For many people, the workplace can be stressful. Deadlines, meeting and disputes with colleagues can all contribute to the workplace being a difficult environment to manage. If you’re finding the workplace a stressful environment, there are measures you can put in place to reduce the effect it’s having on your emotional wellbeing. Read on for our top suggestions on how to manage workplace stress.
Maintain a Work-life Balance
This is really important to reducing your stress at work. If you get work emails to your phone and find that colleagues are messaging you with queries out of hours, then it might be time to have a discussion with your manager about getting a work phone. It’s crucial that you are able to switch off at the end of the day so you can look after your mental and physical wellbeing and create a separation between your work life and your personal life.
Work Out What’s Stressful
What is causing the workplace stress? If you can identify the cause of your stress at work and set about tackling it, then this could alleviate the problem entirely. Of course, it might not be something that’s easy to identify, or it could be a combination of things. Trouble-shooting your day by gradually removing tasks and then adding them back in could be a way to see what you find most stressful. Once you’ve identified the cause of the problem, you can have a frank discussion with your manager. Take solutions to the meeting so try and think of ways you can solve the issue that’s causing you stress as well as addressing the cause with them.
Ask for Help
Don’t struggle with workplace stress alone. If a task is becoming overwhelming, and there’s a deadline approaching, you might find this difficult to cope with. Remember, you’re a team for a reason and your colleagues are there to support you. If you have a regular catchup with your manager, then sharing the workload is something to raise there, otherwise asking a colleague if they can help out in a more informal way is a good approach to managing your workload. It can also be something as simple as hiring commercial movers rather than managing an office move by yourself. To every problem, there is a solution, and sharing the difficulties you are experiencing is an excellent first step to preventing workplace stress.
Be Realistic
One of the main causes of workplace stress is people’s anxiety that they aren’t doing a good enough job. You might be holding yourself to unrealistic standards and the job that you feel is below standard is actually perfectly adequate. Don’t try to be ‘perfect’ all the time – recognize when the work you are doing is good enough and reward yourself for it.
Take Short Breaks
Make sure you are taking breaks throughout the day so you can step away from work. This will help you feel better but also increase your productivity as you come back to each task refreshed and reenergised. Getting through your workload slightly quicker will also reduce your feelings of stress.
