Starting something new or something unknown can bring up feelings of anxiety. Remember that feeling you’d get in the pit of your stomach when you were a kid and the first day of school was approaching? What will you wear? Who will you sit with at lunch? What will your teacher be like? The veil of questions that washed over you as you replayed that first day over and over in your head. And sometimes, that’s how it feels before you start a new travel assignment—like you're out of your element.
Sure, starting a new assignment is exhilarating and exciting, but it's also full of unknown variables that can cause stress and anxiety. But don’t worry—these are completely natural and normal human emotions. So, what are these pre-shift jitters you’re feeling and how do you cope with them? Let’s find out.
What are these pre-shift jitters?
You’ve heard of anxiety, but have you heard of anticipatory anxiety? This is when you feel high levels of anxiety about a future event or situation, like your upcoming travel job or the first day of school. Anticipatory anxiety, or pre-shift jitters, can cause feelings of nervousness, concern, or fear about the future and while it’s natural to feel a tid bit of anxiousness for what the future holds, anticipatory anxiety can amplify that tid bit into full-blown panic.
Sure, anxiety may be the most common mental health concern in the U.S., but it affects everyone differently. When it comes to anticipatory anxiety, you might feel:
- Apprehension or dread
- Tense or jumpy
- Restless or irritable
- Like the worst thing that could happen will happen
- Like you’re in danger
- A pounding or racing heart and shortness of breath
- Headaches, fatigue, and insomnia
- Sweating, tremors, and twitches
- An upset stomach
- Excessive “what if” thoughts
Anxiety is a human emotion that can leave you feeling exhausted and drained. And in a career where you go to a new facility with new patients and new coworkers in a new location every couple months, it’s natural that you would feel some anxiety before your next new adventure.
Luckily, there are ways to combat symptoms of anticipatory anxiety, or pre-shift jitters. So, the next time you feel it creeping up on you, try these techniques to help ease your worries.
No. 1: Prepare yourself
Did you know that organizing your day ahead of time can reduce stress, help you sleep better, and increase productivity? Fact. So, the next time you feel anxiety making its way into your mind, set aside some time to prepare yourself for the days to come. Here are some things you can try to help get yourself ready for your upcoming shift:
Meal prep
If you’ve never meal prepped before, then you should know it’s not as daunting as it sounds. Meal prep can be as easy as making a mental note of what you want to eat for the next day or as structured as labeled food containers. As registered dietitian nutritionist, Ginger Hultin, MS, RDN said, “It’s a shift in prioritization of ‘I’m going to do this work on the front end to be kind to my future self.’”
Not sure meal prepping is for you? Here are some reasons to try it out:
- You’ll have more free time for yourself
- It wastes less food
- It can save you money
- You’ll stress less
- To eat healthier
Give yourself one less thing to worry about as you get ready for your big day and prepare your meals ahead of time! If you don’t know where to start, here are some easy beginner recipes to get you going.
Plan your route to/from work
Healthcare travelers make their way across the U.S. in a variety of ways—by train, plane, automobile, and more. When it’s time to embark on your next healthcare travel assignment, make a plan ahead of time of how you’ll get to and from the facility. Will you have your own car to drive? Will you be relying on public transportation? Are you close enough to walk or bike?
Planning your route and how you’ll get to work ahead of time can alleviate stress and help you get to work on time. Plus, it allows you to get to know your new city! Of course, nowadays there’s technology like GPS’s that can help you plan your way to work. And since GPS’s are integrated into your smart phone, you can use it ahead of time to see what traffic is like and how long it’ll take for you to get there. Knowing that, you can enjoy some extra shut eye in the morning!
Visualize how your day will go
Start your day off on the right foot and visualize how you want it to go. This technique is popular amongst professional athletes to boost their mental strength, confidence, and results. Visualizing can help build your mental strength for the day as you review what you would like to happen, what’s actually likely to happen, and how you would respond.
Give it a go!
- Fully engage all your senses. “The most effective imagery involves all five senses,” said Michael Gervais, Ph.D., performance psychologist in Los Angeles. “You should be so immersed in a mental image that it seems as if it’s actually happening.”
- Be the star in your own show. “Imagine performing the activity from your own perspective,” said Tom Seabourne, Ph.D., athlete and imagery expert.
- Practice makes perfect. Just like with anything in life, “the only way we get better at mental imagery is by practicing it,” said Tammy Miller, speech coach.
