How To Deal With Stress At Work
14 February 2020
At one stage or another in our lives, most of us will be affected by stress to some degree. For some, the effects of stress can be minimal, for others it can be devastating.
Stress can be brought on by things like divorce, bereavement, money worries, workplace problems or family conflicts, or it can simply build up as a results of many smaller issues in our lives.
In 2018/19 stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 44% of all work-related ill health cases and 54% of all working days lost due to ill health.
It’s clear that this is a major issue for employers and employees alike. Left untreated, stress will undoubtedly impact on a person’s personal relationships and performance at work, and could also affect their overall health and wellbeing.
The main work factors cited by respondents as causing work-related stress, depression or anxiety were workload pressures, including tight deadlines and too much responsibility, and a lack of managerial support. Read more about these figures here
Managing Stress Levels
Whilst it has become more acceptable to discuss mental health issues with friends and family, many people still find it difficult to acknowledge that they are suffering from stress. Yet, unless you accept that you are stressed, you cannot take steps to address the problem. Stress might seem insurmountable, but there are, in fact, some very simple steps that you can take, to help combat it:
- Speak to your GP or a health professional. This is vital, in order to receive a full diagnosis of your symptoms, and a sensible course of treatment.
- Take time to understand what effect stress is having on you personally. Your sleep may be disturbed, for example, or you may be depressed or often angry for no reason. You may find that you are drinking too much alcohol, or even being tempted by substance abuse. Whatever symptoms you have, recognising them fully is the first step on the road to recovery.
- Try to get into a regular exercise routine. Even if you can only manage 30 minutes of brisk walking each day, this will make a material difference to how you feel.
- If you are a smoker, you may be under the belief that cigarettes help you to manage your stress levels. However, scientists have now found that the reverse is actually true, and that long term stress levels can actually be increased by smoking. If you do smoke, and would like to quit as part of your efforts to tackle stress, try using patches or e-cigarettes to work towards quitting.
- Don’t try to tackle your stress alone. There is a great deal of useful information available online on how to cope with stress, and learning some simple relaxation techniques can be really helpful. Signing up for a regular class of yoga or tai chi may also help, and it will provide a welcome break from the routine of the week.
- Take a good look at what needs to change in your life, in order to get on top of your stress levels. By focusing on what is causing the stress, and breaking down your plans for tackling it into achievable goals, you stand a much better chance of succeeding. If you feel you are overloaded at work, don’t be afraid of talking about it with your boss.
- Stress can make you feel very unsociable, but try to meet and socialise with friends and family on a regular basis. We all need friends to support us when we’re having a tough time, and good friends will always be happy to do whatever they can to support you.
Stress has a habit of creeping up on us, and snowballing into what seems like a major problem. For most of us, stress can be beaten, but with time spent understanding its causes, managing its symptoms and working towards achievable changes to reduce its effect on us.
If you want to learn more about how you can beat stress in the workplace, boost productivity and well-being, then why not attend our event that specifically focuses on these workplace well-being issues.
To book your place, follow this link or click the image below:
