Get To Know Your Stress
Sometimes when we feel stressed or anxious about something, we try to avoid the feeling or pretend its not there. But suppressing uncomfortable feelings doesnt make them go away, and it can actually make them worse.
Instead, pay attention to your anxiety, and try to learn from it. Acknowledging and even writing down your fears can help you make sense of them. And once youve accepted the anxiety, you may be able to channel some of the stress into productive energy.
Setting Reminders To Drink Water Turn Off Distractions And Have Down Time Will Help Reinforce Your Routines
There are a number of ways to have a positive morning routine. Granted they arent always easy to catch onto, start off the routine small, and gradually grow it. This can look like ensuring you drink a crisp glass of water with lemon as soon as you wake up for a week. The following week, implement 5 minutes for stretching your body out.
You can also build a night time routine by preparing for the day ahead of you. Lay out your outfit for the next day and have all necessary items available . It could also mean double checking if your car needs gas, for example.
Whatever helps in making your day start off right, you have the ability to create a unique plan tailored to your needs! Click here to read about how to beat depression in the mornings.
Learn A Breathing Or Meditation Technique
An old adage says everyone should sit in meditation for 20 minutes per day, and those who are too busy should sit for an hour. While a practice of that length is not always possible, the general point is helpful: We should take time to breathe, especially when were stressed.
Meditation doesnt have to be intimidating, and it doesnt have to look a certain way. Deep breathing, circular breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation are simple techniques that can reduce stress, calm the mind, and restore balance within a couple of minutes.
If youre feeling anxious at work, take a five-minute break and focus on breathing in for a count of five with your hand on your belly, and then out for the same count. You can also try tensing all of your toes and then releasing them, gradually working your way up the body.
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Employees: How To Cope With Job Stress And Build Resilience During The Covid
Whether you are going into work or working from home, the COVID-19 pandemic has probably changed the way you work. Fear and anxiety about this new disease and other strong emotions can be overwhelming, and workplace stress can lead to burnoutexternal icon. How you cope with these emotions and stress can affect your well-being, the well-being of the people you care about, your workplace, and your community. During this pandemic, it is critical that you recognize what stress looks like, take steps to build your resilience and manage job stress, and know where to go if you need help.
- Feeling irritation, anger, or in denial
- Feeling uncertain, nervous, or anxious
- Lacking motivation
- Feeling tired, overwhelmed, or burned out
- Feeling sad or depressed
Know the common work-related factors that can add to stress during a pandemic:
- Concern about the risk of being exposed to the virus at work
- Taking care of personal and family needs while working
- Managing a different workload
- Lack of access to the tools and equipment needed to perform your job
- Feelings that you are not contributing enough to work or guilt about not being on the frontline
- Uncertainty about the future of your workplace and/or employment
- Learning new communication tools and dealing with technical difficulties
- Adapting to a different workspace and/or work schedule
Tips To Manage Workplace Anxiety
While it is always best to seek support from a mental health professional in the form of psychotherapy for the management of stress and anxiety, there are other things you can do to help reduce your levels of work-related fear and worry on a daily basis. Just as there is no one-size-fits-all type of anxiety disorder, these tips are not one-size-fits-all cures, and you should not hesitate to seek help from a mental health professional or licensed clinical social worker for guidance. However, building good mental and physical habits can lessen the intensity and frequency of workplace stress and anxiety.
Again, it is important to remember that anxiety disorders are highly individualized and there is no one-size-fits-all set of solutions for them. If you are finding it difficult to manage your anxiety and it is interfering with your daily life, you should seek assistance from a mental healthcare professional.
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Helpful Organisations For Money Worries
It is important if you are worried about your finances and debts that you do not try to deal with them alone. There is a lot of help and support available to you through organisations such as Step Change and Citizens Advice.
You should also talk to your GP or a trusted health professional if you are worried about how debt is affecting your mental and physical health.
Common Causes And Symptoms Of Burnout At Work
Burnout is commonly associated with helping professions such as nursing. However, all organizations experience the consequences of employee burnout. In a national survey by Kronos Incorporated and Future Workplace, 46 percent of human resource leaders blamed employee burnout for up to half their workforce turnover. According to this survey, heres what causes burnout.
- Unfair compensation: For 41 percent of survey respondents
- Unreasonable workload: For 32 percent of survey respondents
- Too much overtime: For 32 percent of respondents
Other common causes of burnout, according to the Mayo Clinic, include the following.
If someone struggling with burnout fails to address and manage it, symptoms can have an impact on life inside and outside the workplace. Here are some of the symptoms of burnout.
- Exhaustion: A burned-out worker might feel constantly drained, unable to cope with stress and in a bad mood.
