Tips for Tackling Stress at Work

It doesn’t matter if you are having to work extremely late to meet work deadlines or if you are dealing with workplace-related issues, the office and work can be difficult to navigate and stressful.

A lot of employees note their workplace environment is stressful. With the average employee working around 90,000 hours in their respective lifetime, it’s easy to see why it’s so important to figure out ways to effectively reduce stress in the workplace.

As many as 20% of employees have noted they have left work because of the stress. Continue reading more to find out more about workplace stress and to see some of the best tips to successfully reduce it.

1. Express Your Feelings

One of the main things you need to do is express your feelings. If you are feeling a lot of pressure at work, you don’t want to allow it to boil inside. Doing this is only going to make things worse. A lot of employees end up suffering in silence and it makes things worse than they have to be. The fact is, feeling stress in the workplace is completely natural. Not everything is going to go perfectly and there will always be conflicts. You want to be open, honest, and transparent.

Whether you have to discuss problems you have with a co-worker’s behavior or something else, you can always find people within the company who will listen. After all, it’s the human resources job to do so. Speaking with someone about the issues you are facing will show you that you aren’t alone and other employees are much more likely to speak out if you do.

2. Take Better Care Of Yourself

You wouldn’t believe how few people truly take care of themselves. As many as 30% of adults note they feel much less stress after the workout.

As you can probably tell, maintaining an optimal exercise routine is one of the best ways to naturally reduce the stress you are experiencing. Incorporating more physical activity in your daily life is a good way to minimize the stress you are experiencing by reducing the stress hormone production. It can also release the “feel good” endorphins in your brain, which will only enhance your mood simultaneously. The way you eat is also going to dictate how you feel. Eating a healthier diet is a great way to improve your mood and help you remain more optimistic about things.

A lot of companies will offer healthy lunches that you can use to eat better. This can be a great way to improve your physical health and wellbeing. Other companies may offer to pay for a gym membership. You can use these things to give you the jumpstart you need to work out and eat healthily. Unfortunately, as many as close to 40% of adults note they tend to skip exercise when they are experiencing high stress which is the opposite of what you should be doing.

3. Relax Your Mind and Body

Getting physical exercise into your daily life is very important. However, it’s also important to give yourself plenty of time to relax. You need to practice mindfulness exercises if you want to reduce any stress you are experiencing due to the workplace.

These mindfulness exercises and activities including yoga and meditation can be very effective to melt away stress and tension. It’s a good way to calm yourself and get yourself thinking much more positively.

While it can take some getting used to and it does take some practice, you can eventually learn to relax your mind and body which can provide you relief from the excess stress and tension you are experiencing because of work.

4. Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help

When you are looking to improve the way you are feeling about work, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Any employer has a direct responsibility to keep their employees both healthy and happy. Because of this, you want to ensure they are doing just that. Unfortunately, a lot of them fail to do so successfully. The Telegraph did research and found that as many as 50% of work absences are caused by stress and mental health.

Luckily, a lot of workplace stress can be resolved easily with proper communication. This can help with communication and scheduling. You want to ask for help as an employee before things get out of hand. It could be something as simple as hiring a new employee to help, offering better training to employees, or something else. You want to effectively voice any concerns you have with your manager, boss, or employer so they can take steps to reduce your work-related stress. Not only do they benefit from having fewer stressed employees, but it’s their responsibility to ensure they have a healthy work environment for their employees.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio