Workplace stress touches most of us at one time or another. Restructuring means anxiety over job security. Although stressors may be an inherent part of work life, buckling under the pressure doesn’t have to be.
There are plenty of reasons to manage your workplace stress rather than accepting it as part and parcel of having a busy career. For starters, stress takes a heavy physical toll. It can cause headaches, stomach upset, irritability, depression, and even elevated blood pressure. Stress doesn’t exactly make you more productive on the job, either. It can strip away your ability to concentrate and process complex thoughts. Stress can make it difficult to find the motivation to complete tasks, which creates a negative feedback loop when you’re under pressure to perform. Here are some ways how to manage stress at work:
1.Know what stressed you out.
Sure, you’re stressed. But do you actually know why? Let’s say you often struggle to meet deadlines. Maybe a chatty coworker distracts you more frequently than you thought, or you’re lured away from your tasks by social media. Now that you’ve identified the root of the issue, you can work on regaining your focus.
2.Respond to stress in positive ways.
Try to combat stress in good ways like: Get plenty of exercise,eat a healthy diet,make time to get plenty of rest,schedule social time and connect with people regularly,meditate or practice yoga daily etc.
3.Don’t skip vacation.
It’s tempting, especially when job stress is high, to push onward and be a martyr. We all like to come across as committed to our work. Trust us. You need a vacation. Taking time off to rejuvenate ultimately makes workers more productive. Return to work relaxed and refreshed and you’ll be better equipped to get things done.
4.Act on what you can control,accept what you can’t.
Mindfulness, and a practice called radical acceptance, can help.Radical acceptance encourages you to look at distressing events as though you’re a casual observer with no stakes in the game. You begin by simply describing what happened, and your role in it, in the most objective terms possible. Then you assess what you had control over in that particular situation, and what you didn’t.Mindfulness challenges you to accept the things outside of your control. Why stress over things you’re powerless to change? It also helps you shift your emotional response from negative to neutral, or even productive, by teaching you to channel your energies toward acting (taking ownership of the things you do have control over) rather than simply reacting.
5.Ask for help when you need it.
Don’t be afraid to admit when you’re in the weeds. Everyone gets overwhelmed from time to time, and there’s no shame in asking for help when you truly need it. There are a few caveats to asking for help. First, make certain you’ve put in your best effort before you seek out assistance. Second, prepare any questions you have in advance. If you simply go to your boss with a complaint without offering any solutions, you’ll sound like you’re whining rather than being proactive about solving a problem.
6.Remember what you love about your job.
When you’re stressed out, it helps to take a few deep breaths and remember what you love about your job. Maybe the work is fulfilling, or you have great coworkers, or you’re actually living the dream of being what you always wanted to be when you grew up. It’s impossible to feel both grateful and fearful or angry at the same time, so remind yourself from time to time that there are good things about your job even when the stressors are mounting.
