Combat Work Stress
Look around you at the faces of many people as you go about your daily work and life – stress is written over their faces. Stress at work is a silent killer, quietly eating away at you, until one day when it snaps. It has depleted you of your energy, it has made you unable to concentrate properly, your confidence is shaken, you are making mistakes, and your boss won’t admit that you and others are stressed.
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S/he just walks around with a smile on their face all the time - - recognize some of that?
Do you recognize these symptoms of stress – try headaches, increased blood pressure, upset stomachs, chest pain, unable to sleep at night – and probably quite a few others things.
If you are desperate to get back and kick butt at the office, then you are going to need to take note of a couple of simple methods to reduce it, just so it doesn’t get on top of you. And there are millions of people who are stressed, who are a “hazard in the workplace” according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the US. Stress costs the USA $190 billion in health care bills every year. Over 65% of adults admit that work causes them major stress problems.
Get rid of bad stress
But stress isn’t all bad – you get good stress and bad stress and we are talking bad stress here, the debilitating stress. It’s when the good stress builds up so much it turns into bad stress. Look what can cause it:
- You are nervous of being fired or laid off.
- There are budget cuts and you need to fill in and do overtime.
- Rising expectations on you.
- Pressure to produce all the time, at your peak.
How do you know if your stress is getting the best of you?
- Your mood starts becoming depressed; you are irritable or withdrawn.
- You are losing interest in your work; apathy has set in.
- You can’t sleep; feeling tired a lot of the time.
- You can’t concentrate.
- You have muscle tensions, stomach problems, and headaches.
- You turn to drugs or alcohol.
There are positive things to try which can change the way you feel so that you can manage the stress before it overwhelms you:
- Form Positive Relationships: They won’t solve the problems, but just verbalizing with friends you can trust will lessen the stress.
- Start to exercise if you aren’t: By exercising, you release endorphins which boost the mood, also taking your mind off stressful thoughts.
- Start to eat nutritious healthy foods: Get away from the comfort foods, the unhealthy takeaways as a way of managing stress. In the end, they exacerbate the problem. Eat carbs like whole-wheat bread, vegetables, high fiber foods, superfoods that have antioxidants in them and lean proteins with plenty of omega-3, noted to be excellent for stress and depression. Don’t seek a solution through alcohol because it is a natural depressant.
- Get your sleep: Stress sure can cause insomnia which makes you unable to face the next day with its problems and stresses. There are wonderful herbal calmers that will help you through the night to relax you.
- You need to start organizing yourself and prioritizing: When you feel overwhelmed, stress can assuredly befall you and clutch you in its claws. Clarify your goals and set deadlines. It does sound easier said than done, but you need to set realistic deadlines, writing down priorities and starting at the top, working yourself down your to-do list.
- Get rid of bad habits: Your outlook has a big impact on your ability to cope. If you are negative, you need to change your mindset to break bad habits that are keeping you back from performing at your best. You have to stay positive, resisting the need to be “perfect”.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that stress is a huge problem, but you can solve stress in the workplace by changing yourself.
Try and follow the tips given to try and bring your stress levels under control, just so you can have peace of mind which you will have if you are prepared to make some changes.
The breakthrough will come through for you – then you will see some positive things coming your way.
Work stress.
It’s a problem that most of us have, and the things that are stressing us out are often out of our control. Like, buying a Himalayan salt lamp is probably not going to change the fact that you’re running up against a deadline, or find someone to cover your shift when you have a family emergency.
But by stepping back and thinking carefully, we can recognize the things that are within our control.
So here are 6 work stress relief tactics to help you take back the reins–even if it’s just inch by inch.
#1: Breathe Chances are that some of these tactics won’t apply to your particular situation, but taking slow, intentional breaths is something that everyone can do. If focusing on your breath feels too difficult on its own, try pairing it with a count to ten, or with naming 6 things in the room that you can see, touch, hear, or smell.
Run a finger up your pinky as you inhale, and back down as you exhale.
The goal is to calm the fight-or-flight response that is super helpful when you’re being attacked by a grizzly bear, but less helpful when facing your email inbox or giving a presentation.
Recognizing this can help put you in a head-space that is more suited for the tasks at hand.
