How to reduce work stress?

Do you go to work every morning in a bad mood? Do your employees have dark circles under their eyes and come to work with anxiety? Regardless of your job, if you go to bed each night hoping that the next morning will not come, there is probably no good management of the tension in your workplace.

Work stress means stress, whether you are the boss or an employee, and everyone could suffer from it at any time. There are different causes that can produce stress. Whatever your role is within the company, take a breath, relax and read…

1. Set schedules and learn how to disconnect.

Do you really need to check all those emails during dinner or mentally go through everything that you have to do tomorrow while you are in the shower? Has your partner told you to sleep on the sofa because you took the laptop and the printer with you to bed? Unless it’s absolutely essential, taking your work home, whether it’s in the form of obsessive thoughts or actually taking it home, it is definitely not a good idea. Nowadays, it is more dangerous than ever due to all of these technological gadgets that we use on a daily basis and the invasion of our privacy and our sleeping hours. Let’s see if you can see it more clearly like this: DIS-CON-NECT

2. Use relaxation techniques.

In order to recover a little peace of mind, there are many popular methods: meditation techniques, Jacobson’s progressive relaxation, Schultz’s autogenic training, yoga … You just have to find the one that best suits you and get to practice it. If you do not have time, stop for a moment and slowly take a deep breath. Do it several times and you will feel better.

3. Exercise.

It is widely demonstrated that one of the best ways to reduce those work stress levels is by practicing sports. Exercise releases endorphins, which are a natural narcotic with similar effects to those of morphine. Whether you prefer basketball or football, get exercising and you will see life from a different perspective.

4. Eat healthy.

Have you ever heard that “you are what you eat”? If the answer is “no,” you have probably lived under a rock for the past 20 years, so it’s normal for you to feel stressed. Whether you have heard it or not, you must know that your diet influences many things in your life, and one of them is the level of anxiety. In order to fight this, there are some foods with interesting properties; Such as oranges, whose high Vitamin C content helps reduce cortisol levels (known as the “stress hormone”); Also oats or yogurt, which favour the production of serotonin (improves our mood). Also, blueberries, black chocolate, chamomile or asparagus may help. Of course, remember that you should not abuse any food; we know each other very well by now so please do not eat 4 tablets of chocolate a day.

5. Stop smoking.

Do you smoke? If you don’t, then proceed to the next suggestion. Wait, do you actually smoke? What are you doing with your life then? I am pretty sure you already know that smoking is terrible, so you’d better stop smoking for good, plus smoking is another factor that increases stress levels. Do not fool yourself, the cigarette is not relieving your anxiety, but what it is actually doing is calming that anxiety generated by the tobacco itself. Think about it every time you go out for a cigarette … and please do stop smoking as soon as possible.

6. Learn to delegate.

Are you the boss? Or are you somewhere in the middle? Do you know or have someone you could drop part of your workload? Trust others, you do not have to control everything in your office. But be careful, you should only distribute the work that others are able to do without going crazy. It’s not about throwing your work stress to another person like a bomb that is about to explode…

7. Take a break.

It has been already proven that short breaks at work help reduce anxiety. Get up from the chair and relax your legs. Go to the bathroom. Stretch your muscles. Look out the window for a minute. You will feel better.

8. Do talk about your problems

Is that colleague in front of you usually giving you hateful looks? Does that colleague next to you have a photo of you with two knives in your eyes on her table? If your colleagues have reached such extremes, you should also change your job, receive a martial arts course, and call the police. If it is not very much like this but you have certain tensions, maybe you should talk about it. We are all people and sometimes issues can be solved with a talk, but you have to talk about it otherwise it could generate a permanent harmful environment.

It could also happen that something that generates work stress is coming from the conditions of your work. It may be too cold or hot, or the lighting is not adequate. Talk to the right person in order to fix it. You deserve to work in good conditions.

9. Get to know the people you are working with.

Treat everyone equally, but do not treat everyone the same. If you are in charge of some people when you are working, you should understand them as best as possible. There are people who perform better than ever under pressure, but there are also people who can give a great performance in their work without receiving a continuous control and there are as well some people that shouldn’t be forced to work more of what they capable of otherwise they might fall into pieces.

10. Make your workplace look nice.

Have you ever noticed the difference between working in a pleasant place and doing it in a smelly pigsty? You probably haven’t experienced this as this last one was an exaggeration, but if you are the boss and the conditions are right for it, you should equip your workplace with elements that offer a break for the people that work for you: a room to rest, a coffee machine, a small fridge … If you are an employee, ask if you can have a little flower or a picture nearby that will relax you (no, maybe its not appropriate to put a picture of that colleague that you fancy).

11. Value your people.

Recognition in time can make your workers feel that their efforts have been worth the while, which will help reduce their work stress. If you do this with some kind of reward – free hours, a trip, an extra bonus … – you will not only moderate your anxiety levels, but even make them happier (and that is a very good thing to do).

These are several ways to fight stress in your work, but I am sure you know some more. If you want to do well, which is something that also lower you stress levels. Share your tips with our readers by leaving a comment at the bottom of this article. Thank you very much!