No. 2: Treat yourself to self-care
Self-care is one of the best types of care there is. However, it’s also one of the most challenging types of care to give. Not only does it feel time-consuming, and you already have enough going on as a professional traveler, but it can also feel uncomfortable to shower yourself with love. When it comes down to it, there are different types of self-care that deserve attention:
Physical self-care
Your body works hard to keep you going, so show it some love! Physical self-care involves how you fuel your body, how much sleep you get, how active you are, and how well you care for your physical needs. When it comes to physical self-care, ask yourself these questions to see if there are areas that need more care:
- Am I getting enough sleep?
- Is my diet fueling my body?
- Am I getting enough physical activity?
Mental self-care
How you think and what you think greatly influences your mental wellbeing. So, practice filling your mind with positivity and mental stimulation. Mental self-care means doing things to keep you sharp, inspire, and fuel your mind, like puzzles, reading books, or watching movies.
Mental self-care is also doing things that help you stay mentally healthy. That means practicing self-compassion and acceptance to maintain a healthy inner dialogue. Consider these questions when you think about your mental care:
- Am I making enough time for activities that make me happy?
- Am I dedicating enough time to stimulating activities?
- Am I being proactive to help me stay mentally healthy?
Social self-care
Spending time with loved ones goes a long way for your overall wellbeing. It’s a fact, humans are social creatures. Sometimes it can be hard to make the time to catch up, especially as you’re on the road as a professional traveler.
But don’t let that stop you from prioritizing your social health! Take time to catch up with family and friends via phone, video chat, or social media. Tell them all about your new city and let them pump you up for your first day in the healthcare facility! Research shows the link between social relationships and improved motivation. So, let the people you love be there for you.
Think about these questions to know if you should focus on social self-care:
- Am I spending enough time with people I love?
- Am I connecting and communicating enough with people I love?
- What am I doing to nurture my relationships with friends and family?
Of course, self-care looks different for every individual, so do what feels right for you. Whether you talk to a friend about your pre-shift anxiety or set aside time for activities that help you process your emotions, there’s no wrong way to self-care.
No. 3: Repeat positive affirmations
Sure, affirmation phrases may seem small and feel silly to say, but research has shown that self-affirmations can benefit your life in many ways. And the more you repeat an affirmation, the stronger it becomes in your mind.
Does it really work? Science says yes. When you engage in positive affirmations, it increases activity in “key regions of the brain’s self-processing and valuation systems.” In other words, when you repeat self-affirmations, you feel increased self-worth, self-perception, and judgement. Not only do positive affirmations generally make you feel better about yourself, but they also help change the way we think to reduce negative thoughts.
The best part about positive affirmations is they can be done anytime anywhere! Even for someone with a busy schedule like you, traveler. An impactful way to implement affirmations into your daily life is by adding them to your morning and nightly routines. Here are some examples to get you started:
- I am successful
- I embody love
- I am worthy
- I am intelligent
- I’ve got this
- Today is a good day
- Everything is okay
No. 4: Take a pen to paper
When anticipatory anxiety arises, conquer it the old-fashioned way: With a pen and paper. For centuries, writing or journaling has been used to alleviate symptoms of anxiety, to process emotions, and to reach ambitious goals. And the effects are still as helpful today.
While it may seem like a simple task, journaling does a lot to reduce anxiety and improve mental health. Why? Because the act of journaling activates your analytical and rational left side brain, which frees your creative right side to flourish, wander, and play on paper. By engaging with both sides of your brain, journaling helps to boost your mood, enhance your sense of wellbeing, reduce symptoms of depression, and improve your working memory.
Sometimes it can be hard to put all your thoughts to paper. Check out these tips for effective journaling from the Center for Journal Therapy—just remember the acronym W.R.I.T.E.:
- W—What do you want to write about? What’s going on in your life? What are your current feelings? What are you striving towards (or trying to avoid) right now?
- R—Review and reflect on it. Take a couple minutes to soak it all in, be still, and focus. Start your sentences with “I” statements and keep them in the present tense. For example, right now, I feel anxious about my first day of work.
- I—Investigate your thoughts and feelings. Dig a little deeper and keep the pen going. If your mind starts to wander, reread what you have so far, refocus, and keep chugging along.
