Everyone can feel work stress, no matter how much they like their job. Stress, in itself, is not bad: it is our natural mechanism to keep us awake, motivated and directed towards our goal.
However, this stress, if maintained in the long term, affects us physically and mentally, making us less efficient in our jobs and, in addition, more prone to suffering from health problems.
Next We are going to learn how to manage work stress, in addition to understanding how it originates and what problems it can cause us..
As much as we love our jobs, there is no doubt that it can be a source of stress. Stress, like any other emotion, is adaptive. It is a physiological, psychological and behavioral response that helps us adapt to internal and external pressures.
That is, stress It is our body’s way of coping with the situation, keeping us active and awake. so that we do not let our guard down and concentrate all our resources on achieving the task that has been entrusted to us.
Stress, like joy, sadness or anger, is part of our emotional repertoire and, therefore, is necessary. The problem comes when it remains constant for too long. This stress, now transformed into anxiety, can generate all kinds of health problems, such as heart problems, back pain, headaches, stomach upset, depression, sleep disturbances, immune system problems, in addition to making us more prone to to suffer accidents at work.
The causes of this work stress can be several but, of course, they all depend on how comfortable the worker feels in their job or how they interact with the rest of the organization.
It may appear related to an excessive workload, such as working too many hours, having few breaks, having a poorly defined role at work. having precarious working conditions, being exposed to harmful substances, loud noises… And, of course, having problems with other workers, such as colleagues and, especially, the boss, are common sources of stress.
Whatever the cause of work stress and how it manifests itself, there is no doubt that it can be very harmful to our employment. According to various research, suffering from anxiety at work can significantly reduce work productivity, reaching a 30% reduction. It is for this reason that It is especially advisable to reduce this emotion in the workplace. whether you are aware that you are suffering or if you see other colleagues or subordinates manifest it.
10 ways to cope with discomfort
The first thing to understand when trying to manage work stress is that there is no magic formula that will suddenly solve it. This is like everything in life: you must be constant.
Routinely applying the following strategies is the best way to reduce work stress. This way, not only will we feel better and not be so burned out with work, but we will also be much more efficient, something that never hurts.
1. Plan your work
Disorganization and stress go hand in hand. When we do not plan, all the tasks that have been sent to us accumulate or we end up delivering them after the deadline. The best way to manage or, directly, avoid stress is to plan.
Planning your work may seem obvious but… How many of us have a “planning” of when we should do each task? Managing time, knowing how, when and what we use it for is the best way to avoid having to do everything at the last minute that we were supposed to have done during the last few weeks.
There is no need to be too sophisticated when scheduling activities. It is enough to take an agenda or a calendar and list, realistically but in due time, all the tasks to be carried out. Also You can choose to use mobile applications, such as Google Calendar, and schedule reminders from time to time.
2. Set goals
Every worker is efficient to the extent that he sets realistic objectives and goals, and manages to achieve them. It is much preferable to set small goals, achievable in the short and medium term, rather than big goals that have to be met within six months.
At first, this may seem counterproductive, since it gives the impression that having daily obligations is more stressful than setting a goal to fulfill in a relatively distant time. However, The stress of small everyday tasks is much more manageable than the stress that will end up coming with a big goal..
Furthermore, gradually achieving daily goals has great advantages for our self-esteem, since when we have to face a new one we will have already had the precedent of all the many more that we have already done.
Furthermore, facing new goals frequently is a very good strategy to maintain our motivation and job satisfaction, given that humans like novelty.
3. Be assertive
Sometimes what causes us stress in the workplace is not the work itself, but the place and the people we have to be with. It may be that in the office the air conditioning is at a freezing or sub-Saharan temperature, there is a lot of noise, colleagues tell jokes and laugh out loud…
All of these factors, which are not directly related to work and which may seem very minor, can affect our well-being if they bother us a lot. Lower well-being translates into lower productivity, something that neither we nor the company cares about.
