Work-related stress affects everyone who works at any job at some time or another. Regardless of how much someone loves their work, stress is a natural and unavoidable consequence. You may initially feel compelled to fulfill a deadline or complete an ambitious task. However, when stress becomes chronic, it can have damaging effects — from loss of attention to emotional distress.
Long-term stress is becoming increasingly prevalent, and the American Psychological Association (APA) has found that a majority of Americans are stressed at work each year. Stress will always emerge, to a degree, at work, no matter how careful you are. You can, however, use strategies to control the stress it may cause.
Common Causes of Work-related Stress
In some cases, various factors might go hand-in-hand with work-related stress. Some common workplace stressors are:
- Low salary
- Out of balance workloads
- Few opportunities for professional growth or advancement
- Lackluster or frustrating work.
- Inadequate social support
- Not having the necessary control over their job-related decisions
- Inability to balance between conflicting demands or unclear performance expectations.
Effects of Uncontrolled Work Stress
Although we may go home at the end of the day and not be concerned about work-related tension, persistent stress can harm our health and well-being. Workplace stress affects you, resulting in headaches, stomachaches, sleep disturbances, short tempers, and difficulty focusing. Anxiety, insomnia, a weakened immune, and high blood pressure
All of this contributes to depression, obesity, and heart disease conditions. Complicating matters further, those who suffer from excessive stress often try to handle it by eating unhealthy food, smoking cigarettes, and abusing drugs and alcohol.
Ways to Manage Stress and Still be Successful
1. Track your stressors
If you keep a diary for a week or two, you’ll notice which events have the most impact on your stress level and what your reaction is. Whatever happens, don’t forget to include details about the situation (e.g., who was involved), your emotions at the time, and anything else that comes to mind such as your thoughts before, during, and after the more stressful times.
2. Develop healthy responses
Fight stress by making healthy decisions. There’s never a good time for greasy fries or an alcoholic drink when you’re stressed. The benefits of activity are well-known, therefore make every effort to exercise at least once a day, but if you can’t go to the gym, any physical activity is better than nothing.
It would also be beneficial if you made time for reading, performances, and spending time with your family and friends or other activities that make you happy.
Good sleep habits are also crucial for healthy stress management. They include limiting caffeine intake late in the day and reducing the number of stimulating activities before bedtime.
3. Establish boundaries
It’s easy to feel compelled to be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week due to digital technology. Make sure you maintain some boundaries by taking care of yourself. Here’s an example: Not checking your email at home in the evening or refusing to answer your phone during dinner is one way to create limits.
Although everyone has their own ideas about how they would like to balance their home and job lives, establishing some boundaries between these realms may help to decrease the incidence of stress as a result of work-life balance.
4. Take time to recharge
To counteract the harmful effects of stress and overwork, you need time to re-energize and return to your prior level of performance. Recovery can be aided by taking vacations from work or staying away from it for extended periods of time. That’s why it’s important to unplug now and again.
If you have a lot of vacation days, it would help if you didn’t waste them. Relax and rejuvenate so you come back to work refreshed and revitalized. If that’s not possible, turn off your smartphone and turn your attention to other things for a little while.
5. Learn how to relax
Meditation, deep breathing exercises, and mindfulness practices can assist you in melting away stress. Begin by focusing on basic tasks like as deep breathing or walking for a few minutes each day.
Developing the ability to focus single-mindedly on a single activity without getting sidetracked takes time and experience. Then, once you’ve mastered it, you’ll discover that it applies to everything in your life.
6. Talk to your supervisor
Employees who are in good health at work will always be more productive, so it’s in the employer’s best interest to create a healthy working environment. It may begin with a discussion with your supervisor.
There are some complaints that you don’t need to worry about because you can find a way to reduce stress on the job. This will help you to do your best work.
A strategy may include measures such as exploring any available corporate wellness tools that you can utilize, as well as steps aimed to enhance capabilities like time management.
Also, it is essential to understand what your employer expects of you, get necessary resources or support from your coworkers, challenge yourself by adding new tasks to your job or make your workspace more comfortable and less stressful.
Get Some Support
It will help you maintain a healthy amount of stress if you allow reputable pals and relatives to assist with regular activities. Employers also have resources that can assist you to lower your stress levels.
Their resources may include online information, on-site counseling, and a referral to a mental health professional if needed. Finally, if you continue to feel like work stress is getting in the way of your life; consult a psychologist who can help you find a way to manage your stress and break out of unhealthy patterns.
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