Effective Strategies for Highly Sensitive People to Reduce Overwhelm When Working in a Crowded Space

 By the end of this episode, you’ll discover some practical tips to avoid overwhelm when working in crowded or challenging environments.

Welcome to Stress Management for Highly Sensitive People. A podcast helping HSPs avoid overwhelm, eliminate stress, and find true inner freedom. I’m your host, Todd Smith. A facilitator of the work of Byron Katie, a way to question and reduce stressful thoughts, and you guessed it. I’m a highly sensitive person myself.

In this episode, you’ll discover how to physically buffer yourself from an overstimulating environment, how to balance time for deep work with the need for breaks as a highly sensitive person. How to talk with your boss about making changes to your work environment and a few simple decompression routines at the end of your workday.

This is an addition of strategy Fridays where we think about specific things you can do to help manage stress as a highly sensitive person. One of the biggest challenges as highly sensitive people is trying to work in a busy environment. This could be a big office space if you’re working. With a lot of other people.

It could be working in a busy coffee shop, whether you’re a client sitting in that coffee shop working because that’s where you need to work, or whether you’re actually running the coffee shop, or it could be working in a large retail store, or it could be in a healthcare setting. All of these different settings, and there are many more can challenge us as highly sensitive people because of the overstimulation.

There’s so much going on. And we as HSPs like to go deep, we like to go really focused into one thing. And when we’re be being constantly bombarded with other stimulation, it can be challenging. Obviously some jobs are easier for highly sensitive people. For example you can, instead of working in a busy office, you might work in a one-on-one kind of setting.

There’s all kinds of jobs that tend to suit themselves more for highly sensitive people. So without going into that, sometimes you don’t have a choice. Sometimes you just have to work where you’re working, and this episode is about helping you make that work. Also, keep in mind, working from home is sometimes an option, but even at home there can be lots of stimulation.

Dogs barking, children running around older people. I live with a 92-year-old and sometimes she runs into trouble and calls out and I have to go running. So there are distractions everywhere. There’s chance for overstimulation everywhere. We’re just thinking about how can we minimize that.

And today we’re talking more about outer work. I talk a lot about inner work, which is questioning your thoughts and changing your point of view. Outer work is similar, but it’s taking action. Doing something that can actually create some balance in the situation or try to minimize the challenge that is presenting itself.

So let’s start with how to physically buffer yourself from an overstimulating environment. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it. You’re in a place of work and it’s a lot going on. So one of the things you can do is use some kind of, buffer or boundary around where you’re working. You could put some plants around you.

You could bring some personal items to block the visuals of around seeing other people. Or you could put up a portable privacy screen. They have these screens you can buy. They’re not very expensive, which can be like a three-sided thing that can just go around your workspace. You have to have a large enough desk to do this obviously, but it can block out.

A lot of visual noise and stimulation from that. Also, depending on how you’re working, whether you’re working with your facing the wall or with your back to the wall, or if you can get a corner somewhere, all of these things can provide an actual barrier to all the stimulation going on around you.

Similarly, where you position yourself, if you can have a strategic desk. A position away from a high traffic area, that’s going to reduce things a lot. If you’re right by the water cooler, it’s gonna be very high stimulation. So these are things to think about. They’re small little strategy steps that can make a difference.

And of course, noise canceling headphones and white noise apps are definitely helpful because you can suddenly cut down on the audio stimulation. I think noise is the I’m pretty sure this is, I haven’t done the scientific research on this, but I’m pretty sure noise is sound. It gets in almost more than any other of the sensory stimuli.

A stimuli, but I don’t know that for sure. I know for me, if I’m, if I can hear things going on, that really gets to me. So having some earplugs, having a noise canceling headphone headset. Or those noise canceling kind of white noise apps, they can help. Also, lighting is interesting. You may be under fluorescent lighting and there’s nothing you can do about it, but sometimes if you’re working at a desk, you can bring in your own little desk lamp right there, and it can reduce eye strain because there’s more light.

It can have a warmer light temperature so it feels more soothing and calming and it just gives you a focal point. This is where I’m working, even though there’s some weird lighting going on around me. Or if you are focused, you are dealing with fluorescent light and there’s not anything you can do about it.