- T—Time yourself. There’s no requirement that says you have to spend a certain amount of time journaling, but it’s good to have goals. Challenge yourself to journal for at least five minutes once a day a few days a week. When you start, set a timer or alarm to go off after a certain amount of time, and then reevaluate how you feel when you hear the chime. Do you feel like you want to keep writing? Do it! Was that enough for you for one day? That’s great, too! Give yourself permission to do what feels natural.
- E—Exit strategically and with introspection. Once you feel like you’ve given it your all, take time to read what you have written and take a second to reflect on it. Then, sum it all up in one or two sentences with statements like “I feel” or “As I read this” and write down any items you want to focus on for next time.
No. 5: Practice relaxation and mindfulness techniques
Meditation, deep breathing exercises, guided imagery—oh my. These are all classic techniques to help you on the road to relaxation and mindfulness.
Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present and aware of your sensations, feelings, thoughts, and environment. And while it may seem like a no-brainer, mindfulness is a practice that requires intention, discipline, and time. And it’s well worth it!
In a large-scale review of more than 400 studies, mindfulness was shown to be an “effective mental health practice for helping almost all people improve their physical and psychological wellbeing.” By integrating mindfulness techniques into your life, you can lower stress, decrease depression, improve memory, strengthen your relationships, and more.
Contrary to what you may think, mindfulness doesn’t necessarily mean sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed, as you lightly hum a soothing chant. Sure, that’s what it can be if that’s what works for you, but there are other means to mindfulness, too:
Deep breathing exercises
Have you ever noticed how tense your body can get when under stress or anxiety? Similarly, have you ever paid attention to how it feels when you take deep, cleansing breaths?
“When you’re under stress, your sympathetic nervous system is stimulated, which is associated with stress-related symptoms such as faster breathing, heart-rate elevation, irritability, elevated blood pressure, anxiety, and body tension,” said Yufang Lin, MD. “When you engage in deep breathing, your abdomen is soft as you engage your diaphragm and take a deep breath in with the intention of really filling up the whole lung with air. You’re slowing down the heart rate, reducing your blood pressure, and relaxing your muscles.”
Deep breaths are a free and effective way to reduce anxiety and stress. No matter where you are, deep breathing can be accessed without any concern of side effects. Give it a try the next time you feel added pressure:
- Find a comfortable place to sit or lay
- Place one hand on your belly and the other on the opposite shoulder, like you’re giving yourself a hug
- Take a regular breath
- Now, take a slow, deep breath
- Pause for a second or two
- Slowly release the breath from your mouth
- Repeat until you have a calming rhythm
Guided imagery
When it comes to guided imagery, you must use all your senses to build images in your mind that feel real to your body. That doesn’t mean that your body will be smelling, hearing, or tasting the objects you’re thinking of, but rather your mind visualizes each sense to engage your whole body. Because of this deep physical mind-body connection, guided imagery has been shown to reduce fear and anxiety, decrease psychological distress, and stimulate changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory patterns.
Like with anything, practice makes perfect, and the more you do it, the more natural it becomes. And you only have to do it for as little as 10 minutes to feel the benefits. So, start a timer, get into a comfortable position, and let your body do its thing.
As a beginner, it can be helpful to practice guided imagery exercises by reconstructing a pleasant memory. Think about how you felt, the aroma, the temperature, where you are within the space. Notice each of your senses as you bring your daydream to life.
Or if the thought of guided imagery intimidates you, sign-up for a mindfulness app like Headspace, and get an assist with guided imagery techniques and other mindfulness practices.
Meditation
Accomplished meditator and scholar, Trinlay Rinpoche, said the “real source of happiness lies in the clarity of thoughts.” And according to Buddha, meditation is a powerful technique that can “train the mind to not dwell in the past or contemplate about the future.” In other words, mindfulness gives your mind time and space to settle in the now so you can appreciate what the present has to offer.
Since as early as 5,000 BCE, meditation has been a common practice used to calm the mind and body of individuals from across all walks of life. Like other mindfulness techniques, meditation is meant to establish a connection between your internal and external world. And it works in a lot of ways!
Studies done by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) show that meditation can reduce pain and fibromyalgia, stress, headaches, psoriasis, plus anxiety and depression. Even more, their research shows that committing to a daily meditation practice can improve your overall quality of life and provide long-term benefits for your emotional and physical health.
