Managing Stress at Work

Work-related stress is common to most people who have had a job at one point of their life. Any job can have stressful elements, no matter the type of the job; be it blue or white collar.

Short term effects of work stress include meeting deadlines or trying to fulfill obligations that may be a bit challenging to the mind and the body. At times, too much work stress may affect both physical and emotional health of an individual.

Your organization may not in a position to provide you with resources to use when trying to manage stress, and at the same time, it is not possible to avoid the much pressure at work at times. This means that you will be the one to figure out how to overcome it.

Some causes of work stress may include a lot of work, lack of social support, challenging tasks, lack of growth, low salaries, hard decision making circumstances, lack of support and internal conflicts with your boss or colleagues.

Work stress may take longer than you expect for one to recover from it, and when it persists, it affects ones’ health and well-being.

According to a research that was carries out by Forbes magazine business writer writers, Jenna Goudreau,’ the average business professional has 30 to 100 projects on their plate. Modern workers are interrupted seven times an hour and distracted up to 2.1 hours a day.

Four out of 10 people working at large companies are experiencing a major corporate restructuring, and therefore facing uncertainly about their futures. This may be why more than 40% of adults lie awake at night plagued by the stressful events of the day.’

Stressful working environments can contribute to problems such as headache, stomachache, sleep disturbances, lack of concentration and even short tempers. Too much pressure may result in high blood pressure, depression, heart diseases and even obesity.

This may lead to one engaging in unhealthy traits like overeating and vice versa, smoking and even abusing drugs and alcohol. This may be short term solutions to managing stress or may not solve the issue at all. The following may be helpful ways of managing work stress:

Identify causes for your stress

The key thing in managing stress is by first getting to know the cause of it. This will make it easy managing it. Go through all the circumstances that occurred before and after the main cause of what may be stressing you.

Develop healthy responses

Instead of trying to fight stress by taking alcohol and abusing drugs, this may be the appropriate time to think about the decisions that you make wisely. Take some time and engage in activities that you love the most. Be it swimming, cooking, reading, working out or spending time with family and friends. It may also be helpful to share out your feelings with people who may be close to you.

Take time off

to avoid more effect, take a break from work and replenish your normal functioning. Ensure that during this period, you do not engage yourself in any work related activity. Ensure that whenever you get time out of the office, you maximize it on other things. This will make you rejuvenated and may even make you perform better than before.

Learn how to relax

techniques such as meditation, exercising and mindfulness may help in keeping away stress. The skill of being able to focus purposefully and a single activity without distractions is very helpful.

Talk to your supervisor

Healthy employees tend to be more productive and therefore, your boss or supervisor has the mandate to ensure that your working environment is conducive. This may be achieved through your well-being whenever you are I the office or at your working place. Take time to talk to him and try to discuss whatever you think may be the cause of your stress.

Article by Vera Shawiza.