How to Handle Workplace Triggers After Recovery
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How to Handle Workplace Triggers After Recovery
Summary: Workplace triggers go beyond alcohol—they include stress, deadlines, and social pressure. To protect your sobriety, implement a 3-step defense plan: 1) Pre-plan exit strategies for high-risk events, 2) Master the "Hard No" and "Soft No" to decline social events, and 3) Use Micro-Coping techniques to immediately redirect stress before it builds into a relapse risk.
Getting a job in a new field can feel like a big win, and it is! But the job is a hard place to be while you’re trying to get better. Triggers aren’t always what you think they are. Sometimes, they’re not a bottle of booze; they’re an impossible deadline, a fight with a boss, or the stress of having to go to a team party.
It takes a certain level of watchfulness to be sober while establishing your job. It’s about being aware of what sets you off and making a strong plan to protect yourself before they do.
Things That Happen at Work
Most of the time, triggers at work can be put into three main groups:
- This is the most harmful type of emotional stress trigger. It can be caused by disagreement, fear of failure, an unreasonable amount of work, or passive-aggressive behavior at work. Stress is the worst thing for staying sober, and the workplace is plenty of it.
- Social triggers: These usually have to do with networking and celebrating. Think of happy hours, Christmas parties, dinners with clients, or drinking traditions after work. You could feel like you have to fit in more than you should.
- Physical or environmental triggers could be working near a bar, going on a business trip where rules are less strict, or even just seeing an open bottle of wine at a company event.
The key to staying safe is to do more than just recognize the threat; you need to actively manage your surroundings.
Your 3-Step Defense Plan for the Workplace
You need a plan that you can’t change to deal with these risky scenarios.
1. Find and Plan Ahead
Plan for three moves ahead. Before going to any high-risk event, such a big presentation or a party, ask yourself, “What is my plan for getting out?” Drive your own car if you go to a happy hour. Order your drink first and keep it in sight if you’re having dinner with a client. Planning keeps you avoid having to make judgments when you’re under a lot of stress.
2. The “Hard No” and the “Soft No”
You need to learn how to say no without feeling like you have to share your past.
- The Hard No: If you have to go to a social gathering, such a formal company dinner, only drink water and depart after the required networking time.
- The Soft No: For happy hours or informal events, utilize professional excuses like “I’d love to, but I have an early morning commitment,” or “I need to run to the gym, but have fun!” No one needs to know anything more than professionalism.
3. Change the Stress Right away
You can’t let work stress get to you. Don’t wait if you sense the stress rising, as when you’re angry or overwhelmed. Try Micro-Coping. Take a break, phone a sober buddy or a sponsor, or employ a grounding technique like the 5-4-3-2-1 approach. Your job security depends on how sober you are. First, keep it safe.
Your recuperation is the most important part of your career. You learned how to be more aware of yourself at Serenity Path Recovery so you could see the hazards. Now, use those tools to help you succeed.
