April is stress awareness month. So for our monthly blog, we thought it was sensible to concentrate on ways to manage stress in the workplace.
Lots of triggers
Sometimes your workplace can cause you to feel stressed. This can be due to a wealth of reasons including, too many demands, poor working conditions, little control over how and when your work is done, bad decision making, lack of support or encouragement from your manager and others at work, bullying, conflict, managers not having enough training or skills to do the job, feeling unclear about your role and responsibilities and not being able to voice your concerns.
Recognise the signs
Over time all of this builds up, resulting in you feeling overwhelmed, stressed, angry, tired, lacking in energy and close to breaking point. And if you are managing others, it’s important to recognise when they might be feeling the same too.
Workplace stress costs the UK economy an estimated £28 billion annually. This is primarily due to lost productivity, increased absenteeism, more staff turnover and reduced organisational performance. Whilst negative impacts to employees include:
- Mental and physical health issues, leading to burnout, anxiety, and depression
- Decreased morale and engagement
- Reduction in levels of motivation and job satisfaction
Top Tips
Here are some important steps to take, which can help you to manage your workplace stress
- Signs – Recognise the signs and symptoms that indicate you are stressed. Could be anything from headaches and tiredness to irritability and anxiety. Make a note of what/who is causing these feelings.
- Plan – Set sensible goals for yourself in given timeframes (daily/weekly/monthly) and with the resources that you have available to you. Be organised and meticulous freeing up time for other things.
- Prioritise – Write down all your tasks, and then rank them based on importance and urgency. This will help you to stay focused on high-importance, high-urgency tasks first and perhaps learn to no to non-essential tasks.
- Tasks – Look at the big picture. Then, think small. By identifying what’s involved you can break down large tasks or projects into smaller more manageable steps with realistic deadlines.
- Communications – Ensure your expectations are clear and more importantly that you are being heard. Don’t sit in silence, tell a colleague or your manager how you are feeling.
- Set boundaries – Identify your limits, communicate your needs, establish rules for how you want to be treated, don’t overcommit yourself and learn how to say no, or not today. and enforce your boundaries consistently.
- Self-care – Make time for yourself throughout the time and establish a good work life balance that may mean working more flexibly, doing more socialising in the evenings, connecting with friends and family, or learning something new.
- Breaks – Take regular short breaks throughout the day to stretch, walk around or do something that will allow you to recharge and relax. Practice deep breathing, meditation or mindfulness
- Delegate – Identify tasks that others can handle. Learn to delegate tasks to colleagues in order to reduce your workload and frees up some time and mental energy to concentrate on your other responsibilities.
- Within – Build up your resilience from within. Exercise regularly, eat a balanced diet, stay hydrated, get plenty of decent quality sleep each night and have activities outside of work to help you relax and recharge.
If you need additional support as you look to reduce your levels of workplace stress, please get in touch – debby@total-spectrum.com I can help you to live a better and more fulfilling life.
