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Although we’d prefer to believe otherwise, stress is an inevitable part of life. Stress is as natural to us as breathing, and will crop up in our daily lives at some point. Although there are various situations that can increase it, the workplace is one space where stress can exacerbate and have a deep impact on our lives.
In a stressful workplace, emphasis on employee mental health is a priority. As in other parts of your life, there are a myriad of ways for managing stress in the workplace. These strategies aim to reduce the impact of stress and improve your productivity.
If you are working in a stressful environment, use these seven best coping strategies for managing stress in the workplace:
Strategy #1: Start the day with no stress
Managing stress in the workplace begins from the moment you wake up. Before you even begin your commute to work, it is important to start your day off on the right note. How you do this is up to your preference, but a morning schedule will help just about anyone. For example, getting enough sleep the night before will put you on the right course for a solid morning routine.
In addition, eating a breakfast full of protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats will do wonders for your brain’s health. You can also try various workout regiments before you head into work as well, such as high-intensity cardio, meditation or yoga. All of these will contribute to the release of endorphins, which are chemicals needed to maximize happiness.
Strategy #2: Stay organized in the workplace
Organization is one of the key strategies for managing stress in the workplace. Sometimes, it’s the little things in life that we often take for granted. If our work space in the office is cluttered or unorganized, this sight can contribute to higher stress levels. To remediate this, simply take some time out of your day to shift things around.
This strategy will help your brain focus on the actual work tasks at hand, rather than having your thoughts run amok. Good organization also includes staying consistent with your schedules before and after work. Work shouldn’t encapsulate your entire life, so make sure you organize everything you can efficiently.
Strategy #3: Take a walk away from the workplace
Stemming off from the previous point, exercise is vital to our daily lives. It allows us to push our physical health past our limits, increasing our satisfaction, as well as our immune systems. If you feel like your sedentary work lifestyle is increasing your stress, get up and take a brief walk.
This simple walking exercise is one of the best strategies for managing stress in the workplace. You can also use your lunch break to walk around the surrounding area of your workplace as well. The more you get your body moving, the less likely you will feel stress playing a role in your life.
Strategy #4: Manage your breathing
In various health and wellness circles, breath work is increasingly becoming a popular strategy for managing stress. This involves changing the rhythm of your breathing, in order to facilitate lower levels of stress. If work is getting too taxing, you should opt to take a literal breather.
Practice breathing deeply, with slow inhales through the nostrils, and slow exhales through the mouth. Make sure your shoulders and overall composure are relaxed, and that you are away from the stressful work environment. Doing this a few times during the day will help you stay on course to better productivity!
Strategy #5: Help someone in the workplace
Gratitude is something a lot of us should get around to practicing more. Not only does it facilitate feelings of doing something genuinely great, it also has an impact on lowering our stress. If a colleague is in need of help at work, try giving them a helping hand.
This can come in the form of offering them assistance in their own projects, or simply giving them an ear to listen to. Helping our co-workers is a great way to get to know them better, in addition to bolstering team rapport. You’ll also mentally and emotionally feel a lot better too!
Strategy #6: Manage your workplace ambitions
Although it is never too bad to have high standards, focusing solely on perfectionism can have an opposite effect on your drive. Attempting to be flawless in all of your work tasks, for example, will only cause stress to surge. We are human at the end of the day, and we should strive for reachable goals, not perfection. By setting realistic goals, this is one of the best strategies for managing stress in the workplace.
Strategy #7: Try Not To Multitask
As is the case with avoiding perfectionism, you will also want to avoid conducting multiple projects at once. In some capacity, this may be fruitful if we have developed a knack for handling it. In most cases, however, multitasking forces our brain to move all over the place, allowing both stress and inefficiency to rise. Focus on one task at a time for maximized results!
Trying to achieve the greatest amount of success in our lives, through our work, is something we all desire. However, it is vital to remember that we may sometimes do this at the cost of our health. Remember, work should always stay at work; don’t let it be the cause for added stress!