- Cynicism: Burnout can cause workers to isolate themselves from other workers or work-related activities. They may feel stressed and frustrated about anything work-related and wish to avoid all activities and people that remind them of work.
- Reduced performance: Employees experiencing burnout may find it hard to focus on their work.
Sufferers of burnout might also experience insomnia or turn to substance abuse to relieve symptoms.
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Tip : Support Your Health With Exercise And Nutrition
When youre overly focused on work, its easy to neglect your physical health. But when youre supporting your health with good nutrition and exercise, youre stronger and more resilient to stress.
Taking care of yourself doesnt require a total lifestyle overhaul. Even small things can lift your mood, increase your energy, and make you feel like youre back in the drivers seat.
How To Reduce Stress At Work For Employers
Having understood the causes and consecuences, How can employers reduce stress at workplace? You can take some actions, starting with assuming positive leadership and staying calm in stressful situations.
It is important that you consult your employees about what factors can be stressful at work, and that you talk to them to reduce the uncertainty of their futures. Listening to them and having face-to-face meetings will make them feel heard and valued. Give them the opportunity to participate in the decisions that affect their work, make them feel involved.
You must deal with conflict by respecting the dignity of each employee and establishing zero tolerance for harassment and violence. Avoid unrealistic deadlines and make sure the tasks are right for each employee based on their abilities and resources. Make your expectations clear, define roles, responsibilities, and goals for each other. Above all, make sure that managements actions are aligned with the values that you proclaim.
Offering awards and incentives, recognizing achievements and planning potentially stressful work periods are also actions that help reduce stress, as well as promote social interaction between employees.
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How To Manage Work Anxiety
You can be brimming with confidence, you can be the employee who gets the raise, admiration from their co-workers and nods from the boss. You can break out of your shell, shatter the glass ceiling, be heard, get promoted and walk down the office floor like you own it!
The following video is a tap-along for workplace anxiety arising out of fear that your co-workers and manager consider you incompetent. You may be feeling incompetent yourself. All of this self-doubt creates severe stress and anxiety not only while you are at work, but also when youre away from it.
To relieve the feelings of being considered incompetent, simply follow along the video. This video is a complimentary first module from my program End Workplace Anxiety Today.
We begin by tapping on the karate chop. You can repeat after me, loudly or silently, as we tap along.
Finding Treatment For An Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety disorders can affect the quality of your life and are more than ordinary feelings of stress or worry. Fear and repetition of unwanted thoughts influence behavior and can manifest in physical symptoms like nausea, trembling and sweating, to name a few. The American Psychiatric Association says approximately 33 percent of people will experience an anxiety disorder in their lifetime.
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Anxiety Therapists Providing Cbt In Simi Valley Can Help You Re
Its not always easy to be kind to ourselves especially if we feel we dont deserve it. We can easily give into the spiral of negative thinking by piggy backing off one. This can look like, Oh, I never get anything right. Remember when I messed up last weeks numbers? I bet I will mess up this weeks numbers as well.
Click here to read about how to conquer your negative self talk. It all starts with recognizing that you are giving into it, and being able to stand up for yourself in your mind. It could be that your negative thinking stems from anxiety, where you experience feeling fearful or irritable on a regular basis. Click here to read about how to be the boss of your own anxiety.
Take time on a daily basis to appreciate yourself for everything that you do. You are awesome, and deserve to start everyday feeling ready to accomplish anything.
How Can I Reduce Stress At Work
One special atmosphere where many people feel it is at work.
Stress at work may be the outcome of being required or demanded to do too much or work really long hours. It can more, however, be the consequence of not being given sufficient work, or not holding a clear enough knowledge of what is demanded. The source problem is often the perception of not being in control.
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Signs Of Work Anxiety
Although there is no work anxiety disorder, there are certain symptoms that are common in terms of anxiety disorders and anxiety in general. Below is a list of these symptoms:
- Excessive or irrational worrying
- Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
- Exaggerated startle reaction
- Feeling like there’s a lump in your throat
- Shaking or trembling
- Sweating
- A pounding/racing heart
In addition to these general symptoms of anxiety, there are also some signs to watch out for that may indicate that someone is experiencing work anxiety. Here is an overview of what to look for.
- Taking an unusual amount of time off work
- Overreacting to situations on the job
- Focusing too much on negative aspects of their job
- Struggling to concentrate or complete tasks by the deadline
Tip : Dont Skimp On Sleep
You may feel like you just dont have the time get a full nights sleep. But skimping on sleep interferes with your daytime productivity, creativity, problem-solving skills, and ability to focus. The better rested you are, the better equipped youll be to tackle your job responsibilities and cope with workplace stress.
