We can spend up to a third of our lives at work and so it’s no wonder that, on occasion, it presents us with significant stress. So, how do you keep work stress in check?
Not all stress is bad. Is the emotional response we need to push through difficult situations. Stress becomes negative when it starts to overwhelm us.
Many aspects of life can trigger a stress reaction and work is one of them. National Stress Awareness month is held every year in April and has become an important event to remind us of the difficulties colleagues – and ourselves – can all face at work. There is a growing emphasis on managing stress in the workplace better, so what can you do to keep stress under control?
DEALING WITH STRESS AT WORK – HINTS, TIPS & IDEAS
According to research, three in 10 people say that work is the biggest source of stress in their lives. Here’s how to keep it under control but recognising it when it is a problem.
1) START THE DAY OFF RIGHT
The commute to (and from work) can be a triggering experience. Getting yourself and your kids ready for school, getting everyone out the door on time, remembering everything from school bags to lunches, the journey to work and the heavy glug of caffeine in your morning coffee probably means you are arriving at work already stressed.
Re-jig your morning routine so that everything that can be prepped the night before is. It can also help to get up half an hour earlier, before you wake the children or anyone else, and have some quiet time for self-care before you start the day.
2) USE THE HR SYSTEM AT WORK
Some people say that a common trigger for workplace stress is not being sure of what you are doing, or a role changing quickly and without warning. It is also common that many people find negative workplaces a more stressful place to be than those that have a positive and caring attitude.
If you are unsure or unhappy with your current role and what it entails, use the supervision and HR system to relieve some of this stress. It may be that your manager hasn’t realised the position you are in.
3) STAY AWAY FROM CONFLICT
Gather a group of people together, put them under pressure and conflict is bound to happen. How you deal with it important.
Just like personal relationships, the professional ones you have with colleagues and clients also need maintaining. Conflict will arise from time to time and learning how to deal with this, and maintain healthy relationships, is important for managing stress too.
4) BE ORGANISED
Some people seem to be so organised that when something falls out of their pre-determined routine, it is a source of stress. For other people, the feeling of doing everything ‘ on the fly’ or ‘by the seat of their pants’ is a significant stressor.
As always, it is about balance. But there is no doubt that being organised and planning ahead will lessen the burden that workplace stress can bring.
5) GET COMFORTABLE
It may surprise you, but not being physically comfortable at work is a common stressor in the workplace. If your office chair causes you back pain, or the lighting isn’t quite right, this can have a huge impact on your stress levels.
As well as temperature, other factors in the workplace environment can make it more stressful than it needs to be. For example, feeling cut off from others in an isolated office is one, as well a computer that doesn’t function and so on.
When you feel like you are doing battle in your everyday life at work, you can become stressed – and more than you realise. Is there something in the physical environment that is causing your concern?
6) FOCUS ON SINGLE-TASKING
Multi-tasking, according to a groundswell of opinion, simply doesn’t work. When you split your focus, a simple task that should take no more than a few minutes turns into a task that feels enormous.
Single-tasking – where you focus on one particular task and nothing else – has proven to reduce stress in the workplace. If you find yourself splitting your time between different focuses and task, is there a way of doing so where you spend a chunk of time on one task and then a chunk of time on another?
7) TAKE A WALK
All too often, when work is busy and deadlines are beating a path to your desk, lunch is eaten at the desk. Or stood in a corner. Or not at all.
During the normal seven to eight hour day, it is important to take regular breaks. And that includes lunch. A short walk at lunchtime can help to re-set the mind for the afternoon at work. If you work shifts, do the same during the longer meal break. Taking time away from a task and the environment that you are in with a short burst of physical exercise will help to reduce stress.
8) ACCEPT NOTHING AND NO ONE IS PERFECT
Stress drives us to do better and bigger things. It helps us reach the deadline, win the next big contract and do more with resources.
But it can soon turn into the drive for perfectionism. Accept that you can’t do everything yourself and that to err is human. A fast-paced work environment is exciting but unforgiving. When mistakes happen, it can impact a chain of processes and that’s where perfectionism can really cause a problem – and stress.
9) USE HOBBIES TO DECOMPRESS OUTSIDE OF WORK
Maximise your time off by doing things you love when you’re not working, to really de-stress. From meditation to crochet, find something you enjoy to help lower your stress levels once you clock out for the day.
10) RECOGNISE WHEN WORKPLACE STRESS IS BECOMING A PROBLEM
It can be tempting to carry on, to think that it will get better, that things will change. Stress can and does affect your mental and physical health. It will impact the relationship you have with colleagues as well as personal and family ones.
When it impacts your relationships, sleep, how you feel about yourself and work, you need to act. From chatting with your GP to seeking counselling or calling a mental health care line, you need to take steps to get stress under control.