feel like we are doing a bad job and everybody hates us. All we want to do is run.
But we don’t need to.
There is no job a highly sensitive person can’t do, we just do them differently.
Here are nine tips to help you navigate the workplace as a highly sensitive person
Do a recon of a new workplace before you start
My Dad taught me this when I started uni. Before the semester started, he told me to take a few days and practice using public transport to get to uni, making note of travel times and station exits. I spent time walking around the university campus and made sure I knew where all the buildings and lecture theatres were. I was still nervous when I started my first day, but the recon work beforehand helped keep the nervousness to a minimum.
Let your boss know about your high sensitivity.
There’s no need to make a big deal about it, but a simple explanation to your boss can help them manage you in a more appropriate way for a HSP. Learn to be an advocate for yourself.
Negotiate an earlier start time
If you can arrive and start work before everybody else, it gives you an opportunity to ‘acclimatise’ to the work day before everybody else turns up. It can be a more gentle start to the work day than walking into a crowded and busy work place.
Use noise cancelling headphones
The invention of noise cancelling headphones is the universe’s gift to the highly sensitive person. If your work place allows you to wear headphones while doing some tasks, consider investing in a set of these.
Take advantage of working from home if it is offered
It’s worth disciplining yourself to get used to the workplace environment, but having a day or two where you can work from home helps keep the HSP tank full. If this is part of your workplace’s culture or included in your contract, take full advantage of it.
Sit in a quiet space before and after work to recharge your HSP battery
Work is draining, so making sure our battery is as full as it can be before we start for the day is a must. Then, before we go home, topping up the battery so we can give our best to our families makes for a more peaceful home.
Have weekly check-ins with your boss or mentor
Our high sensitivity is a type of super power, but it doesn’t mean we know everything. Nor does it mean we can’t learn different ways to manage our energies. Check in with the boss regularly and ask them how they perceive you’re going with things.
Take regular small breaks
Just like before and after work, take some small breaks to top up the battery through the day. Walk the length of the factory, do a lap of the office, or some stretching by the window.
Take your lunch break outside in the park
If there is a lunch room at work you may feel some unspoken pressure to use it, but spending your lunch break outside, eating your sandwich under a tree, walking a lap of the lake or simply lying on the grass reading your book, can put you in a great frame of mind to finish the day strongly.
Fortunately for my client, he had a boss that was aware of and understood high sensitivity and recognised it right away. The boss gave my client shorter shifts and allowed him to take some breaks when he needed to. After four or five weeks, my client had familiarised himself with the supermarket to the point he was no longer over stimulated and was able to perform all the tasks required of him. He didn’t do the job like everybody else – he did it as a highly sensitive person.
And was able to do it very well.
– Matt