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How to deal with stress at work

how to deal with stress at work

A little bit of stress is an ordinary scenario at various workplaces, but excessive stress can be one of the major causes which can adversely affect your productivity as well as health. You do not need to transform your life completely while dealing with stress, rather focusing on yourself and your competencies will help you manage stress in a better manner.

Identify warning signs and symptoms of undue stress at work

The moment you feel too weighed down at work is when you start losing the required concentration and confidence, which may eventually lead to irritation and depression. At this peak point, you need to be very cautious of the warning signs of work stress that can lead to major problems. Apart from job performance and satisfaction, intense stress can badly affect your physical and emotional health as well. Look for the following symptoms to recognize workplace stress: feeling depressed or irritable, loss of concentration in work, problems in sleeping, exhaustion, constant headaches or muscle tension, social neglect, loss of sex drive and consumption of alcohol, or drugs to deal with stress.

Learn how to control work stress by taking care of yourself

There are three basic rules you need to follow in order to control stress. Firstly, take responsibility by looking after your physical and emotional welfare. Secondly, avoid negative attitudes, which can act as a major hindrance adding to the already build up stress. Lastly, improve your communication skills, which can help you in easing your relations with management and coworkers. Furthermore, taking down things slowly one at a time and accepting positive lifestyle alternatives will result in a drastic reduction of your stress intensity, both at work and home. Follow a pattern of regular exercises, which helps in raising your heart rate and make you sweat, as it leaves you feeling fresh and lifts your mood, increasing energy, and keeping your mind and body relaxed. Alternatively, making healthy food choices, drinking alcohol in moderation, and getting enough sleep can help you feel stress-free, focused, and energetic.

Start prioritizing and organizing

Try to maintain a sense of self-control in stressful situations. This skill is often acknowledged by fellow team members, which can lead to improved relations at work. To begin with, learn to manage time by creating a balanced schedule including your responsibilities and daily tasks maintaining a steadiness between work and family, social activities, private hobbies, and daily responsibilities. Never over commit yourself to things, which are not within your limit, let the task with less priority find place at the extreme bottom of your schedule list, or learn to delegate responsibilities to others who can take care of the task. When there are multiple people contributing differently to the same project, revise a deadline and cooperate with each other. Early to rise can help you in leaving a little earlier for work, not having yourself worry about reaching late to work, and adding to your stress intensity. All work and no play can probably make you suicidal, so plan regular breaks between work to relax and recharge yourself.

Improve your emotional brainpower

‘Emotional brainpower’ is another word for ’emotional intelligence’, which is a way of communicating to overcome differences, understanding feelings of others, and reducing stress. There are certain skills that you need to keep in account. To begin with, be conscious of when you are stressed and reduce it immediately by using any of the senses that suits you best, that is through sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch. Secondly, the capability to withhold your emotions and be flexible to ever changing situations can help you stay motivated and communicate efficiently with others. Thirdly, the sense of understanding and reacting to yourself and others through verbal as well as non-verbal cues such as eye contact, facial expression, tone of voice, posture, gesture, and touch can generate either positive or negative feedback from co-workers. Therefore, it is very important to be conscious of what we say or rather how we say it, or send out non-verbal signals. Fourthly, laughing is the best medicine of cure, therefore try to find humor in stressful situations, but not at someone else’s cost. Lastly, while trying to resolve a conflict, try to hear both the sides of the story. If things fall out of hand, end the argument in a constructive manner without hurting any sentiments and try to build trust between people.

Bad habits build negative energies: Break them

Negative thinking adds to stress, once you start working towards managing your stress levels and improving work relations, breaking away from bad habits will then be a walk through the park. If you are a perfectionist, stop being one! It only adds to the stress. Do what you are best at and stop setting unrealistic goals. Clean mind and clean surroundings can help you, be organized and work successfully towards job completion. Stick to your schedule and knock down the tasks on your list as you complete them, this will help you stay focused and less burdened. Think positively and feel proud of every accomplishment done during the day, carry out the same gesture towards your fellow teammates. Do not feel disheartened with the things that are uncontrollable around you, instead work on tasks, which you can control and stay focused. Lastly, make good relations with your co-workers, take some time off, discuss your problems with them, and stay focused, motivated, positive, and content!

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