How To Stop Stressing About Work

Managing Common Stressful Situations At Work

If you feel stressed by a certain problem at work, you might not be alone in this.

Anyone can experience some of these common stressful situations in the workplace. The important thing is understanding how to manage them.

Problems with your workload

• Ask your manager for help. Discuss your workload with your manager. Try setting realistic targets and talk about how you can solve the issues you’re having.
• Try to balance your time. You might be doing too much at once. If you don’t give each task your full attention, it can take longer. Try to claim your time back if you ever need to work extra hours to get something done.
• Reward yourself for achievements. Rather than only focusing on work that needs to be done next, reward yourself for tasks youâve completed. Your reward could be taking a break to read, do a puzzle, chat with co-workers or spend time outside.
• Be realistic. You don’t have to be perfect all the time. You might find that you’re being more critical of your own work than you need to be. Work within your limitations and try to be kind to yourself.

“I don’t take on too much at one time, little steps are the way. Breathing strategies, having a mindset and thinking, ‘I can do this!'”

Difficult work-life balance

Lack of support in your workplace

“My work has become a strong support system. My work colleagues have become like family and there is a mutual respect in how we treat one another.”

Time Management Tips For Reducing Job Stress

Create a balanced schedule. All work and no play is a recipe for burnout. Try to find a balance between work and family life, social activities and solitary pursuits, daily responsibilities and downtime.

Leave earlier in the morning. Even 10-15 minutes can make the difference between frantically rushing and having time to ease into your day. If youre always running late, set your clocks and watches fast to give yourself extra time and decrease your stress levels.

Plan regular breaks. Make sure to take short breaks throughout the day to take a walk, chat with a friendly face, or practice a relaxation technique. Also try to get away from your desk or work station for lunch. It will help you relax and recharge and be more, not less, productive.

Establish healthy boundaries. Many of us feel pressured to be available 24 hours a day or obliged to keep checking our smartphones for work-related messages and updates. But its important to maintain periods where youre not working or thinking about work. That may mean not checking emails or taking work calls at home in the evening or at weekends.

Dont over-commit yourself. Avoid scheduling things back-to-back or trying to fit too much into one day. If youve got too much on your plate, distinguish between the shoulds and the musts. Drop tasks that arent truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely.

Simple Ways To Relieve Stress And Anxiety

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Stress and anxiety are common experiences for most people. In fact, 70% of adults in the United States say they feel stress or anxiety daily.

Here are 16 simple ways to relieve stress and anxiety.

Exercise is one of the most important things you can do to combat stress.

It might seem contradictory, but putting physical stress on your body through exercise can relieve mental stress.

The benefits are strongest when you exercise regularly. People who exercise regularly are less likely to experience anxiety than those who dont exercise .

There are a few reasons behind this:

• Stress hormones: Exercise lowers your bodys stress hormones such as cortisol in the long run. It also helps release endorphins, which are chemicals that improve your mood and act as natural painkillers.
• Sleep: Exercise can also improve your sleep quality, which can be negatively affected by stress and anxiety.
• Confidence: When you exercise regularly, you may feel more competent and confident in your body, which in turn promotes mental wellbeing.
• Try to find an exercise routine or activity you enjoy, such as walking, dancing, rock climbing or yoga.

Activities such as walking or jogging that involve repetitive movements of large muscle groups can be particularly stress relieving.

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Be Clear On Requirements

A factor known to contribute to job burnout is unclear requirements for employees. If you dont know exactly what is expected of you, or if the requirements for your role keep changing with little notice, you might become extremely stressed.

If you find yourself never knowing if what you are doing is enough, it may help to have a talk with your supervisor. You can take the time to go over expectations and discuss strategies for meeting them. This can relieve stress for both of you!

St Step To Overcome Stress Eating

Honor your hunger.

This is something Ive talked about before.

Honoring your hunger is the 2nd Step in the Intuitive Eating framework I was trained in while getting my Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University.

If you are letting 5 or more hours go by without eating, you will not be able to stop yourself from overeating.

So you need to feed yourself.

So many times workers in the Bay Area get so busy with work they forget to eat.

You need to break free of this mindset and embrace the fact that you need to either bring food with you to work, or get some meal breaks during work.

