When a journal like Harvard Health Publishing mentions that “job stress” is real, you know that this is a serious health crisis.
This begs the question ― have you ever thought about how your body responds to stress at work?
Imagine you are just about to leave for home when you get an email from your boss regarding an unfinished assignment. Your mind immediately starts to sift through the projects that you haven’t completed. Your breath quickens, your heart beats faster, and your body goes tense. You put your work bag down and decide to pull an all-nighter to complete the project.
That panicky feeling you got was your fight-and-flight response to the email. In ancient times, this response helped human beings escape their predators. In today’s world, it serves a far more important purpose. It drives us to achieve more. However, what happens when you get this kind of stress every day at work?
Burnout — a psychological syndrome that makes you overwhelmed, exhausted, and inefficient. The most common workplace stressors are multitasking, disorganization, interpersonal conflict, and physical discomfort. So, how can you get rid of them?
Below are five stress management tips that will help you do this:
1.Write Your Stressors in a Journal
Journaling can help you track the triggers that stress you out. By writing down your stressors, you can find an emotional, physical, and mental release. This step will help you deal with certain situations appropriately.
2.Avoid Conflict
The best way to avoid any stress at work is to maintain distance from coworkers who don’t socialize well with others. Of course, keeping this distance is harder said than done because sometimes, you have to work in a team. In such situations, try to set up a boundary and refrain from getting into any arguments.
3.Forget Multitasking
You don’t need to be a workplace wizard to get a promotion. Most employees multitask because they are afraid of accountability. As a result, having a phone to your ear, typing an email, and doing research affect your strategic thinking skills. Chunking comes in handy in such situations! It’s a technique through which you can group individual pieces of information so you can remember them better. A great example is a phone number that’s spaced into two sections, for example, 651-7354.
4.Don’t Aim for Perfection
Your confidence-building ability takes a serious hit when you try to be perfect at everything. It’s not possible to be perfect in a fast-paced job. Not only will this affect you but your colleagues too. Instead of trying to be perfect, why not aim for something more realistic such as completing a task in a set time.
5.Learn Meditation Techniques
Meditation such as mindfulness is a great way to keep your stress at bay when working. It will build your motivation because you will have more energy to work efficiently. Try deep breathing exercises to calm your anxiety, and take a walk during lunch instead of sitting at your desk.
To decrease stress at work, managers should invest in employee engagement to find out their problems. Such efforts will help maintain a productive workplace and release the pressure employees feel when they are assigned certain tasks. So, try out these tips, and you will find yourself much lighter and happier at work.