Also interested. My social anxieties show the most in every day life situations not so much at work or at least no longer. During company parties it’s the worst. I receive a strong flight reflex and only want to go home. The more people I know better but that doesn’t always help. Alcohol helps but that isn’t an alley I want to follow.

What I found interesting: I traveled the West coast this summer and I have no real problem talking with foreign people in a different language. Maybe it’s because these are meaningless encounters anyway I don’t really understand it. Other interesting fact is, if you ask my friends (which I don’t count many.) they might tell you that they didn’t see this part of me. I can mask it pretty good. My wife sees it a lot. I tend to leave conversations I don’t like or put up phone calls and other things to the very last minute. But at work? I had luck to work very long with the same set of people. That gives me a great trust foundation. Starting somewhere new? Just the thought feels like a nightmare.

One tip i heard from good ol jordan peterson is to force yourself to start making eye contact with people when you notice yourself slipping. It worked very well for me in party and on the street settings because it's a relatively easy task but such a simple gesture really opens the door to further interaction much wider. I never realized how much i was scowling and avoiding eye contact until i saw someone else doing exactly what i did. It was a terrifying experience and research afterwards was how i found this tip. It's very much in the realm of "just try this thing" type advice but i find that's what works best for me. All of a sudden I'm about to cut the spiral at the start and better engage with that "starting things" part of social life. I'm by no means perfect but damn i wish I'd learned more strategies in college when I'd regularly embarrass myself running from interest.

I hope you find a strategy that works for you. I know how impossible it feels to get back in but making eye contact and forcing a smile is something pretty much anyone can do. People want to talk to someone looking and smiling and often times will start the interaction themselves, saving me all the hard work!

Thanks for the tip. I have a winter party coming up and will give it a try. These situations got kinda easier for me during the last month since my team grew so I have more anchors than before.

Nice tip!

Eye contact is hard but crucial

I am the same way! Most of my Social Anxiety comes down to sharing things that are weird about me or confronting people.

I also find it easier to do these things when I don't know the person. With people closer to me, it's actually worse.

Nope. But I will update the screens to show that. It's really any type of thing that people get anxious about. Here are some of the categories

- Speaking in public

- Sharing Ideas

- Going to Social Events

- Disagreeing with people

- Meeting new people

- Asking for help

Well... That's all that matters, right? Serving your employer? Adding value?

And having side projects, because doing your job outside of your job is really important for your employer.

LOL. This made me chuckle. It's actually the opposite of what I think a side project is. I was actually referring to things done for my own goals outside of work.

For example, sharing Roadmap would be what I would do for that step

Yeah I didn't realize that the screens made it seem like it was all about work. Most of the categories in the app aren't.

I myself mostly struggle with Social Anxiety outside of work.

This is good feedback though.