A little stress helps sharpen your focus and improves your performance at work. However, if you are getting overwhelmed at work and your stress levels are higher than normal, then you are at risk of developing serious mental and physical health illnesses and you need swiftly find ways to deal with it.
There are so many causes of stress at the workplace; a toxic environment, low remuneration, too much work and poor relationships with your work colleagues. If you feel stressed out at work, take a step back and find the cause of your stress. If it’s something you can address immediately, do it.
Here are ways to manage stress at work.
Reconnect with your family and friends
Your family and close friends always have your back. Sometimes even the cause of your stress is that you have no work-life balance and your social life is suffering.
If you realize you are stressed out, make a deliberate effort to spend more time with your family and friends.
Leave the office in good time to catch up with your kids before they retire to bed. Don’t carry office work to your home and spend the weekends without checking your office mails.
Here is an article that covers 81+ statistics around workplace stress & employee burnout:
Speak up
Do not suffer in silence. If you feel you are stressed out, talk to your supervisor about reducing your workload or making a better working environment for everyone. While at it, you can ask for days off so you can de-compress.
While you are on your off days, completely keep of work-related issues. Indulge yourself by going on a road trip and catching up on your favorite TV series and game of thrones cave drawings.
If need be, seek professional help from a qualified therapist.
Manage your time better
Refining your time management skills could help alleviate your stress. If you are always running late on delivering a project after the other and getting the flak for it, then it may be time to look at the way you manage your time.
If you procrastinate and wait for a last-minute rush, then address it as soon as possible before it ruins your career and your health. If you feel overwhelmed by your job allocations, politely tell your boss “no”. If you already have other tasks to handle then your boss will understand.
Eat and exercise well
Your diet provides you with the energy you need to do your everyday duties. Having the wrong diet can lead to stress in addition to the inherent health risks of a poor diet. Worse, if you binge eat or drink excessively to cope with your stress.
While these methods may provide a temporary rush of pleasure, in the long run, they don’t address the root cause of your stress and all they do is worsen your health.
Instead, find healthy ways to deal with stress like exercising daily. Regular exercise inhibits the production of cortisol – the stress hormone- while stimulating the production of endorphins, which elevate your mood.
