5 Best Tips Proven For Coping With Stress At Work
By Elizabeth Ndembei
We all have at some point experienced job stress and we all handle it differently. It’s often said not all stress is bad, but learning how to deal and manage is the, most important thing. Most jobs have stressful elements despite how much you love your job. When work stress gets chronic, it can burn you out causing harm both physically and emotionally.
Today’s work environment has become so erratic, characterized with job insecurities, delayed salaries, cut-throat competition and deadline pressure we cannot escape the stress triggers. Let’s not forget the household pressure and your ever nagging caretaker “Gitonga” come 3rd or 5th of the month when he wants all the rental expenses paid.
Common workplace stressors include; Low salaries, fear of being laid off, pressure to perform optimally at all levels, few advancement and growth opportunities, lack of social support, unclear performance expectations, and work that is not challenging or engaging. It’s unfortunate that work stress does not disappear once we leave the office building. Taking steps to manage stress at work is important and that is what we are going to discuss how to go about it.
5 Best Tips Proven For Coping With Stress At Work
1.Identify your stressors
Tracking the source of your stress at work is the first step towards stress management. Take time and identify the things that make you stress at work, list them down and include how they made you feel. Having something to guide you will ensure that you smartly, avoid the stresses and work around them to develop healthy responses.
Identify healthy responses that work for you such as taking a walk, exercising, engaging in your hobbies whether its playing Candy crush or Mortal combat. Do that thing that makes you feel at peace.
2.Reach out
Remember that old adage, “A problem shared is half solved”? Good. Sharing as is proved to be a good way of stress reliever. Sharing with that friend or that stranger who will not judge you harshly will provide you with sympathy and support that you are looking for. Co-workers can be a good source of moral support as they are in the same environment and having someone to help you blow off some steam at the earliest convenience and face-to-face is very important.
I know you are there saying how you don’t have a close buddy at the office, why don’t you direct your attention to them during your break rather directing it to your smartphone or that tablet and interact.
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3.Recharge
Giving your body that deserved break to recharge is important as it will help mitigate chronic stress and burnout. Restoring our body factory settings is important for optimal work performance. Take the time to disengage with work related activities physically and mentally. You cannot take a break from work to recharge from stress at work, but you are at home or on a vacation but you are logged onto the laptop.
Recharging your system ensure that when you return to work you are rejuvenated and ready to deliver at your best. Make sure of your leave days count for the betterment of your health. Try also switching off your phone for a weekend and don’t engage in any work related activities and see how that will boost your moral come Monday morning.
4.Invest in your well-being
Your physical, spiritual, and mental health are more important than that career you trying to kill yourself over. We’ve all heard the saying, ‘If you die, they will just hire your replacement’. Every word in that is very true, we all have witnessed or heard about such an incident.
“Take care of your body and it will take care of you”, my mum always says. Take time to exercise, be it taking a walking, dancing, or running. Physical activities soothe the nervous system for maximum stress relief.
Invest in your diet, eat healthy food and right portions. Your diet contributes a lot to your energy levels during the day and it is thus important to ensure that your diet is as healthy as possible. Avoid nicotine, such as smoking as they are strong stimulants which may lead to high levels of anxiety.
Take enough rest. Ensure you get enough hours of sleep as it ensures emotional balance and productivity at work. Try going to bed early and waking up to ensure you get at least seven hours of sleep. Don’t think about stressing issues before bedtime, such as work, but engage in activities that soothe you.
5.Be organized
Personal organizational skills are very important in ensuring that your activities are prioritized accordingly and there is time management to reduce stress at work. Have a balanced schedule of your daily work activities, family life, and social life.
Don’t over commit your time by planning so many activities into one day. Prioritize the “musts” and “shoulds” where the “musts” start early in the day when the energy levels are up while the “shoulds” come in the afternoon. Such a plan will ensure that your day flows smoothly as you keep stress at work triggers at bay.
Take regular breaks, like catching up with a colleague, walk to stretch out and take your lunch break away from your desk. This will help you relax, be productive and very alert. Ensure you start your day easier by being 10 minutes early to the office to avoid starting your day in a rush and to avoid triggering work stress by constantly peeping to see if HR is coming for you.
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Are you a manager or employer? You equally have a role to play in ensuring that your employees have the most stress-free work environment to mitigate stress at work. Nurture organizational values and goals such as;
Clarify expectations by sharing with your employees about their jobs uncertainty fears to reduce their fears and at that their stress at work. Define their roles and responsibilities clearly. Ensure that the management response is consistent with organizational values.
Reward your employees by showing that they are valued and by praising good work performance around the organization. Making employees’ efforts valued makes them feel their efforts are appreciated and thus they are motivated to put in more effort. This will go a long way in ensuring that your employees are stress-free at work and productive.
Engage your employees by having them participate in decision making that affects their jobs. Have realistic deadlines and workloads for your staff. Have employees contribute to workplace policies this will ensure ownership and thus easy to abide by them. Engaged employees will be more proactive and will not have stress at work.
Are you an employee? What are some of your stress triggers at work and how can your employer areas your concerns? Re you an employer? What are some of the ways that you mitigate stress at work for your employees to ensure their productivity? We would like to hear from you.
The writer is a Communications Officer at Corporate Staffing Services, a leading Recruitment firm that offers CV Writing, Job Placement & Career Advice. Email: Elizabeth@corporatestaffing.co.ke