Work can be stressful; what is important, though, is learning how to deal with it in a healthy way. Because stress does not just cause you to lose focus and become unproductive, it can also directly impact your health. Today, we will be looking at ways to help when dealing with stress at work.
These three simple tips are easy to follow and highly effective at countering stress and helping maintain high productivity while at work. So, let us look at three tips to utilise at the workplace to counter stress.
Note your stressors
The first thing to do when dealing with stress of any kind is to start identifying what is causing the stress. That remains the same for workplace stress. One method you can try is keeping a notebook with you for a few weeks and taking notes. Whenever you feel stressed, write down what you are thinking, where you are, what occurred, your reaction and any other relevant information. Once you have down this for even a short period of time, you will be able to notice patterns and become more aware of what is causing you to stress out. That can help you avoid situations that create stress and start developing healthier responses to stress.
Take breaks
We greatly underestimate the benefits of taking regular breaks when working. Even taking a short 10 to 15-minute break and giving yourself the time to get up, stretch out and clear your mind can be incredibly refreshing. By allowing your body and mind to switch off for a bit, you can lower your fatigue and give yourself time to recover from being constantly engaged in work. That is because when we work and focus, we may be able to ignore minor stressors, but we are still affected by them in the long term. Short breaks and rest periods allow us to turn our attention away from work and de-stress ourselves. With the help of a short rest, your lower physical and mental stress means that you will be better able to focus on your work and maintain higher productivity levels once you return to work.
Learn to relax
Just taking a break is not enough; you also need to get better at making the most of your rest time. That includes not just your at-work breaks but also vacation days and weekends. When you teach yourself to relax, you are able to maximise your self-healing and improve your ability to cope with stress. There are many methods that are highly effective for this purpose, including taking a walk, meditating, deep breathing or even having a nice little chat with a friend or colleague. The important thing here is to remember to focus on what you are doing, no matter the activity. If you choose to go for a walk, then enjoy the walk and avoid thinking of work or the tasks you have left. That may be hard initially, but you will get better at it with practice. There is an additional benefit besides lowering stress: it helps you get better at focusing on things without getting distracted as easily. It might not be easy, but give yourself time to learn how to relax, and you will find that it can help make you much more resilient to stress.
These simple tips are highly effective for dealing with stress, and you can apply them immediately. Give these methods a try, and you will start to see the difference, especially when they are used together. Check out our other articles for more information on dealing with workplace stress and how to improve your workplace environment.
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