How To Manage Your Stress At Work

Come Up With Healthy Responses

When you are trying to fight workplace stress, dont indulge in unhealthy coping mechanisms like junk food or alcohol. Instead, you can try developing healthier habits that enable you to relieve stress and make you more active and productive.

Various types of exercise can help you beat stress. Trying yoga can help you center yourself and find peace. Any physical activity after work can be beneficial for you. Setting aside time for taking part in activities that can lift your mood can help you improve your performance at work.

Another healthy stress-reliever is getting enough sleep. A good night of sleep can improve your mood and enable you to give your best at work. You should work on maintaining healthy sleeping habits.

Stay Away From Conflict

Interpersonal conflict takes a toll on your physical and emotional health. Conflict among co-workers can be difficult to escape, so its a good idea to avoid conflict at work as much as you can.

Dont gossip, dont share too many of your personal opinions about religion and politics, and steer clear of “colorful” office humor.

When possible, try to avoid people who dont work well with others. If conflict finds you anyway, make sure you know how to handle it appropriately.

Eat Healthy And Nutritious Foods

Photo Credit: Stacy via Flickrs Creative Commons

Ever heard the phrase eat your feelings?

Its a real phenomenon. Many people turn to unhealthy comfort foods as stress management at work.

Safe to safe that dealing with work stress in this manner is not good. Why does this happen? When were stressed, our brain releases the hormone cortisol, which makes us crave salty, sweet, and fat-laden foods for the temporary pleasure they bring. But ironically, stress eating only exacerbates the problem.

Sugar or fat-laden foods like pizza, burgers, and ice cream make us feel lethargic, and less likely to tackle the problems that lay before us, which in turn only increases our stress. Thats why its so important to eat healthy foods that are rich in complex carbohydrates that fuel our brains and support concentration and focus. This will give you the power to learn how to handle work pressure & how to overcome stress at work. Not sure what to eat? Here are some tips: Eat this:

• Complex carbs like whole wheat bread or pasta and vegetables
• Foods high in fiber like fruits and vegetables
• Superfoods like Kale, Dark Chocolate, and blueberries, which contain mood-boosting antioxidants
• Lean proteins like chicken, or better yet, wild-caught Alaskan Salmon

Avoid this:

And dont forget, no other food category impacts your overall diet like snacking. The availability of healthy snacks will help improve your diet and keep your stress in check.

Also Check: What Can You Do To Get Rid Of Stress

Take Time For Planning

Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. -Abraham Lincoln

One hour of effective planning could save hours of time. Rather than just rushing in and getting started on projects, take the time to map everything out.

You can take the time to think about the purpose of the project, the deadline, the desired results, KPIs, and possible challenges.

Having absolute clarity on the project, the project deliverables, and the result you want can save a lot of time. It also gets you clear on the priorities and timelines, so you can block out the required amount of time to focus and concentrate on your heavy workload.

Getting yourself a planner like the Full Life Planner will help yourself plan ahead and have your everyday life organized better. Check out the planner here and start to plan your projects and tasks effectively.

Simple Ways To Reduce Stress In The Workplace

Kristin Ryba

Stress is one of the most daunting obstacles to employee engagement in the modern workplace.

Studies estimate that stress costs U.S. businesses an estimated $300 billion annually, and the workplace has been identified as the number one source of stress for American workers.

Workload, lack of job security, and personnel problems gang up on and overwhelm employees, dragging down their satisfaction levels. In fact, the negative consequences from stress are so strong that it has been declared a World Wide Epidemic by the World Health Organization.

While many have tried to construct all-encompassing lists of stress reduction tactics, recent studies have shown there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

In the workplace, employee-environment fit should be the primary focus. If it’s a good match, the employee is likely to be relaxed. A poor fit increases tension and stress.

As managers and companies, we need to examine our employees and the environments we create for them. We need to make sure we are providing an office that fits our employees’ definition of not stressful, not just what we think that looks like.

We have a few broad ideas that can be used to alleviate workplace stress, but make sure you tailor them to your workforce. Put these ideas into action and remember, the best strategies start with leaderships example.

Recommended Reading: What Is The Best Way To Manage Stress

Thoroughly Log Each And Every Day

It goes hand in hand with keeping a personal journal, but this time its about work, not personal feelings and experiences. Keep a detailed log of each project and be always ready to pick up from where you left one day or one week ago in just a matter of minutes. Its not only a productivity enhancer, although it will help you be more productive, but its more on the accountability area.

