Stress At Work
Everyone
has to cope with
stress at
work in one form or another.
The
wheels of industry are such that the global economy dictates that
companies must stay competitive in order to survive; and that in turn
means more pressure for us, the workers. Good
stress
management skills
can identify the stresses you are experiencing at work. Keeping a
journal handy is an ideal way to record the stresses that are bothering
you.
The first thing you need to do is identify your
stress
symptoms. Do
you have
problems concentrating with your work? Are you irritable with your
colleagues? Does even the slightest little niggle make you angry? Are
you more tired than usual? Knowing that you are stressed is the first
place is a stepping stone to alleviating it in the future.
The next step is to identify where this
work stress
comes from. Are you
working to unrealistic deadlines? Are your work colleagues taking
advantage of you? Do your work colleagues treat you unfairly or unduly
pick on you? Is the work too hard for you? Is there too much pressure
to reach your targets? Perhaps you hate your job and it doesn't inspire
any more?
The tip to answering these questions is to be truthful. Be blunt with
your answers and cut to the chase as it will save you time and undue
anguish in the future. Next, from your list of
work related
stresses, prioritize them in
order of importance.
In order to improve your stress situation, you must take some form of
action. So, working with the most stressful stressor on your list you
must identify any form of action that could reduce the stress in
question. Write your answers down in your journal. What ever comes into
your head, no matter how silly it is, just jot it down for the time
being. If you are having difficulties finding answers, try listening to
some soft music while carrying this exercise as it will calm
the
mind and may suggest some solutions. Prioritize these solutions in
order of impact and ease of implementing.
Now put these solutions into practice one at a time. See if they are
working or not. Be realistic with your expectations. It will take some
time to see the results. But if they are not working, find out what
why. Perhaps you could modify them to make them work?
As with life in general, things change all the time. Stress comes and
stresses go. It may be a good idea to review your journal
from
time to time. Just by writing down the things that stress you in the
first place could make you aware of your problems and in turn
reduce the stress in your life.
Another way to reduce your
workplace
stress is not to get stressed
before you start work. If you get to work and you are so stressed out
because of the traffic or because you are running late it can have a
knock on effect and affect your work during the day.
Try some of these
techniques to help you out:-
- Have a
good night's sleep before your you start
the day. Getting up
refreshed will give you a boost. It makes you feel less fatigued and
will keep you concentrating at the task at hand.
- Try
getting up a little earlier. Battling
against the clock never
works. An extra 10 minutes can make all the difference when in a rush
and helps reduce stress too.
- Exercise
before you work. This will increase your flow of oxygen to the brain
which in turn will increase the brain's efficiency. It will also give
you a buzz and give you a good mood feeling due to endorphins being
released into your body.
- Eat
breakfast before work. Working on an empty
stomach can cause
fatigue, hinder your concentration and make you irritable.
- If you
drive across town into work and are
caught in traffic jams, try
planning an alternative route. It sounds obvious, but when we are
stressed we follow the same routines and practices. We don't realize
there is another way of doing things. The same applies to driving.
Rather than getting caught up at the same junction each morning it may
be easier and quicker to take an alternative junction. Just by
having a
quick look on the map could save you minutes each morning.
- Try your
route to work at a different time.
Maybe if you travel to work
10 minutes earlier you could miss the bottleneck at the junction caused
by the school run.
- Try
listening to some soft music while caught
in a jam. Alternatively,
listen to an audio book or a radio play. Having an relaxed and engaged
mind is far less stressful than an empty mind that goes off on tangents
when bored and which is liable to get you stressed out when you are in
a
jam for 30 minutes.
- For
commuters that travel on trains and buses,
an mp3 player is ideal
for listening to all forms audio pograms. It is cheap, small and
compact and can hold hours of music.
You can also download podcasts of your favorite radio shows.