Get some FL 41 tinted glasses. That’s a. A specific kind of lens that filters out the certain frequencies of fluorescent light, and they’ve done research on it and they’ve showed that it improves reading. It improves problems with fluorescent light sensitivity or overall light sensitivity. And it, it reduces the frequency and severity of these kinds of symptoms, even notice less blinking when you’re wearing these kind of glasses.

This is not gonna solve your problems forever. Ideally, if you can get out of a situation like that, great, but sometimes we have to make compromises. And sometimes these little bits of like physical things that we can do, can make a difference. Another thing you can do is look for quiet retreat spaces.

So scout out during low stress times, walk around and look around your building. Maybe during lunch or in the early morning and see if you can find some quiet spots, like an empty conference room or a stairwell or out yard, courtyard, or even in your car in a parking lot. These are ways that, that you can, they’re places that can be become little refuges that you can take a break to or you can work on a small project in.

And it’s good to know where these are. Even a bathroom retreat, is like a totally socially acceptable thing. I’m gonna be gone for a few minutes and you can just go in and have a little bit of a mental reset. These are micro retreats, even three minutes. For example, being outside can reset your nervous system, just stepping out to get some fresh air, or you can take a call out there.

Anything like that can just give you a little bit of a break. So how do we balance the time we need to do deep work with our need for breaks? This is an important question for us. There is research that shows that when you are interrupted from deep work, no matter what the interruption, it takes 23 minutes for the brain to come back to that focus state that it was in before that break.

So yes, we need breaks, but we also need focus time. And so everybody’s different, but I suggest preparing some kind of deep work sprints, if you will, times that is just dedicated to deep work. It’s on your calendar, and it might range from 45 minutes to two hours, depending on how you, how what your nervous system needs in advance.

Take some time to make sure that everything’s ready, your environment’s optimized. Get your noise canceling headphones on. Have your visual distractions minimized. Have your water bottle filled, all these things. Maybe put a sign on the door or let people know that you don’t wanna be disturbed during this time.

Also there are naturally quieter times and busier times in any place of work, and if you can notice that you can often. Aim to do more of your deep work during the quieter times where you can sustain focus longer without becoming overstimulated.

And also where you work during those, that might be the time to go hole in to a conference room if it’s available, or that might be the time that you’re using a desk way in the distant area in the corner where nobody is paying attention. Positioning yourself in the less stimulating areas. So then when it comes to taking breaks, if you’re doing a longer sprint, if you will, of deep work, then you may want to take a little longer break.

Maybe you go for 90 minutes and then you take a 15 minute break or something like that, and you can pace yourself instead of taking the shorter breaks during that time, take the longer breaks, otherwise. When you’re in transactional work or when you’re just trying to maintain balance and you’re not doing deep work, then you may want to do shorter breaks more frequently, maybe every hour or maybe even more frequently depending on your need.

You have to check in with yourself. Everybody’s different. Some people need more breaks, some people don’t, but. As a rule, highly sensitive people can benefit from more break time, from more downtime, even if you’re just pausing at your desk. So types of breaks you can do, you can step outside for fresh air.

There’s usually less stimulation there. You can find a quiet space like a bathroom or a conference room, as I mentioned. You can do 10 deep breaths with your eyes closed. That can be so effective as a little tiny break. Or just look out the window. It’s something far away. Instead of always focusing, say on a computer or that kind of thing.

Or you can do a brief walk just to get your blood moving and change the scenery, even if it’s still inside. And then if you’re sitting at your desk, you can do what I think of as like an invisible reset where you close your eyes and just take five breaths and imagine you’re exhaling the overstimulation just.

Allow it to go out. And it’s a way of processing, acknowledging that it overstimulation is creeping up and overwhelm is getting stronger and just letting it out. These are small things. They’re not huge, not amazingly transformational, but they can make a difference. Just, rolling your shoulders and doing little subtle stretches at your desk.

Or another one that I like is just pressing your palms together in front of your chest. It doesn’t, it’s not like a prayer position, but just pushing your palms together, holding it for 10 seconds, and it activates the parasympathetic nervous system and it grounds you more in the body and it gives you a little focal point.

I’m just focusing here and a sense of control, like deliberate action. It even stimulates both sides of your body working together. And I find just something opens the heart a little bit. A little bit. So there can be a million things like this, but these are the kinds of things that can balance you in a day of work.