This is why it is so important to be assertive and tell the appropriate person about this. Let’s see if you can find a solution. It is very important to say, in a good way, that these inconveniences, no matter how small they may seem, are having a negative impact on our work performance.
4. Learn to say no
Many times, either due to social pressure or because we are “good guys”, we accept tasks that do not correspond to us. like helping a colleague finish a report or working overtime to finish something that someone else should actually do.
To the extent that this task is not really ours to do and that we can avoid doing it without our position being in danger, it is totally advisable to learn to say no.
It is evident that in the workplace colleagues are not just that. In any company where there is a good work dynamic and culture, workers can be friends and enjoy their free time together. However, that is no reason to allow others to take advantage of us and burden us with their tasks.
5. Disconnect
Sitting in a chair and staring at a screen for hours is not comfortable. Nor is it having to be restocking the pantries of a supermarket or loading bags at the construction site. Whatever the type of work we do, it is clear that Repetitive and monotonous work exhausts us mentally and physically.
A good way to break the monotony is to look for moments when we can disconnect, even briefly. We can stretch our legs, go for an infusion, talk to a colleague about a topic not related to work… these are ways to clear our minds of stress.
6. Relaxation
One of the best ways to combat stress is relaxation. Being in the workplace, it is very important to be able to find a time when we can take time for ourselves and our minds, clear and free it from the burden of the work day so that we can continue it in the best possible way.
There are countless relaxation techniques that do not require many materials, such as yoga, guided meditation and techniques such as Jacobson’s progressive relaxation or Mindfulness. All of these strategies to relax are ideal because they help us have a greater capacity for self-control and management of emotions.
It is also very important to control your breathing, breathing in slowly and deeply, several times. This will make the heart beat slower, anxiety levels will be reduced and our mind will be calmer.
7. Exercise
Stress can make us feel very tense, something that we will need to release at any cost and what better way to release it than by exercising? Exercising is, along with relaxation, the anti-stress strategy par excellence.
Doing sports regularly releases endorphins hormones which are of great importance for our physical and mental health, since they induce a great feeling of well-being. In addition, exercise makes it easier for us to fall asleep at night, making us face the next day with energy.
8. Sleep well
The best way to cope with our every work day is to get a good night’s sleep. We cannot expect to give 100% of ourselves if we have had a very poor sleep..
Sleeping less than 6 hours, going to sleep later than 12 and having very light sleep is fatal for our work performance and significantly reduces our performance.
Because of this, when we find ourselves at work and we see that we cannot do what is asked of us quickly and well, we will feel very frustrated, and that is when work stress comes.
One of the best ways to prevent our sleep from being of poor quality is by restricting the use of electronic devices, especially mobile phones, computers and television. Using screens in the two hours before we go to bed has been shown to affect our ability to fall asleep quickly.
9. Reduce stressful substances
Caffeine, alcohol and tobacco are stress-inducing substances. Although caffeine is the healthiest of the three, it is, in turn, the one that can cause us the most anxiety.
We must reduce our consumption of coffee or tea both at work and at home, since the more cups we drink, the more nervous we will be. Also It is very important to avoid consumption after 6 p.m. since it greatly interferes with our ability to go to sleep.
Regarding tobacco and alcohol, these substances, if consumed, are not appropriate to do so in the workplace. Not only because of their obvious health problems, such as causing lung and larynx cancer, but, like coffee, they are powerful stress inducers, especially when they cannot be consumed.
10. You are what you eat
The saying “you are what you eat” applies to absolutely everything, and stress was not going to be the exception.. In addition to what we have already mentioned with caffeine, tobacco and alcohol, there are foods that induce anxiety. That is why eating a healthy diet helps combat and avoid stress.
It is recommended to avoid heavy meals, especially at dinner time. It is also important to eat five times a day since this way the body will not have as much pressure when it comes to metabolizing what is consumed, having more energy and performing better. And it is also very important to eat 5 pieces of fruit and vegetables every day.