When you work from home youre your own boss. And, for any of you who are bosses, this is not an easy position. You gotta keep track of all the information about your team and of every advancement in your projects. Thats what a boss is supposed to do, after all. When you work from home you have to perform this bossy role too, otherwise you will be lost in your own unfinished ideas and endless project stubs faster than you think.

How To Handle Stress At Work

• Luana Marques, PhD, Contributor

If youre currently working, you probably know what it feels like to be stressed on the job. A must-do project arrives without warning. Three emails stack up for each one you delete. Phones ring, meetings are scheduled, a coworker drops the ball on a shared assignment.

Recommended Reading: How To Deal With Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Impacted Personal And Workplace Relationships

Stress can prevent employees from devoting energy toward their relationships.

Workplace stress makes it difficult for employees to form positive workplace relationships. It can also chip away at existing bonds with peers.

Beyond workplace relationships, personal relationships suffer, too.

Overly stressed employees might find it difficult not to bring those negative feelings home. This can blur the healthy boundary between your job and personal life. Having work-life balance gives you the time to invest in strong, healthy relationships.

Take Care Of Your Physical Health

One of the most important things you can do for your physical and mental health is exercise and eat well. Although it may seem like a lot of work, the payoff is worth it. Exercise can release endorphins that make you feel good and help manage stress, depression and anxiety.

Eating well means eating food that will nourish your body and provide you with all the minerals and vitamins your body needs to deal with a stressful work environment. Looking after your physical health is vital for your well-being. The benefits are numerous, including increased energy, improved moods, reduced pain, better sleep quality and much more.

You may think that physical health has nothing to do with your mental health, but this is not the case. Your physical health can have a significant impact on your mental wellbeing. If you are not taking care of your body, then you are likely not taking care of your mind.

Physical health plays a significant role in determining a person’s quality of life. Studies have shown that a person who has good physical fitness and good mental health is more likely to be successful in the workplace and in other areas of their life.

Recommended Reading: How To Avoid Stress Eating

Talk To Your Supervisor

The health of employees can have an effect on the companys productivity. It is essential for supervisors to look after their employees if they want the best performance possible. Of course, your boss has an incentive to create an environment that promotes the well-being of the workers.

Having an open conversation with your supervisor can help you move in the right direction. You dont have to complain about the problems you are facing. Instead, you can list out all the ways you feel you can combat workplace stress. You can let your supervisor know about all the stressors for you at work and how to overcome them.

It is essential that you discuss all the aspects of the workplace that might be affecting your productivity and work. You can also make suggestions about improving the physical workspace and making it more comfortable for everyone.

Try To Find Humor In The Situation

Stress isnât funny, but some situations that cause stress can be seen as humorous if you make the effort.

A good laugh is a good thing. Research has shown that laughter reduces stress and has other positive benefits. Not only does it relieve the stress response, but it brings more oxygen into your body, activates your body, and soothes tension.

Being angry or worrying, on the other hand, is extremely unhealthy, harming your heart, your immune system, and even increasing your risk for stroke.

Finding humor in a situation means:

• You never laugh AT a person. No one person is the target of the humor.
• You laugh about the ridiculousness of the situation.
• You compare a situation to a funny metaphor.
• You laugh about a similar situation in the past and try to show the current situation as a temporary problem.

Youâve probably been in that moment where it feels as if a situation could get very ugly very easily, and then someone cracks a joke and the tension seems to immediately leave. Thatâs what youâre aiming for.

Also Check: How Does Stress Affect Mental And Emotional Health

Rely On A Strong Support Network

Keep in touch with trusted friends and family members to help cope with stressful work situations.

If youre struggling with an especially challenging work week, try asking parent friends if they can help out with carpooling your kids to school on certain days.

Having people you can rely on during the tough times can alleviate some of the built-up tension.

How To Avoid Overload As A Manager

Youve got to get through a huge volume of work daily. Workload pressure from downsizing, extra responsibilities. Role of manager is turning complex and unwieldy.

TIPS:

Clear objectives

Check in with your direct manager daily to ensure you and your team are working towards his main priorities. These can change often, and daily checking in will help you avoid working towards wrong goals.

Delegation

Avoid delegating to only certain individuals of whom you know will deliver work for you, ensure to include all the members of your team when youre delegating, this will help them learn and grow.

Learn to say no

Of course, it is hard to admit that you and your team dont have the time, resources or mental capacity to take on another task. If you are struggling with your workload, the chances are, your team struggles too, its your responsibility and your duty of care to set boundaries and prevent them from more stress.

