Combating Stress in the Workplace

Following our very successful event on Wednesday - Work and Life Stress: Building Resilience in Organisations, this month sees the first in our new series on combating Stress in the workplace. 

We will take a look at methods of dealing with stress from different organisational viewpoints.  This month's instalment looks at what employees themselves can do to relieve stress.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Kenneth Nowack for his contributions on combating stress in the workplace.

Relieving stress...what employees can do

There is no one-size-fits-all approach for how individuals manage stress. Different strokes work for different folks. Experiment. Pick and choose what is right for you: 

• Identify what truly gives you satisfaction. What do you find absolutely engaging and absorbing? Make a conscious effort to carve out time and put that in your schedule. 

• Try to maintain balance in your life. Put work in perspective. If circumstances force your life to be temporarily out of balance, accept it, but commit to reprioritizing and rebalancing at a defined later point. 

• Practice positive lifestyle and health habits on an ongoing basis: regular exercise, eating well, meditation, relaxation, restful sleep, and social support. 

• Find humour even in difficult circumstances. Seek out people with positive attitudes who make you laugh. Treasure those relationships. 

• Know when you have had enough of a bad situation. Realize you have options. Try to maintain a sense of hope and perspective. Without denying the reality of a negative situation, try to find the challenge or “gift” in it. 

• Intersperse mini-stress reducers throughout your day. (Stretch, focus on your breathing, yawn deeply, take a short walk, strike a Yoga pose, call a friend at an appointed time for a non-work conversation). Take time to relax when you eat lunch. 

• Deal with unpleasant relationships in ways that are best for you. Accept that some interpersonal stress is inevitable. Know when to walk, when to ask for help or advice, and when to give it your assertive best. 

• Space out your stressors. Most of us can deal with a certain amount of stress and do just fine. The problem is not having a chance to recover from one before the next one hits. If possible, give yourself a chance to recuperate before jumping into the next likely stressful situation. 

• Try a holiday without bringing along work -- physically or mentally. Also, schedule frequent mini-vacations. Make it a point to use your holiday as a restorative time and minimize the “let down effect” by practicing mental and physical relaxation exercises before and after your break.

If you are interested in further information on StressScan, our tool for measuring levels of Stress, please click here.

If you are interested in more information on Stress, a FREE trial of StressScan, or if you have any questions to ask us, please do email us.