It is good to have some pressure at work because it provides motivation to excel and work with a bit of a sense of urgency and purpose. But, when work stress becomes too high it impacts your health, personal and family life.
Here are some suggestions for successful stress management in the workplace:
1. Regular moderate exercise can boost energy and reduce feelings of stress. Walking outdoors is a good aerobic exercise for body and mind. You can try out simple exercises like jogging, walking, swimming, biking, aerobics, etc. Exercise releases mood-enhancing chemicals, like endorphins, the mind-body's natural painkiller and mood calmer. Finding an exercise buddy can be even better.
2. Take a warm water bath.
3. Talking it out with a trusted friend or professional
4. List out the problems and list their possible solutions, then try them out.
5.Breathe deeply - slowly in, slowly out and think of something pleasant. Shallow chest breathing can cause your heart to beat faster and your muscles to tense up, increasing feelings of stress. So breathe deeply, begin by putting your hand on your abdomen just below the navel. Inhale slowly through your nose and watch your hand move out as your belly expands. Hold the breath for a few seconds, then exhale slowly. Repeat several times.
6. Keep a day journal. This will help you note down what activities you are doing everyday, how you are utilizing your time and what things cause you stress or anxiety during the day. Once you know what activities are causing stress you can think of ways to deal with them. If you start a journal keep at it atleast for a few days in order to benefit from it.
7. After you've done your best to deal with a situation, avoid speculating about the outcome. Forget it and go onto the next thing.
8. Dont indulge in self-pity and do not try to gain other's sympathy by telling them your woes. Self-pity results in making you feel weaker.
9. Avoid trying to hurry. Always try to be relaxed and composed while doing things.Hurrying results in worry and anxiety. Try to maintain a schedule so that you do not have to hurry for things.
10. If you find a problem or task as too big, then break it down into smaller, more manageable chumps so that you do not feel overwhelmed.
11. Remember that most things that you fear about may not actually happen. What was the thing that worried you the most last year or two years back? Most likely you will not even remember it. The same things can happen to your current fears.
12. Don't try to be perfect. By trying to be perfect in all things you do, you may be creating unnecessary stress in your life. Instead of that, try to do the best that you can in everything you do and if you make a mistake - accept it, forgive yourself and learn from it. Don't be too hard upon yourself and don't overly criticize yourself for making mistakes, instead learn from mistakes and move on.
13. Avoid feeling panicky. It may be natural to feel a little bit of tension and nerves prior to an important meeting, interview, exam etc. but its no use worrying unnecessarily. Worrying too much may prevent your mind from thinking clearly.
14. Resist comparisons with others. Very often the common cause of stress for people is that they compare their own performances against that of other people and if their performance is a little bit inferior, it destroys their confidence and creates stress for them. Instead of comparing yourself with others, make your own previous performance as a standard against which you can set future goals for yourself to achieve. Keep competing with yourself and not with others. Competition with self can lead to improvement and too much competition with others can lead to stress.
15. Sport psychologists have known for a long time that visualizing success can make an enormous difference to the performance of players. However most people do the opposite - instead of focusing on success they visualize and focus on failure. You can minimize stress and build up confidence by focusing on your strengths and what you know rather than focusing on your weaknesses and what you do not know.
Here are some suggestions for successful stress management in the workplace:
1. Regular moderate exercise can boost energy and reduce feelings of stress. Walking outdoors is a good aerobic exercise for body and mind. You can try out simple exercises like jogging, walking, swimming, biking, aerobics, etc. Exercise releases mood-enhancing chemicals, like endorphins, the mind-body's natural painkiller and mood calmer. Finding an exercise buddy can be even better.
2. Take a warm water bath.
3. Talking it out with a trusted friend or professional
4. List out the problems and list their possible solutions, then try them out.
5.Breathe deeply - slowly in, slowly out and think of something pleasant. Shallow chest breathing can cause your heart to beat faster and your muscles to tense up, increasing feelings of stress. So breathe deeply, begin by putting your hand on your abdomen just below the navel. Inhale slowly through your nose and watch your hand move out as your belly expands. Hold the breath for a few seconds, then exhale slowly. Repeat several times.
6. Keep a day journal. This will help you note down what activities you are doing everyday, how you are utilizing your time and what things cause you stress or anxiety during the day. Once you know what activities are causing stress you can think of ways to deal with them. If you start a journal keep at it atleast for a few days in order to benefit from it.
7. After you've done your best to deal with a situation, avoid speculating about the outcome. Forget it and go onto the next thing.
8. Dont indulge in self-pity and do not try to gain other's sympathy by telling them your woes. Self-pity results in making you feel weaker.
9. Avoid trying to hurry. Always try to be relaxed and composed while doing things.Hurrying results in worry and anxiety. Try to maintain a schedule so that you do not have to hurry for things.
10. If you find a problem or task as too big, then break it down into smaller, more manageable chumps so that you do not feel overwhelmed.
11. Remember that most things that you fear about may not actually happen. What was the thing that worried you the most last year or two years back? Most likely you will not even remember it. The same things can happen to your current fears.
12. Don't try to be perfect. By trying to be perfect in all things you do, you may be creating unnecessary stress in your life. Instead of that, try to do the best that you can in everything you do and if you make a mistake - accept it, forgive yourself and learn from it. Don't be too hard upon yourself and don't overly criticize yourself for making mistakes, instead learn from mistakes and move on.
13. Avoid feeling panicky. It may be natural to feel a little bit of tension and nerves prior to an important meeting, interview, exam etc. but its no use worrying unnecessarily. Worrying too much may prevent your mind from thinking clearly.
14. Resist comparisons with others. Very often the common cause of stress for people is that they compare their own performances against that of other people and if their performance is a little bit inferior, it destroys their confidence and creates stress for them. Instead of comparing yourself with others, make your own previous performance as a standard against which you can set future goals for yourself to achieve. Keep competing with yourself and not with others. Competition with self can lead to improvement and too much competition with others can lead to stress.
15. Sport psychologists have known for a long time that visualizing success can make an enormous difference to the performance of players. However most people do the opposite - instead of focusing on success they visualize and focus on failure. You can minimize stress and build up confidence by focusing on your strengths and what you know rather than focusing on your weaknesses and what you do not know.
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