Ways To Deal With Work Burnout
Advertising, marketing, PR, and design are industries that seem to pride themselves on how hard they work their employees. Theres a famous saying used by many creative directors and executives over the years: If you dont come in on Saturday, dont bother showing up on Sunday. Basically, if youre not ready to work 24/7, we dont want you.
However, with the advent of social media, the problem has increased exponentially. Now, advertising messages are being pushed out around the clock, and they’re not all automated. Someone has to create and schedule the messages, and it is leading to more stress, poor health, and worse.
While you might not be able to leave your job, there are ways to deal with burnout. Take a breath, relax, and check out the following 10 tips showing how to deal with burnout at work.
Tip : Reduce Stress At Work By Prioritizing And Organizing
When workplace stress threatens to overwhelm you, there are simple steps you can take to regain control of yourself and the situation. Your newfound ability to maintain a sense of self-control in stressful situations is often welcomed by employees, managers and subordinates alike, which can lead to better relationships in the workplace.
Here are some suggestions to reduce stress in the workplace by prioritizing and organizing your responsibilities.
Why Is It Important To Manage Stress In The Workplace
Effectively comes with several advantages for both your personal and professional life. If you’re experiencing stress about work, understanding the benefits of reducing your stress levels can encourage you to make a positive change in your own life away from work.
Here are some of the benefits of managing stress in the workplace:
-
Improved mental health: If you let stress take over, it can lower your confidence and well-being. Effectively managing your stress can give you the mental clarity and peace you and your body need.
-
Better job performance: Since stress can impact your focus, working to minimize it can help you concentrate for longer periods of time. In addition, staying focused on your tasks often means a greater output and increased quality of work.
-
Greater job satisfaction: When you effectively manage stress, you’re more apt to enjoy coming to work each day. This improves your overall job satisfaction while putting you in a good mood that can have a positive impact on others.
Related: How To Prevent Burnout at Work
Also Check: How To Cure Stress Incontinence Naturally
Effects Of Uncontrolled Stress At The Workplace
Work-related stress does not mean you are free of it as soon as you get home. The pressure you face every day at work can find its way into your life, even at home. It can take a toll on your physical and mental health.
Having to deal with constant workplace stress in the work environment can cause headaches, trouble sleeping, stomach aches, difficulty concentrating, a short temper and much more. Chronic stress due to work can also lead to insomnia, high blood pressure, anxiety and a weak immune system.
Often, stress can also lead to people using unhealthy or dangerous coping mechanisms. Experiencing excessive stress can cause people to start smoking, overeating, eating unhealthy food, abusing alcohol and drugs, etc.
Learn What Triggers Workplace Stress
Does conflict or yelling send your stress levels soaring? Do tight deadlines and unclear instructions leave you struggling to cope?
Learning what triggers your stress is the first step in stress management at work. Make a note of each situation you feel is increasing your stress. Try to recognize any patterns so you can tackle those specific stressors.
Read Also: How To Play Stressed Out On Piano
Prepare Ahead Of Time As Much As Possible
The most stressful time of the day for workers is the morning, or when they start their shift.
You canât always prepare everything ahead of time. If someone leaves a mess when you arrive for your shift, thereâs not much you can do about it other than try to work with them and get them to do better.
But, wherever possible, prep ahead of time. Think of it like this: how you start your work day sets the tone for the rest of it. If you start it in a panic, a rush, the whole day is going to be stressful. Itâll feel as if you never get caught up or on good footing.
Preparing ahead of time might be:
- Setting up tools or products that youâll need to use.
- Mentally considering challenges youâll face and how youâll diffuse them.
- Exercising, or physically preparing yourself for the work you need to do to avoid physical injury or tiredness.
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.
Don’t Miss: Is Medical Billing And Coding Stressful
Stressed About Work: 16 Tips To Manage Work
Related: How to Prevent Burnout While Working Your Remote Job
In this video, Sinead shares five ways you can prevent burnout while working from home, from setting your schedule to creating time to recharge.
If youre feeling stressed about work, knowing how to reduce your stress levels can help you find greater job satisfaction and help you avoid burning out.
In this article, we will explain the importance of managing stress in the workplace and list 16 tips to help you reduce your stress before, during and after work.
You Feel Exhausted All The Time
Feeling stressed really takes a toll on your mind and body. If your body perceives that its in danger, its going to have to work twice as hard to stay alert and keep you safe. It can also be really hard to get quality sleep when youve got so much on your mind!
What to do about it: Mindfulness and meditation can help you get into that deeper relaxed state. Try listening to a guided meditation before you fall asleep.
Read Also: Can Stress Cause Chronic Migraines
Make Time For Regular Exercise
Aerobic exerciseactivity that raises your heart rate and makes you sweatis a hugely effective way to lift your mood, increase energy, sharpen focus, and relax both the mind and body. Rhythmic movementsuch as walking, running, dancing, drumming, etc.is especially soothing for the nervous system. For maximum stress relief, try to get at least 30 minutes of activity on most days. If its easier to fit into your schedule, break up the activity into two or three shorter segments.
And when stress is mounting at work, try to take a quick break and move away from the stressful situation. Take a stroll outside the workplace if possible. Physical movement can help you regain your balance.
Youre Experiencing Headaches Or Stomach Aches
Headaches and digestive issues are commonly related to stress, and theres actually a lot of science behind this! When we get really stressed, our bodies can perceive that as danger and activate our fight or flight response. This response produces adrenaline, causes our heart race, and our bodies to shake. It can even slow down our digestion and restrict our blood vessels. As a result, we get headaches, stomach aches, and end up feeling exhausted.
What to do about it: Practicing mindfulness has really helped me relax before I get to the point of headaches and stomach aches. Check out: What is Mindfulness +7 Easy Ways to Practice it Daily
Recommended Reading: How To Decrease Stress In Life
Managing Common Stressful Situations At Work
If you feel stressed by a certain problem at work, you might not be alone in this.
Many of us may experience 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, if you have one. 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, doing a puzzle, chatting with co-workers or spending 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.”
Make Food Choices That Keep You Going
Low blood sugar can cause anxiety and irritability, while eating too much can make you lethargic. A healthy diet can help you get through stressful work days. By eating small but frequent meals, you can help your body maintain an even blood sugar level, maintain your energy levels, stay focused and avoid mood swings.
Recommended Reading: Does Stress Affect Blood Sugar Levels
Tips For Staying Sane When Work Is Stressing You Out
Workplace stress is a common problem. Any job can have stressful elements even if you love what you do. When you think about the question, What is stress? many people think of things like deadlines, traffic, over-commitment, having to deal with people they dont like, and the most popular of them not having enough time. Most of us think of stress as something that happens to us, but in reality, stress is really our response to all of these outside factors.
According to a survey from the American Psychological Association, more than one third of American workers experience chronic work stress . All this worrying at work can have serious consequences for our quality of life not only at work but everywhere else as well.
So how do we regain our sanity and take back our lives?
First: Track Your Stressors
Try keeping a journal, or even just jot down a few notes for a week or two when you start to get stressed out. Identify which situations create the most stress and how you respond to them. Record your thoughts, feelings and information about the environment, including the people and circumstances involved, the physical setting and how you reacted. Taking notes can help you find patterns among your stressors and your reactions to them.
You May Like: How To Eliminate Stress And Anxiety Forever
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.
Is Your Job The Cause Of Your Stress
Identify whether your job is to blame for your stress
Whether you love what you do, dread Mondays or fall somewhere between the two â work stress can be a real and disruptive force in our lives.
Ongoing stress can cause physical illness including headaches, migraines, fertility problems, heart issues and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Surprisingly though, stress isnât something we should always actively avoid, as Dr Tim Sharp, positive psychologist and founder of The Happiness Institute, explains.
âStress isnât always bad,â he says. âIn fact, we really should think about âgood stressâ and âbad stressâ. The latter is pretty obvious, but the former is important because it can be motivating and inspiring. Good stress is arousing, energising and can prepare us to be more productive and achieve more.â
You May Like: Is Stress Bad For Ms
Poor Relationships At Work
Poor workplace relationships can leave employees feeling isolated.
Conflict with co-workers can leave employees feeling anxious and avoidant about coming to work.
A non-inclusive cliquey environment can also be a source of stress. Employees not included in social groups at work will weaken employee relations. This prevents team members from building a sense of belonging and feeling valued.
Learn To Recognize Hidden Stress
Even if you work in a profession where the environment has become increasingly stressful, you can maintain a high level of self-control and self-confidence by understanding and practicing emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage and use your emotions positively and constructively. When it comes to satisfaction and success at work, emotional intelligence counts just as much as intellectual ability. Emotional intelligence means communicating with others in a way that draws people to you, overcomes differences, repairs hurt feelings, and reduces tension and stress.
Recommended Reading: How To Stop Stressing Out About Something
How To Deal With A Boss Who Stresses You Out
For the majority of employees, the leaders in their organizations are a source of stress rather than inspiration. Since bad bosses are ubiquitous, it is hard to avoid them. So whats the best way to deal with a stress-inducing boss? First, learn to predict their behavioral patterns and ensuing moods, which will help you prepare yourself for dealing with the situation. Try not to make things worse by being a source of stress yourself. If you annoy or upset your manager, or the work you produce is unacceptable, you can expect the worst aspects of their personality to emerge. Instead, make yourself indispensable to your boss, and ensure that he or she looks better with you on board. No matter how stress-inducing your boss might be, and how good you become at coping with their dark side, the only way to ensure you remain on their good side is by being a valuable resource to them.
You and Your Team Series
Get Plenty Of Sleep Exercise And Eat Well
It goes without saying that when we get stressed, we look for ways to soothe and comfort. For many of us, that involves eating comfort foods, drinking alcohol, and collapsing on the sofa to binge-watch TV. However, those activities rarely cure burnout and, in fact, can make you feel worse. Dont reach for the chips and the remote. Instead, create a plan to exercise more and eat healthier foods. Get a good eight hours of sleep every night. A few weeks, or months, of this and you will feel ready to take on the world.
Recommended Reading: Can Stress Cause High Eosinophils
Be Your Own Cheerleader
To avoid internal negativity and the stress that comes with it, focus on encouraging and positive thoughts that can provide you with the motivation you need to make it through your workdayno matter what challenges await. Motivating yourself can help increase your productivity and may influence others to do the same.
Avoid Irregular Work Schedules As Much As Possible
Salaried workers donât have to deal with varying work schedules, but hourly employees do. And itâs a huge stressor. Almost 30% of workers with irregular schedules report having serious work and family conflicts over the issue.
Random shift changes, on-call work schedules can all lead to stress, because workers are constantly in limbo when it comes to balance between work and life. They never know when theyâll need to work with much advance, and itâs difficult for them to make personal plans or even decompress when they could be called to work at any moment.
Try to create schedules that your employees can âbankâ on. Make sudden changes as rare as possible. Make it possible for your employees to rely on a steady schedule enough that they can arrange a solid personal life around their work schedule. This will help them return to work refreshed.
Read Also: How Can I Relieve Stress
Determine What You Can Control
Many people experience stress when they don’t feel in control of certain situations. To alleviate your stress, identify what aspects of a particular situation you can control and which you can’t. For example, while you control your actions, you can’t control the actions of others. Once you know what you can and can’t control, aim to let go of what you can’t change.
Tip : Break Bad Habits That Contribute To Workplace Stress
Many of us make job stress worse with negative thoughts and behavior. If you can turn these self-defeating habits around, youll find employer-imposed stress easier to handle.
Resist perfectionism. When you set unrealistic goals for yourself, youre setting yourself up to fall short. Aim to do your best no one can ask for more than that.
Flip your negative thinking. If you focus on the downside of every situation and interaction, youll find yourself drained of energy and motivation. Try to think positively about your work, avoid negative co-workers, and pat yourself on the back about small accomplishments, even if no one else does.
Dont try to control the uncontrollable. Many things at work are beyond our control, particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control, such as the way you choose to react to problems.
Look for humor in the situation. When used appropriately, humor is a great way to relieve stress in the workplace. When you or those around you start taking work too seriously, find a way to lighten the mood by sharing a joke or funny story.
Clean up your act. If your desk or work space is a mess, file and throw away the clutter just knowing where everything is can save time and cut stress.
Read Also: Does Stress Raise Blood Sugar In Diabetics
