How to Calm High-Functioning Anxiety at Work (Without Losing Your Soul)

Written With Love by Lolli
Dec 10, 2025
3 min read

Subtitle: A faith-rooted, trauma-informed guide for how to calm high-functioning anxiety at work while protecting your health, hope, and calling.

If you look “put together” but feel like you’re sprinting on the inside, you may be living with high-functioning anxiety at work. As a trauma ER/critical-care nurse turned NP and coach, I’ve watched achievers carry quiet panic until their bodies wave the red flag—migraines, GI flares, insomnia, irritability, spiritual numbness. The good news: you can calm it with science-backed skills and gospel-rooted rest.

What High-Functioning Anxiety Looks Like on the Job

You’re praised for reliability, but inside you run worst-case scenarios.
Over prepping, over explaining, or overworking to avoid criticism.
“Sunday Scaries” start Saturday morning.
Sleep is light; your mind replays conversations.
Faith feels distant even though you know the verses about peace.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28

A 5-Part Plan: How to Calm High-Functioning Anxiety at Work

1) Name the Pattern, Not Your Identity

Language matters. Say, “I notice high-functioning anxiety at work today,” not “I am anxious.” You are a child of God experiencing activation—there’s space between you and the feeling.

2) Reset Your Nervous System (Two Minutes)

Physiological sigh (x3): breath in → sip of air → long exhale.
5-5-5 grounding: name 5 things you see, 5 you feel, 5 you hear.
Whisper a breath prayer on the exhale: “Jesus, be my peace.”

3) Set Compassionate Boundaries That Stick

90-minute focus blocks with 10-minute recovery (walk, water, stretch).
Stop-time alarm for the end of day: “Faith > Finish.” Protect your margins so your best work and truest worship can breathe.

4) Trade “What Ifs” for “If-Then”

Write the top three fears and pair each with a simple plan.

If the presentation glitches, then I’ll switch to printed slides.
If I forget a point, then I’ll say, “Let me circle back.”Planned competence calms the nervous system far better than perfectionism.

5) Close the Loop After Work

3-line Worry → Worship journal: What I carried / What I entrust / One gratitude.
Read one Psalm slowly (23, 27, 121).
Brief check-in: “Body, what do you need—movement, nourishment, or stillness?”

Nurse’s note: In critical care, excellence and decompression were both non-negotiable. Your nervous system needs the same dignity.

Faith & Work Integration: A Gentle Re-frame

Calling over performing. Your value is received, not achieved.
Pace over perfection. Jesus was unhurried; you’re allowed to be too.
Community over secrecy. Bring one trusted colleague or friend into your growth plan; anxiety shrinks in shared light.

One-Week Micro-Reset for High-Functioning Anxiety at Work

Day 1: Identify your three biggest triggers. Day 2: Practice the physiological sigh before each meeting. Day 3: Block one “deep work” session; mute Slack for 60 minutes. Day 4: Create an If-Then plan for your top fear. Day 5: Ask for one micro-boundary (clear agenda, decision owner, or deadline). Day 6: Nature + Scripture walk (10 minutes with Psalm 27). Day 7: Sabbath hour: no goals, just receive.

If you’re navigating caregiver guilt, trauma echoes, or health flares alongside work stress, coaching can hold space for layered healing—pairing nervous-system tools, evidence-based practices, and prayer.

Quick FAQ for Searchers & Skimmers

What is high-functioning anxiety at work? Anxiety masked by productivity—driven, reliable, and praised, yet chronically keyed-up.

Best fast technique? Physiological sigh + ground your senses + a breath prayer.

Is this the same as excellence? No. Excellence is steady and sustainable; high-functioning anxiety is frantic and costly.

You’re not “too much.” You’re a whole person learning calmer ways to steward your gifts. Let’s help your body exhale so your calling can shine—quietly, steadily, joyfully.

💗 With love and grace,

Jennifer Nicole Green, NP-CFounder of Lolli Love — Faith-rooted, trauma-informed well-being for tired hearts.