#2 Take a Quick Break
If you have some time to spare away from your workspace, try taking a quick break.
If the weather is nice and you haven’t seen the outdoors in a while, try taking a walk around the block.
This can help you gain some space from your thoughts in order to gain perspective.
The restroom can also live up to its name as a place to take a break.
If you’ve been sweating or working in a stuffy area all day, try washing your face with some cool water.
When we reached out for suggestions, one person even recommended taking this time to brush your teeth.
If you’ve got time for a coffee break, try sitting away from your workspace with your beverage for the amount of time it takes you to drink a cup.
#3 Make a List If you’ve got a lot on your plate and you don’t know where to start, step 1 might be making a list!
Even if you feel like there’s just one big task, try breaking it down into actionable parts.
Being able to cross something off a list helps give you a visualization of your progress.
It also helps to be a storage space for your thoughts.
Instead of trying to remember all of the tasks you have to accomplish in the future, you can write them down and choose which ones to focus on. Sometimes that means completing tasks on your list by priority.
Other times, it might mean crossing out a few easier things in order to work up to a more difficult one.
If you’re just plain old stuck on a challenging task, switching to a different project can sometimes help bump your brain into refocusing on the task instead of ruminating on how stressful something feels.
Time limits can also be an asset to your productivity.
That can mean allotting yourself 30 minutes for one task before diving into another. Or you can use the pomodoro method: alternating between intervals of work and rest.
Just be careful not to set yourself up for limits you can’t achieve, or you may actually cause yourself more stress.
#4 Socialize When facing a problem, asking another person’s opinion on it can often give you the key to solving it.
Everyone has a slightly different way of viewing the world, so keep your ears open for solutions you wouldn’t have thought of yourself. This can look like giving someone you trust a call on the phone, or it can look like setting up a meeting with your supervisor.
Your employers have already put time into to hiring and training you, so it’s in their best interest to help get you the tools you need to complete your job. Before meeting with your supervisor, give some thought to your situation and come prepared with some specific points to discuss.
You won’t always be able to make changes this way, but by politely and professionally bringing your concerns to your supervisor, they’ll at least have your concerns on their radar. If they’re a good supervisor, they’ll do their best to help you out.
If human interaction isn’t your thing, and your workplace allows pets, take some time to lavish attention on an animal you have their owner’s permission to interact with. It’s good for you, and them, so you’re multitasking!
#5 Exercise Exercise is clinically proven to reduce stress.
But exercising doesn’t necessarily mean building a hardcore workout into your work routine. For the majority of us, just walking around the block or biking to work can make a huge difference.
Or psych your co-workers out with a wall-sit stare-down.
If you’re looking for something a little more challenging to give you a nice endorphin-kick to the old noggin’, try out a class like yoga or join a sport to start out or finish your work day. If you’ve got extra time at lunch, try going on a walk or a run Consider building small fitness goals into your work week.
Being able to accomplish something for yourself, independent from your work can help remind you that you are more than what you do for an income.
Which brings us to our final tactic... #6 The Big Picture Remember that you are a multi-faceted human being, and that your work at the job you do is only one facet.
It may be an important facet, but putting all of your self-worth-eggs in one career-basket isn’t setting yourself up to succeed. And it isn’t an accurate portrayal of the complex organism that is you.
When we reached out for stress-relief strategies, one response we got was summarized with a Buddhist proverb: "If you have a problem that can be fixed, then there is no use in worrying.
If you have a problem that cannot be fixed, then there is no use in worrying." Even the most successful people you can think of have made mistakes, or felt like they bit off more than they could chew.
It’s part of being human. So take a step back from your zoomed-in position, be kind to yourself, evaluate your options, and take incremental steps towards where you’d like to be.
Thanks so much for watching.
It’s a problem that most of us have, and the things that are stressing us out are often out of our control. Like, buying a Himalayan salt lamp is probably not going to change the fact that you’re running up against a deadline, or find someone to cover your shift when you have a family emergency.
But by stepping back and thinking carefully, we can recognize the things that are within our control.
So here are 6 work stress relief tactics to help you take back the reins–even if it’s just inch by inch.