Read Also: How To Deal With Financial Stress

What About Employees Who Arent Vocal

Everyonehas their own behaviors and react to stress and fear differently. Thats why,as a leader you should make every effort to build communication with your team,even those that are seclusive.

Tryasking them directlyif theyre feeling OK and let them know they can be honest with you. Ifthat person is still uncomfortable to share their concerns with you, here are afew other things to try:

• Show that you care Let them know that you careabout them as a person
• Acknowledge or recognize their work Let themknow youre aware theyve taken on lots of work and show your appreciation
• Reduce their workload Move people or tasksaround to lighten their load
• Ask them indirectly Check with a closecolleague or friend if everything is OK

Inculcate A Habit Of Meditation

Meditation is an excellent technique for stress relief. According to the US National Health Interview 2016, 60% of the meditators who meditate for stress management, say that meditation actually provides them stress relief. Along with this, a report presented by the project- Meditation also highlighted that meditation reduces anxiety levels by 60%. Thus, you can experience great stress relief with meditation.

Further, regular meditation empowers your resilience against stress. As a result, you no longer succumb to the damaging impacts of stress. Meditation also helps you in eliminating the constant chit-chat of intruding thoughts which goes on in the mind. As a result, you reclaim back your inner peace.

In order to meditate, you just have to follow the simple procedure given below:

Further, you can also learn meditation by consulting guided meditation videos available on YouTube.

Read Also: How To Deal With Stress At Night

Healthier Habits To Reduce Workplace Anxiety

Avoid alcohol, caffeine and nicotine

• Nicotine and caffeine are stimulants which means that they can subsequently increase your anxiety.
• Alcohol can make you feel low as it is a depressant.
• These substances can negatively affect your sleep thus leaving you feeling more stressed.

Get enough sleep

Stress and anxiety may be keeping you up at night which can make you more susceptible to stress. Having a good night’s sleep will increase your concentration, help you regulate your emotions and cope with stress more effectively.

If you find that you are struggling to sleep at night, sleep hygiene is a useful technique to build-up a healthy sleep pattern:

Eat well

Make sure you are eating healthily as this:

• Improves mood
• Helps you think more clearly
• Increases your energy

Here are some tips:

Be active

Our mental health and physical health are strongly linked physical activity releases endorphins which naturally increase mood thus reducing stress. Try to do at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day – this can be throughout the day if it’s easier than exercising 30 minutes in one go.

Big changes to your daily routine are usually not needed to achieve this, for example, you could get off at the bus stop before your usual bus stop when travelling to work.

Relaxation

Drink Alcohol In Moderation And Avoid Nicotine

Alcohol temporarily reduces anxiety and worry, but too much of it can cause anxiety when it subsides. Drinking to reduce stress at work can ultimately lead to alcohol abuse and dependence.

Similarly, smoking may have a calming effect when you feel stressed and overwhelmed, but nicotine is a powerful stimulant – leading to higher, not lower, anxiety levels.

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What Are The Signs Of Work

Signs of stress at work include the following feelings or behaviours when you are at work or in relation to your work:

• irritable, impatient or wound up
• over-burdened
• tense and tired
• restless or panicked.

Over time, these symptoms can lead to mental health problems, such as depression or anxiety, or physical conditions such as such as chronic headaches or heart disease.

More On Dealing With A Heavy Workload

Suppose you finally took the plunge: resigned your corporate job, decided to follow the passion of your life and , you started to work from home. Welcome to the club! Been there for a few years now and, guess what, it turned out that working from home is not as simple as I thought it would be.

It certainly has a tons of advantages, but those advantages wont come in a sugary, care free, or all pinky and happy-go-lucky package. On the contrary. When you work from home, maintaining a constant productivity flow may be a real challenge. And there are many reasons for that.

For instance, you may still unconsciously assimilate your home with your relaxation space, hence a little nap on the couch, in the middle of the day, with still a ton of unfinished tasks, may seem like a viable option. Well, not! Or, because youre working from home now, you think you can endlessly postpone some of your projects for ever, since nobody is on your back anymore. Youre your own boss and decided to be a gentle one. Fatal mistake. Or

OK, lets stop with the reasons right here and move on to the practical part. So, what can you do to squeeze each and every inch of usefulness and productivity from your new working space and schedule ? What follows is a short list of what I found to be fundamentally necessary when you walk on this path.

Recommended Reading: How Can I Stop Stressing

How To Handle Your Stress And Reduce Your Overwhelm

If you often feel like your work is piling on top of you, or that youre constantly playing catch-up, you may wish to adopt a few of these stress-relief strategies and manage your work in a more productive way: