STRESS!!! … how to deal with it?

Office environment can often be stressful. Even with a good salary, great career prospects and supportive colleagues, workplace stress can easily get to you affecting your productivity and performance. If ignored it can also lead to more serious health problems, like depression,  memory  loss or chronic disease. Stress management should therefore become an important part of your daily routine.

Here are some useful tips that will help you reduce your stress levels at work:

• Pay attention to your emotional and physical health: even small changes to your diet or lifestyle can make a big difference. By looking after yourself, you often become stronger, more resilient to stress and less likely to get overwhelmed.
• Move more- by exercising you raise your heart rate, increase energy and therefore release the stress. Try to fit at least 30 minutes of exercise a day into your schedule.
• Eat less but more frequently- eating too much can make you lethargic and not enough makes you feel more irritable. Try eating regularly without ‘stuffing yourself’.
• Make sure you are well rested- stress often causes insomnia, but lack of sleep leaves you vulnerable to even more stress. Therefore it is important to get enough sleep to keep your emotional balance.
• Avoid alcohol and nicotine- both seem to reduce stress but it shortly wears off leaving you even more anxious and vulnerable to stress. Make sure you use them in moderation. 

Communicate with your colleagues and practise emotional intelligence to retain self-control and positive attitude.

• Realise when you are stressed and find the best response. Make sure you find things that are soothing to you and use them whenever you feel overwhelmed.
• Stay connected to your emotional experience to appropriately manage your own reactions. Do not ignore your emotions but try to understand your own thoughts and feelings.
• Recognise and effectively use nonverbal messages: eye contact, gestures, facial expressions. They can either produce a sense of interest and trust or generate confusion, distrust and stress.
• Try to respond to challenges with humour. Nothing reduces stress quicker in the workplace than mutually shared laughter as long it is not at someone else’s expense.
• Resolve conflict positively, that can strengthen your work relations and diffuse workplace stress. Stay focused and calm to avoid any stressful escalations.
• Talk to your colleagues and managers. Friendly atmosphere will help you deal with stress quicker and easier.

Learn to prioritise and organise your day to avoid rushing.

• Create a timetable that includes all your daily tasks and responsibilities: work, family life, social activities. Avoid trying to fit too much into your schedule, that would cause even more unnecessary stress.
• Leave the house 15 minutes earlier - being late contributes to your stress levels and can make you feel overwhelmed.
• Take breaks – when the workload gets too much make sure you take a short break and relax. You will then come back to work with a fresh, positive approach.
• Plan and prioritise - tackle your tasks in order of importance. Once you complete high-priority tasks move to less pressing ones, that will reduce your stress levels and make your day more enjoyable.
• Delegate responsibility – there is no need for you to control everything. If there is something your co-workers can do to take some pressure off you, let them!

Try to eliminate self-defeating habits.

• Stay positive and break negative behaviour that adds to your work stress.
• Do not set unrealistic goals for yourself but aim to do your best.
• Plan ahead and schedule your day, organise your desk and your workload.
• Try not to stress over things that are beyond your control but focus on what can be improved.