Improve the quality of your sleep by making healthy changes to your daytime and nightly routines. For example, go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends, be smart about what you eat and drink during the day, and make adjustments to your sleep environment. Aim for 8 hours a nightthe amount of sleep most adults need to operate at their best.
Turn off screens one hour before bedtime. The light emitted from TV, tablets, smartphones, and computers suppresses your bodys production of melatonin and can severely disrupt your sleep.
Avoid stimulating activity and stressful situations before bedtime such as catching up on work. Instead, focus on quiet, soothing activities, such as reading or listening to soft music, while keeping lights low.
Stress and shift work
Working night, early morning, or rotating shifts can impact your sleep quality, which in turn may affect productivity and performance, leaving you more vulnerable to stress.
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Keep Perfectionism In Check
Being a high achiever might make you feel good about yourself and help you excel at work, but being a perfectionist can create problems for you .
You might not be able to do everything perfectly, every timeespecially in a busy, fast-paced job. A good strategy to avoid the perfectionism trap is always striving to just do your best and making time to congratulate yourself on your efforts. You may find that your results are better and youll be much less stressed at work.
Dont Compare Yourself To Others
There is a saying I like: Comparison is the thief of happiness. I have no idea who originally said it, but they are brilliant, and most of all, correct. Wasting time and energy comparing ourselves never leads us to a good place. Instead, ask yourself if you are doing the best you can given your own set of circumstances.
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If You Continue To Have Sleep Problems Not Falling Asleep Or Trouble Staying Asleep Consider Seeing A Doctor Or Scheduling A Sleep Study To See If A Medical Diagnosis More Than Just Stress May Be The Culprit
If you continue to have sleep problems, not falling asleep, or trouble staying asleep, consider seeing a doctor or scheduling a sleep study to see if a medical diagnosis more than just stress may be the culprit. Sleep is important to physical and mental health and ongoing sleep problems could indicate an issue that requires professional help or support.
How Can I Identify The Signs Of Stress
Everyone experiences stress. However, when it is affecting your life, health and wellbeing, it is important to tackle it as soon as possible, and while stress affects everyone differently, there are common signs and symptoms you can look out for:15
- feelings of constant worry or anxiety
- feelings of being overwhelmed
For full details on tips on getting a good nights sleep read our guide How to sleep better and ten top tips for good sleep
7. Dont be too hard on yourself
- Try to keep things in perspective.
- Remember that having a bad day is a universal human experience
- When your inner critic or an outer critic finds faults, try and find truth and exception to what is being said
- If you stumble or feel you have failed, dont beat yourself up
- Act as if you were your own best friend: be kind and supportive
- Take a few minutes each day to appreciate yourself
Now, we would like to move on to a more detailed look at the causes and effects of stress. In this section we will focus on the effects prolonged stress has on your body, behaviour and emotions, and look at key causes such as relationships, money, work, alcohol and drug use.
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Effects Of Work Anxiety
If you are living with work anxiety, it has probably taken a toll on multiple aspects of your life. Below are some of the most common effects of work anxiety, which can occur both within and outside the workplace:
- Experiencing reduced job performance and quality of work
- Seeing effects on relationships with coworkers and superiors
- Noticing effects on personal life
- Feeling effects on your relationship with your romantic partner
- Developing problems with concentration, fatigue, irritability, reduced productivity
- Turning down opportunities due to phobias
- Having reduced job satisfaction
- Noticing reduced confidence in your skills
- Feeling like what you do doesn’t make a difference
- Experiencing reduced goal setting and achievement
- Taking fewer risks and more likely to plateau in your career
- Feeling isolated
- Developing clinical levels of anxiety
- Seeing effects on the organization if you are an executive
- Having reduced social skills and ability to function within a team
- Planning less effectively
- Avoiding innovation
What Is The Americans With Disabilities Act
The ADA states employers cannot discriminate against employees with a disability. It protects qualified individuals with disabilities and states they can have reasonable accommodations at their job.
The accommodations in place to help them include:
- Modified equipment
- Having an alternative role in the company
- Making the workplace accessible to people with disabilities
ADA accommodations should be reasonable for the company. If someone wanted an alternative role, this could work for a bigger company with different positions. However, it might not work as well with a smaller company that only has a few positions.
Work with your employer to determine what accommodations you need. Some common accommodations employers make for employees with anxiety disorders could be a quieter work space, permission to use a white noise machine, shorter shifts or a modified schedule.
Note that under the law, employers can request an independent medical exam to confirm a reported diagnosis or disability. And be aware that, while it is illegal, discrimination still does occur. Be informed of your rights and be thoughtful about how and when you disclose a mental health diagnosis.
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