The first time is always the most challenging. Here are some tips to get you going:
- Take a seat in a calm and comfortable place
- Set a timer for how long you want to practice
- Notice your body and how it feels
- Feel the sensation of your breath
- Pay attention and be kind if your mind wanders
- Gently lift your gaze when you’re ready and take note of how you feel mentally and physically
No. 6: Practice self-compassion
Imagine if you talked to yourself the way you would talk to a loved one. The chances are you wouldn’t say half of the things that you think to yourself to your best friend. The truth is, self-compassion is hard, but so crucial for coping with stress and anxiety.
To engage in self-compassion, you need to focus on self-kindness versus self-judgement, common humanity versus isolation, and mindfulness versus over-identification. As humans, we make mistakes, we have deep emotions, we struggle sometimes, and all of that is okay. Self-compassion is nurturing your emotional needs, as opposed to punishing yourself for feeling in the first place.
Being your own friend sets you up for better health, relationships, and general wellbeing. When you’re a friend to yourself, you have the power to lower levels of anxiety and depression because when you notice the darkness and treat yourself with empathy and understanding, it makes it easier for the light to shine through.
If it doesn’t happen naturally, don’t beat yourself up. Self-compassion is a learnable skill! In his book “The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion,” Harvard psychologist, Christopher Germer, said there are five ways to bring self-compassion into your life. They are via physical, mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual methods. He and his expert buddies suggest these methods to foster self-compassion:
- Comfort your body. Eat something healthy, lie down and rest, massage your neck or feet. Engage in activities that improve how you feel physically.
- Give yourself encouragement. Consider what you might say to a loved one if they were in the same situation you’re in. Then, direct those compassionate responses towards yourself.
- Practice mindfulness. Observe your thoughts, feelings, and actions without judgement and without trying to suppress or deny them.
No. 7: Find a healthy distraction
When anxiety is at its height, and you’re in search of a way out, find something you enjoy to distract your mind and body.
“Distracting ourselves from emotional struggle gives our minds and bodies a break,” said Katherine King, Psy.D to Psychology Today. “It allows the nervous system to relax and get out of flight-or-fight mode. Once this happens, we will start to be able to think through our problems more clearly and come to better solutions.”
Participating in positive, non-destructive activities can help provide mental clarity and improve overall mental health. Not sure what to do? Try these:
- Go on a nature walk
- Do something creative like draw or paint
- Take yourself on a date
- Listen to your favorite music
- Do yoga or play a sport
- Read a book or magazine
- Play video games
- Go shopping
- Nap or rest for a while
No. 8: Talk it out
Sometimes it may seem easier to ignore your feelings and push them down until you forget about them. However, that’s a counterproductive coping method for stress and anxiety. As hard as it may be, talking it out with a loved one or a licensed professional can ease your mind and bring you comfort during challenging times.
As human beings, we yearn for connection and support. And that’s what you receive when you talk about your feelings. Plus, talking about how you feel can help you gain control of your emotions and gives you a platform to acknowledge your feelings and develop emotional awareness.
It can be hard to start a conversation about your feelings, so only do so when you’re ready and with someone you trust like a friend, family member, qualified listener, or your healthcare recruiter. Remember you’re not alone and that it’s okay to ask for help.
No. 9: Use Fusion Marketplace
With increased transparency into job type, location, healthcare facility, traveler pay, and more, Fusion Marketplace helps ease your pre-shift anxiety by giving you the important information you need upfront. Before you commit to a job, you’ll already know the:
- Job type
- Assignment location
- Expected weekly hours to work
- Pay package details
- Type of healthcare facility
- Start date
- Shift type
- Length of assignment
- Healthcare staffing agency
- Recruiter ratings and reviews
You know what they say—the more you know. And the more you know, the easier it is to learn new things and adopt to different situations.
Not only does Fusion Marketplace give you total transparency into what to expect in a travel job, but it also gives you the autonomy you need to find the travel job that works for you.
Plus, Fusion Marketplace provides the opportunity to find your job and temporary housing all in one place. So, instead of jumping back and forth between multiple platforms, you can confirm all you need for your travel assignment through Fusion Marketplace.
Listen, it’s natural to have a little pre-shift anxiety before you set off on your next great travel adventure. But don’t let that stop you from accomplishing your dream as a professional healthcare traveler. When you start to feel the wave of anxiety rush over you, try these eight techniques to combat your worries.