Even things like just organizing your desk items in a little pattern, just giving you a little repetitive mindful movement can be calming. Or writing down on a break, three things that are going well in your day. This can redirect you from overwhelm to looking at the positive or the old favorite of box breathing.

Where you inhale for four counts, hold for four counts, exhale for four counts, hold for four counts, and just keep going around like that for a few cycles. It’s known to be very calming. Even the military uses that particular breathing pattern. So the next area to look at is how to talk with your boss about making changes to your work.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to, instead of saying, oh, I’m highly sensitive, and the noise bothers me, say something like, I’m noticed, I’m most productive when I can minimize distractions. Would it be possible to move my workspace to a quieter area? Frame it as performance optimization.

That’s what your boss is interested in. So if you can frame it that way, even framing, working at home that way can be a way of selling that idea to your boss. And then when they see that it actually is effective, they may be really glad that you brought it up. So also come with solutions, like I like to discuss a seating arrangement that might help me be more productive.

And I noticed there’s a spot near the back corner that would allow me to focus better and still be accessible to the team. Would that work logistically for you? It frames it in a way that you’ve done all the legwork and it just makes it easy for them to evaluate and possibly say yes.

And also I encourage you to start small. Begin with one small, simple request rather than a whole list. And then when your supervisor sees positive results, then they may be open to more additional kinds of changes

when it comes to meetings. One way of playing with this is to. Honor your needs as well. You’re a member of the team and we as HSPs tend to not wanna take up space, but actually we could be more effective team members if we do you might say something like, I do my best focused work during nine to 11:00 AM Could we move this meeting till 2:00 PM instead, I’ll be much more engaged and be able to contribute better ideas.

In other words, just. Taking up a little bit of space and adjusting allowing others to adjust around your needs as well. So finally, I just want to end with some potential end of day decompression routines. These are not set in stone and they’re just ideas and it’s meant to get you thinking about this.

About the idea is when you’re done with your day there, it’s really helpful to have some kind of transition ritual just for five minutes or something. Maybe write down three things you accomplished. It creates a closure. Tidy your workspace in a specific order, which signals that the day is completed now and maybe take five conscious breaths and basically mentally leaving work at work.

This can make a huge difference in your evening. And then if you commute, then you know. Make that a transition as well. Take, play some calming music or listen to a podcast or create some transition time, even if it’s just staring out the window or if you’re on a train or a bus, like having your noise canceling headset on, doing a little meditation doing some journaling, but avoid immediately jumping into texts and calls because this is like jumping from one stimulating environment into another stimulating environment.

Give yourself a break, give yourself a transition there to decompress. Same thing when you come home. You can mark the transition by changing your clothes, if that feels right to you, or spending five or 10 minutes in complete silence before engaging with your family or your roommates. Doing some kind of yoga or stretching.

My favorite is I meditate and spend some time in silent meditation just decompressing, releasing the stress from the day. And preparing myself for a great evening ahead. So the feeling I’m left with today is that even in environments that you can’t control, there are plenty of things that you still can control.

And seeing and acting on these things gives you a feeling of more inner freedom and it reduces the accumulation of all of the sensory stimulation that comes. From working in a busy place. In this episode, we looked at how to physically buffer yourself from an overstimulating environment. That means, of course, protecting yourself from sound with some kind of noise canceling or earplugs, but it also can include reducing the visual stimulation by having some kind of a screen around you.

We looked at how to balance time for deep work with the need for breaks, and there’s a need for both. They’re both things that we need as HSPs and you just have to plan for it. And you have to listen to yourself, what, how much deep work do I need and how much, how many breaks do I need? And you have to keep adjusting it.

If you keep repeating, you will find your balance. Then we mentioned how to talk with your boss about making changes to your work environment. And framing it as something that will help with productivity and actually doing some of the legwork so that it’s easy for them to say yes. And then finally, we looked at a few simple decompression routines at the end of your workday, so that you can transition from a time of work and business and focus to a different kind of focus on your personal life.

So thanks for listening. It’s always great to explore with you. This program comes out three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Join me next time for Breakthrough Mondays, where I share success stories and helpful insights for highly sensitive people on the path towards inner freedom.