loss of confidence

What to do when you have lost confidence at work

Confidence is a great thing to have in life, it can help you to achieve things that you didn’t think were possible and it can also stop you from making mistakes or being too cautious in taking risks. If you are feeling low on confidence at work, your performance, enjoyment and progression can all be affected. Let’s discuss!

It can be a good thing to have moments of self doubt 

While many of us work hard to be the most confident versions of ourselves, it can be good to have some element of self doubt. After all, overconfidence can lead to mistakes and arrogance, sometimes even a lack of motivation or attention to the finer details.

Learn from your experiences, when things don’t work out, look at what happened and how you can effect change

When things don’t go the way you wanted them to, it can be easy to focus on your mistakes and beat yourself up. You might feel frustrated and think that if only you had done this or that differently, then things would have worked out in a different way. It is so important not to give yourself a hard time about what might have happened. Instead, look at what happened and try to think of ways that you could have improved the situation. If something goes wrong again in future situations you will have worked through the problem ahead of time. 

By considering situations where something didn’t go according to plan and improving your productivity based on what works best for each specific task will help ensure more positive outcomes in the future!

Remember – we are all human. We are all learning!

confidence at work

Write down your achievements 

If you have lost confidence at work it can help to take stock of how far you have come already! This can help you to get your confidence back and put everything into perspective. 

Why not try writing down all of your achievements, you will see that there are more than you think! Achievements come in all shapes and sizes, big or small, every step is a step towards our goals! 

If you’re having trouble finding these things on your own, ask a friend or your work colleague to help. Ask to talk through your work, your progress and your skills to look at what you have done to date. 

Please don’t let yourself get affected by any office politics

While it’s natural to be concerned about how your job is going, you shouldn’t let office politics affect your performance. As much as we like to think all work places are fun, inclusive and enjoyable – there will always be relationships to navigate. If you’re spending time worrying about views and opinions that you can’t control (which you can’t) then you could waste time that would be better spent on your own development. Easier said than done perhaps, but one of the most important things to remember if you feel like you have lost confidence in work. 

Rather than worrying about what other people are doing or saying about you, focus on improving yourself. If there are problems with leadership at the company and they aren’t making things better for employees, find out what steps other employees have taken in similar situations so that they can be resolved quickly without affecting productivity. 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. 

If you are struggling with your confidence, don’t ever be afraid to ask someone for help. It is important to remember that you don’t have to figure everything out yourself. There’s no shame in asking for support or assistance from peers, especially if they have experience working on projects similar to yours.

When we have lost confidence at work, it’s likely that this will affect our day to day work, and your manager or team may already be aware. Your line manager should be able assist you with getting back on track—or at least give you some direction and encouragement in finding your confidence again. 

If you feel like loss in confidence is getting on top of you then there are many other ways to find support. Friends and family can be helpful and provide a willing ear but many types of therapy and counselling also focus on personal development and confidence. 

Don’t forget, confidence takes practice but it does come eventually

Confidence is a skill that you can learn, but it can take practice. Confidence is about being able to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from them. Confidence is also about being able to ask for help when you need it. Confidence also comes from building your resilience, something that we all work on throughout our lives. 

If you have lost confidence at work and feel like you need some extra support here are some helpful recources to get you started. Just remember that we all face challanges in our personal lives and when you feel like you have lost your confidence at work it can be hard to get back on track. Here are some places to start.

NHS – Raising low self-esteem

Mind – Taking care of yourself at work

CIPD – Mental health in the workplace

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Beth Hellowell
Founder of Women in Agencies and co-founder of Signify Digital. Mother, social media scroller and frequent pasta eater.