Fearing for your job is real. Times are uncertain, the economy is doing things most of us don’t understand, we’re feeling isolated and communication is limited to screen time and conversations with ourselves or our pets.

Wondering what your boss thinks about your presentation and constantly checking if they have downloaded the file is stressing you out. Checking how long it takes your boss to get back to you, once they’ve downloaded the file is making you sweat. The fact that they didn’t get back to you in 12 hours has left you sleepless and now wired on caffeine (the good stuff because you made the coffee extra strong).

Worrying and stressing about job security is real and studies have found that individuals who felt insecure in their jobs were more likely to be obese and smoke, have short sleep duration, and not engage in regular physical activity. Furthermore, the physical implications of job insecurity have different effects on the sexes. In females who were job insecure, higher rates of asthma, diabetes, work-life imbalance, worsening general health in the past year, and pain disorders, including migraine and neck pain were recorded. Whereas in men, findings indicated they were more likely to miss more than two weeks of work in the past year, and suffer from severe chest pain, ulcers and hypertension.

In some studies, unemployment and job insecurity have been found to be significant predictors of mortality. That’s serious and stressful in itself to even think about! But what can you do if you feel as if your job could be on the line? Sitting behind your screen or at your desk and wondering what is going on, could do more harm as you’ll be distracted from your actual job. Rather consider opening up the conversation with your company’s HR department or your boss. Explain that you’re worried about your job and ask for honest and constructive feedback. If you really want to keep the job, you’ll be open to a few changes. You also need to look after your physical health:

• Cut back on the caffeine
• Try get 8 hours of sleep a night
• Include exercise (even a walk for half an hour a day around the parking lot will do)
• Make sure you’re eating properly
• Take reputable vitamins and supplements to help you calm your nerves and focus on the tasks you have to complete.

We know it’s easy to say ‘don’t stress about it’, so we won’t! But we also know that you can do this. Look after your body, your mind and take a leap of faith and open the conversation.

May the VITAFORCE be with you!