Take control of your Workplace Stress
At some point, everybody who has ever worked has felt the pressure of work-related stress. Any job can have stressful elements, even if you love what you do. In the short term, you may experience pressure to meet a deadline or to fulfil a challenging obligation. But when work stress becomes chronic, it can be overwhelming—and harmful to physical and emotional health. Unfortunately, such long-term stress is all too common. You can’t always avoid the tensions that occur on the job. Yet you can take steps to manage work-related stress.
Work-related stress doesn’t just disappear when you head home for the day. When stress persists, it can take a toll on your health and well-being and can flow onto your personal life. A stressful work environment can contribute to problems such as headaches, stomach pain, sleep disturbances, short temper and difficulty concentrating. Chronic stress can result in anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, and a weakened immune system. It can also contribute to health conditions such as depression, obesity and heart disease. Compounding the problem, people who experience excessive stress often deal with it in unhealthy ways, such as overeating, eating unhealthy foods, smoking cigarettes, or abusing drugs and alcohol.
Ways to control and manage stress:
Track your stressors
Keep a journal for a week or two to identify which situations create the most stress and how you respond to them. Record your thoughts, feelings, and information about the environment, including the people and circumstances involved, the physical setting, and how you reacted. Did you raise your voice? Get a snack from the vending machine? Go for a walk? Taking notes can help you find patterns among your stressors and your reactions to them.
Develop healthy responses
Instead of attempting to fight stress with fast food or alcohol, do your best to make healthy choices when you feel the tension rise. Exercise is a great stress-buster. Yoga can be an excellent choice, but any form of physical activity is beneficial. Also, make time for hobbies and favourite activities. Whether it’s reading a novel, going to concerts, or playing games with your family, make sure to set aside time for the things that bring you pleasure. Getting enough good-quality sleep is also important for effective stress management. Build healthy sleep habits by limiting your caffeine intake late in the day and minimising stimulating activities, such as computer and television use, at night.
Establish boundaries
In today’s digital world, it’s easy to feel pressure to be available 24 hours a day. Establish some work-life boundaries for yourself. That might mean making a rule not to check email from home in the evening or not answering the phone during dinner. Although people have different preferences when it comes to how much they blend their work and home life, creating some clear boundaries between these realms can reduce the potential for work-life conflict and the stress that goes with it.
Take time to recharge
To avoid the negative effects of chronic stress and burnout, we need time to replenish and return to our pre-stress level of functioning. This recovery process requires “switching off” from work by having periods of time when you are neither engaging in work-related activities nor thinking about work. That’s why it’s critical that you disconnect from time to time in a way that fits your needs and preferences. Don’t let your vacation days go to waste. When possible, take time off to relax and unwind so you come back to work feeling reinvigorated and ready to perform at your best. When you’re not able to take time off, get a quick boost by turning off your smartphone and focusing your attention on nonwork activities for a while
Learn how to relax
Techniques such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, and mindfulness (a state in which you actively observe present experiences and thoughts without judging them) can help melt away stress. Start by taking a few minutes each day to focus on a simple activity like breathing, walking, or enjoying a meal. The skill of being able to focus purposefully on a single activity without distraction will get stronger with practice, and you’ll find that you can apply it to many different aspects of your life.
Source: www.eapassist.com.au
Training Available
At Programmed Wellbeing Matters and we know it’s important to ensure that everyone is looking after themselves, especially in times of stress.
Check out these internal training sessions available to everyone aimed at teaching you techniques to manage those stressful situations
If you have any issues accessing these courses, please speak to your manager or reach out to training@programmed.com.au