#1: Breathe Chances are that some of these tactics won’t apply to your particular situation, but taking slow, intentional breaths is something that everyone can do. If focusing on your breath feels too difficult on its own, try pairing it with a count to ten, or with naming 6 things in the room that you can see, touch, hear, or smell.
Run a finger up your pinky as you inhale, and back down as you exhale.
The goal is to calm the fight-or-flight response that is super helpful when you’re being attacked by a grizzly bear, but less helpful when facing your email inbox or giving a presentation.
Recognizing this can help put you in a head-space that is more suited for the tasks at hand.
#2 Take a Quick Break
If you have some time to spare away from your workspace, try taking a quick break.
If the weather is nice and you haven’t seen the outdoors in a while, try taking a walk around the block.
This can help you gain some space from your thoughts in order to gain perspective.
The restroom can also live up to its name as a place to take a break.
If you’ve been sweating or working in a stuffy area all day, try washing your face with some cool water.
When we reached out for suggestions, one person even recommended taking this time to brush your teeth.
If you’ve got time for a coffee break, try sitting away from your workspace with your beverage for the amount of time it takes you to drink a cup.
#3 Make a List If you’ve got a lot on your plate and you don’t know where to start, step 1 might be making a list!
Even if you feel like there’s just one big task, try breaking it down into actionable parts.
Being able to cross something off a list helps give you a visualization of your progress.
It also helps to be a storage space for your thoughts.
Instead of trying to remember all of the tasks you have to accomplish in the future, you can write them down and choose which ones to focus on. Sometimes that means completing tasks on your list by priority.
Other times, it might mean crossing out a few easier things in order to work up to a more difficult one.
If you’re just plain old stuck on a challenging task, switching to a different project can sometimes help bump your brain into refocusing on the task instead of ruminating on how stressful something feels.
Time limits can also be an asset to your productivity.
That can mean allotting yourself 30 minutes for one task before diving into another. Or you can use the pomodoro method: alternating between intervals of work and rest.
Just be careful not to set yourself up for limits you can’t achieve, or you may actually cause yourself more stress.
#4 Socialize When facing a problem, asking another person’s opinion on it can often give you the key to solving it.
Everyone has a slightly different way of viewing the world, so keep your ears open for solutions you wouldn’t have thought of yourself. This can look like giving someone you trust a call on the phone, or it can look like setting up a meeting with your supervisor.
Your employers have already put time into to hiring and training you, so it’s in their best interest to help get you the tools you need to complete your job. Before meeting with your supervisor, give some thought to your situation and come prepared with some specific points to discuss.
You won’t always be able to make changes this way, but by politely and professionally bringing your concerns to your supervisor, they’ll at least have your concerns on their radar. If they’re a good supervisor, they’ll do their best to help you out.
If human interaction isn’t your thing, and your workplace allows pets, take some time to lavish attention on an animal you have their owner’s permission to interact with. It’s good for you, and them, so you’re multitasking!
#5 Exercise Exercise is clinically proven to reduce stress.
But exercising doesn’t necessarily mean building a hardcore workout into your work routine. For the majority of us, just walking around the block or biking to work can make a huge difference.
Or psych your co-workers out with a wall-sit stare-down.
If you’re looking for something a little more challenging to give you a nice endorphin-kick to the old noggin’, try out a class like yoga or join a sport to start out or finish your work day. If you’ve got extra time at lunch, try going on a walk or a run Consider building small fitness goals into your work week.
Being able to accomplish something for yourself, independent from your work can help remind you that you are more than what you do for an income.
Which brings us to our final tactic... #6 The Big Picture Remember that you are a multi-faceted human being, and that your work at the job you do is only one facet.
It may be an important facet, but putting all of your self-worth-eggs in one career-basket isn’t setting yourself up to succeed. And it isn’t an accurate portrayal of the complex organism that is you.
When we reached out for stress-relief strategies, one response we got was summarized with a Buddhist proverb: "If you have a problem that can be fixed, then there is no use in worrying.
If you have a problem that cannot be fixed, then there is no use in worrying." Even the most successful people you can think of have made mistakes, or felt like they bit off more than they could chew.
It’s part of being human. So take a step back from your zoomed-in position, be kind to yourself, evaluate your options, and take incremental steps towards where you’d like to be.
Thanks so much for watching.
