Stress is a part of every job, indeed it’s hard to imagine a job where there is no stress. This is true because there are so many stressors in our working environment. It can be anything from attempting to meet deadlines, chasing a promotion, ensuring the business is as successful as it can be or dealing with colleagues or clients that make your life difficult. But whilst we should expect at least some stress in our daily working lives, we should never find ourselves consumed by it. Unfortunately in our modern lives we often find that stress mounts up and becomes too much for us.
Your ability to cope with this kind of stress will be the making or breaking of you in your job, and indeed might even me the making or breaking of the company your work for. When you realise this, the stress is even worse. And then when you also have layoffs and redundancies to worry about in our uncertain economy we realise that stress can come from anywhere. It’s no surprise then that we need to learn techniques to help us manage that stress and overcome it for good. We’ve come up with some great ideas for reducing your work-related stress.
The first thing you need to do is examine whether you might be feeling stress at work – and whether than stress is likely to be too much for you. If you experience any of the following symptoms at work or in your day-to-day routine, you may be under too much stress. These include feeling anxious, losing interest in work, having trouble sleeping, fatigue, having difficulty concentration, muscle tension, stomach problems, withdrawal from social situations, loss of sex drive and using alcohol or drugs to cope with your problems. If you find yourself having these problems, it might be worth considering using the following techniques to manage your stress levels.
There is no cure-all for stress, and getting rid of your levels of stress will depend on your as a person and what it is that is the underlying cause of the stress. However, it’s worth noting that there are plenty of tried and tested ideas that can be a real help when trying to get over your problems with stress. They can help you to feel better in your daily life and make the tasks of work seem not as challenging or worrying.
The first great idea when trying to cope with the added pressures of stress is that you must ensure that you are staying physically active during this time. It is well known that getting regular exercise is a very good idea if you’re feeling stress as exercise releases endorphins that are a fantastic way of countering stress. It is also a good idea to start thinking about the kinds of foods that you eat. Staying on a healthy diet is a brilliant way to help you manage stress, as the increase levels of minerals and vitamins in your body really enable you to cope more easily with problems.
An important way of ridding yourself from stress is by organising your day more effectively. Make sure that you create a balanced and workable schedule, and that you do not over-commit yourself to too much work. It’s also a great idea to plan regular breaks and allow yourself more time to get to work in the morning – arriving late and feeling stressed as you get to work can be a real problem as it mounts up and you don’t ever start the day in a relaxed and confident way.