Theres a great article that I wrote about hunger, titled How Your Hunger Heals Food Fear with Santa Clara Eating Disorder Therapist

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Simple Ways To Deal With Stress At Work

• Listen to Music

Research has indicated that the percentage of Americans who are stressed at work is highand its only getting higher. According to a survey of more than 2,000 full-time U.S. employees, ages 18-79, more than half of employees find themselves stressed during at least 60 percent of the workweek.

Work stress has significant health consequences that range from relatively benign to potentially serious .

While stress at work is common, finding a low-stress job is hard . A more realistic approach is to adopt effective coping strategies to reduce stress at your current job. Here are some stress management techniques you can try if you are finding it hard to cope with work stress

Why You Should Stop Overthinking

According to a 2013 study by the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, thinking too much about your problems, mistakes or shortcomings can increase your risk of health problems. Reducing overthinking can lower stress, help you sleep better and positively affect your career.

Stress levels can have a big impact on your work performance. Getting rid of stress can help you increase your motivation, focus on short- and long-term goals and have better interactions with your colleagues. When people are more relaxed, they often feel like they have more control over big decisions and the ways they complete individual tasks.

Avoiding overthinking can also help you fall asleep at night as well. Better sleep has many of the same benefits as lower stress levels, including an improved mood, better motivation and more focus. Instead of delaying or avoiding asking for a raise, a promotion or additional training because of overthinking, you should take the actions needed to improve your career.

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Set Screen Time Limits For Yourself

The fact that were all constantly connected definitely doesnt help our work obsession. Were able to stay attached to our workwhether were at the pharmacy or out to eat with our family. In fact, the average American checks their phone once every 12 minutes .

Youve probably heard the warnings that this excessive amount of screen time negatively impacts your psychological well-being.

Many of these types of screen time studies have been focused on children and adolescents, but the same premise likely holds true for all of uswhich youll know firsthand if your own mood has ever been sent into a nosedive by taking a quick peek at your work emails.

Needless to say, setting limits on your own screen time can not only give your mental health a boost, but also give you some more psychological distance between your personal time and your work time.

Food To Help Manage Stress

Eating a well-balanced diet may help reduce the impact that stress has on your body by lowering blood pressure, boosting immune health, and stabilizing mood .

Here are some examples of foods that may help reduce stress :

• Vitamin C rich foods, such as oranges and grapefruit .
• Complex carbs such as whole grain, vegetables, and fruit .
• Magnesium-rich foods such as spinach and salmon .
• Foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, walnuts, and pistachios .

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How Do I Stop Worrying About The Past

The past can be our worst enemy. We grow as people and learn, and we regret what weve did in the past or what others have done to you. Theres a chance youre stronger by miles compared to your past, yet youre still focused on the past. Learning to change the channel of your thoughts and think about the present more is difficult, but it is possible. Here are some ways.

Overall, its important to acknowledge that your thoughts are in the past, but you need to find ways to return to the present.

Dont Suffer In Silence

If your workload is unmanageable, its a good idea to speak to your boss. This can be a daunting prospect, but making a plan before your discussion will help. Revisit your job description before the meeting. Explain to your boss the tasks you are involved in, how long they take, the resources they require, why you find them challenging, and practical suggestions for a solution, suggests Sarah Connell, a business psychologist and founder of MindingMe Psychologists.

Try to control your emotions in the meeting, remain calm and professional. Focus on concerns about quality to demonstrate you are still committed to doing a good job, she says. It is not a sign of weakness, asking for help, and your manager may not realise how much work you have on.

David Webb, writer and editor at employment relations specialist Acas, says that if your boss is professional, you should get a positive reaction when raising the issue. The situation may be because of a temporary factor you are unaware of, and they may be able to help in some way. This is an ideal scenario, but unfortunately not always the case. If a bad boss is putting extra work on you without caring, then thats a more difficult situation, he says. In these circumstances, it is worth speaking to a trade union or employee representative and look into the companys grievance procedure.

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How Do You Stop Caring About Things You Can’t Control

When it comes to worries, one of the problems you should stop worrying about is something you can’t control. The idea is to put your energy into something you can control, but for many, this is hard. Here are some ways you can stop worrying or caring.

• Make a list of what you can and can’t control. Focus and put your energy toward what you’re able to control, and hopefully, you’ll start to worry less.
• Practicing meditative mindfulness is a good way for you to stop caring. Mindfulness teaches you to let go of any self-defeating thoughts or circumstances you can’t control, and instead worry about the here and now.
• Notice how you cope with your worries. Do you spend time thinking about them endlessly, or do you come up with solutions? When you start to focus on what you can change, come up with a plan. Mentally strong people solve problems and they dont ruminate as much.
• Seek help from a therapist. One technique a therapist can teach you is cognitive behavioral therapy, where you can learn to control how you react by changing your thoughts and habits.

