Handling Stress at the Workplace
How to handle and reduce stress at
work
The only difference between the people who hate and the people who love their jobs
is how often they contemplate leaving for good. While the first ones think about it every day, the latter ones do
so only a few times a month.
The reason for this is stress at the workplace. Seeing how one’s livelihood and
entire future depend on this, no one can remain level headed all the time.
 |
With various deadlines, responsibilities and
interpersonal dealings,
the workplace can quickly become a source of ongoing stress. |
Furthermore, people who work in a dynamic workplace constantly need to deal with
new issues, which makes things even more difficult. Needless to say, this has two major downsides. First, it is
extremely bad for one’s mental and even physical health. Second, it diminishes one’s performance at work. In order
not to allow this to happen to you, here are several ways in which you can handle stress at the workplace.
How to Recognize
It?

Stressed people can resort to self abuses, such as
food binge at work. |
While some may believe that the very sensation of stress is hard to miss, they are
usually confusing panic attacks, crippling anxiety or plain aggressiveness with it. This state, however, has some
subtle early symptoms you would be wise to look out for. The feeling of depression, the loss of interest in work,
problems with sleep and the loss of sex drive are just some of them.
People under stress also tend to withdraw to themselves and often also resort to
alcohol and drug abuse. Finally, they also have trouble sleeping and this also causes severe cases of
fatigue.
Changing Your
Lifestyle
While it is true that your problem may be workplace-related, this doesn’t mean you
should try to solve it at the workspace. Sure, squeezing a stress-ball causes no harm, but you cannot just depart
in the middle of your work hours in order to blow off some steam. This must be done at home. However, by this, we
don’t mean that you should just do a single exercise whenever you become anxious. What you need to do is
change your lifestyle
around.
 |
Sometime the work pressures become unbearable and one
needs to blow off
some steam, preferably at home, to reduce the ongoing
stress. |
Start by eating better, exercising
regularly and sleeping whenever you feel the need to. Even though they may seem great, short-term energy drinks
and coffee are not adequate substitutes. Furthermore, you should also try and find an exhaust vent, a hobby or a
relaxing activity you can do at your spare time. In this way, whenever you feel overwhelmed at work, you can
just start thinking of this as your happy place.
Evaluate Your
Situation

When your work stress is getting to you, it's time to
evaluate your work situation, and remedy it. |
One of the first things you can do in order to avoid getting stressed out is to
assess the situation you are in. Sometimes our stress is caused by unrealistically high expectations, which we fail
to fulfill. As the deadlines to these impossible goals approach, we get more and more anxious and dissatisfied that
we have failed to meet them.
Furthermore, some people tend to drive themselves harder than they should. Sure,
you may believe even this isn’t enough, but the truth is that both your mind and body have their durability. You
cannot work past your limits and expect the results to remain the same. You also cannot expect that this kind of
lifestyle won’t take a toll on your mental health.
One last piece of advice, sometimes your stress situation will be more complicated
than it may seem and this is why you might want to consult a professional. Having a quick psychological
assessment can’t hurt and it may do wonders for your future
mental health.
The worst problem with workplace stress is that it doesn’t stay in the office when
you leave for home. In this way, it hurts your private life, as well. Still, no matter how difficult all this may
seem, the comforting fact is that all of the control is in your hand. You and you alone have the means necessary to
fight with this problem and turn your life around.
All above images courtesy of Creative
Commons
Author bio:
Diana Smith is a full time mom of two beautiful girls and a passionate writer. In her
free time she enjoys writing interesting and informative posts on women's health and fitness related
themes.
|