Managing Workplace Stress

It is normal to experience some workplace stress, however if this stress becomes excessive it can interfere with your productivity and your health – emotional and physical. Your ability to cope with this stress can be the difference between success and failure in your career.

Finding strategies to manage workplace stress is not necessarily about making huge changes but focusing on the thing that’s within your control – you.

There are many different ways you can reduce your stress levels in the workplace.

These start with:

• Making a commitment to improving your physical and emotional health.
• Staying away from people or habits, when possible, that leave you feeling negative or stressed.
• Learn communication skills to improve your relationship with colleagues and management.

When you feel overwhelmed at work you can easily become withdrawn, irritable and insecure. This decreases your productivity and makes you less effective at your job. It can also make you feel like your job is less rewarding. When stress begins to interfere with your ability to do your job, it’s time to do something to remedy it. Begin by making sure that you’re looking after yourself. When your own needs are taken care of you are more capable of dealing with stress.

Try organising and prioritising your work. This can help you to reduce your stress by helping you to feel as though you’re in control.

Here are a few simple tips for time management:

• Don’t spread yourself too thin. Avoid scheduling meetings back to back or trying to get everything done in one day. If you have too many things to be done, drop the tasks that aren’t a priority to the bottom of the list.
• Don’t rush. Leaving 10 minutes earlier can mean the difference between running around madly and being able to take your time. Being late or rushing to be on time will only add to your stress levels.
• Factor breaks into your schedule. Taking a few short break throughout the day will help you to relax and de-stress. Have your lunch outside or at least away from your desk.

You can also gain a large amount of self-control by understanding and practising emotional intelligence. This is the ability to manage your emotions and use them in positive and productive ways.

Emotional intelligence in the workplace is composed of four major elements:

• Self-management, controlling your emotions and behaviour to adapt to changing circumstances.
• Self-Awareness, recognising your emotions and their impact.
• Social Awareness, the ability to understand and react to others emotions.
• Relationship Management, the ability to connect to others and manage conflict.