If you ask any employed person today, they are bound to say that they are stressed. While a little bit of stress is desirable, a lot of it and consistent quantities of it isn’t good for a person’s health, wellbeing or productivity. But did you know that reducing work-related stress isn’t that hard. Here are a few tips that can help you reduce work stress very easily.
Let the Serenity Prayer be your work mantra
The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr which is widely used by AA and other rehab/support programs has people asking God to grant them the power to change what they can and to accept what they cannot. For someone trying to reduce work stress, it can be a powerful mantra. Most work related stress is caused by inter-office dynamics and one’s relationship between co-workers. If you chant the Serenity Prayer or have it stuck to your workstation, you would be able to learn to mentally distance yourself from negative, stress causing thoughts, events and people.
Don’t take too much on your plate
Have you ever run on a treadmill that was set at a speed beyond what your body can endure? We’re guessing not and the reason behind doing so is that we all know the limits of our body very well. But most of us tend to take on too much work trying to get ahead in our careers. This is the single biggest contributor to work related stress in employees. Even if you are the best at everything, learn to delegate, to be a team player and to say no to tasks when you just don’t have the time or energy to do them.
Multi-task only when you absolutely need to
Multi-tasking has been revered as the career-minded person’s mantra to success. Unfortunately, it is also a great contributor to stress. Just like you cannot write on two different pages with both your hands at the same time without making grave mistakes on both pages, multi-tasking at work too reduces the amount of focus you can provide to every task that try to do at the same time. In fact, when you devote all your attention to a single task, you get it done more effectively, efficiently, in less time and with a lot less stress.
Use a day planner
Trying to remember all the things you need to get through a work day while actually doing all those tasks will leave your brain in a mush. It will also keep you on your toes all day long needlessly. A great way to reduce time management related stress is to simply use a day planner to chalk out all the work that you need to get done in a day. Remember to include the time you might use up in breaks and commutes and you would be able to spare yourself the heartache of trying to get work done while remembering all the things that you need to do.
Don’t bring work home
Most employers wouldn’t look too kindly upon it if you brought your laundry to work and tried to get it done during a meeting with clients. Just like bringing your home chores to work wouldn’t be a great idea, bringing work home also isn’t good. You need to remember that a good home life is essential to keeping you feeling emotionally satisfied which as we all know is key to optimizing productivity at work. Use your time at home to take a break from work and you will find yourself refreshed and enthusiastic about getting work done the next day.
Socialize every day of the work week
A lot of us don’t like the people that we work with and many of us complain that our work takes up so much time that we hardly ever get to see our family and friends. Socializing, however, helps ease the buildup of stress by releasing serotonin and endorphins aka the happiness hormones. When you socialize, you not only get a mental break from the work that you were doing, you also get to vocalize your stress and release it while the proximity to people you like helps you relax and feel refreshed. Hence, a 10 minute coffee run with a colleague you like, meeting up with close friends for a sandwich during lunch time and even retreating to your special, secret “clubhouse” in the office building during coffee breaks with co-workers you’re friends with, can help you reduce work stress while allowing you to create a positive mental connection between working and feeling happy.
This Post is written by Margaret. She is a writer/blogger. She writes articles on Technology, social media, WordPress, Gamification, luxury interior design, website development and online development etc. These days she contributes on punchh
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