They can help identify your fears concerning what you cant control. For example, if youre always predicting a catastrophic outcome, why do you do that? The people and circumstances youve faced can be one reason why you feel this way. Learning to spend less time with catastrophic predictions and endless rumination may require some therapy.

Before Enjoying Your Vacation Stop At The Atm To Get Some Cash First

One of the more common mistakes people make when going on a vacation is not bringing cash with them all the time. If you go on a vacation, before you leave the airport, make sure to make a stop at the ATM or exchange your money for the local currency. Even if you bring your credit card, theres a good chance that you might incur an expense somewhere where they dont accept card payment.

In case it happens that you just took a cab from the airport and you dont have cash on hand, you can always call your hotel and ask for help. But, to be ready for all eventualities, make sure to have cash with you all the time.

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How Can I Worry Less And Enjoy Life More

Learning to stop wasting your time ruminating over thoughts you can’t control is the first step. Using mindfulness to stop the worrying conversations in your head is a good first step. If you doubt your ability to solve a problem, find ways to improve it. With that said, how can you enjoy your life more? Here are a few ways.

• Find something that makes you happy. A new hobby could be needed.
• Exercise and eat right. Improving your health can make you enjoy your life.
• Learn to enjoy every day and realize that you’re lucky to be here right now.
• Enjoy what you have, but gladly want to improve yourself even more.

Use The 20 Minute Trick

One trick that has been helpful for me is the 20-minute rule. When I feel an urge to stress eat, Ill put 20 minutes on the clock and do something to preoccupy my time, such as reading .

After the 20 minutes are up, Ill reassess how Im feeling. If I still feel a strong urge to eat, Ill add another 20 minutes to the clock and repeat the process.

Cravings can lose their power if you give them enough time. Ill admit, this strategy can be tough initially, but like anything, the more you do it, the better youll get.

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When Changing Jobs May Be The Answer

Sometimes, despite all of your best efforts to maintain your sanity, its just impossible to deal with your work, whether thats because of a toxic work culture, excessive demands, or overwhelming pressure. If you have tried everything and are still stuck with anxiety at work, it may be time for you to rethink your career. Ask yourself:

• Do I want to change job roles and duties?
• Do I want to look for a job at a healthier and happier workplace?

Remember that no job is worth your physical or mental well-being.

Who Else Can Help With Work Stress

The HSE supports anyone who is responsible for tackling work-related stress in an organisation.

That might be the person who has responsibility for human resources, a health and safety officer, trade union representatives or line managers.

The HSE believes good management practices can help reduce work-related stress. It offers a management standards approach to help employers take sensible and practical steps to minimise stress in the workplace.

Your GP can also help. Doctors aren’t experts in employment law, but they can help you analyse the situation and refer you to more specialised help if necessary.

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Taking Steps To Manage Stress

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Listen To Music On The Drive Home

Listening to music offers many benefits and can be an effective way to relieve stress before, during, and after work. Playing an uplifting song while you make breakfast can help you start the day off feeling better prepared to interact with the people in your life. Likewise, combating the stress of a long day with your favorite music on the drive home can help you wind down and feel less stressed when you get there.

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How Do You Take Things Less Personally

Some people take everything personally, even if it isn’t about them. Here are some ways that you can stop taking things so personally.

• Find ways to make yourself feel more confident. If you lack confidence, you may be offended at every remark, or think that everyone is talking about you. By changing your behavior to think more highly of yourself, you can stop taking things so personally.
• Realize that people are probably not talking about you, and if you make a scene, it shines a spotlight on your insecurities. Not every vague Facebook post is about you.
• If someone doesn’t stop making personal remarks toward you, cut them out of your life. While you shouldn’t let every remark get to your personally, it goes both ways.
• Learn to ignore the haters and not feed the trolls.
• Meditation and mindfulness can help increase your chances of not letting everything get personally.
• Find other hobbies or habits to spend on your energy on rather than worrying about how people will perceive you. Practice ways to increase your confidence or find healthy stress relievers.
• Seek help from support groups and therapists. Changing your mental effort and attitude toward taking things personally may be the answer.