Best Ways To Manage Stress At Work
Stress is a normal part of everyday life. However, too much stress can have a negative impact on your life. It can reduce your work productivity and undermine your social relationships. Severe stress can lead to burnout while some individuals can suffer a psychological and emotional breakdown. The good news is that you don’t have to become a slave to work-related stress. There are a lot of natural ways you can fight anxiety and relieve stress in the workplace. Here are 8 of them.
1. Find Time To Stretch Or Perform Mini Exercises
One of the proven ways to fight stress is by exercising. You don’t need to bring your gym equipment to the office, of course. Performing gentle stretching exercises or mini exercises can do you a lot of good.
Stress can manifest itself as muscle tension. The problem with this is that it is self-fueling. The more tense that you feel, the worse your stress and anxiety grow. This leads to greater muscle tension. Exercise uses the energy stored in these muscles which, in turn, relaxes them. It also improves blood flow for adequate oxygenation to the muscles and other important body organs.
As such, if you want to alleviate anxiety in the workplace, including a 2-minute exercise should be enough. Some folks find stretching the legs or their arms to be helpful. Others will use portable gadgets to exercise other body parts.
2. Get Away From Your Workstation Once In A While
If you feel like your productivity levels are dipping, it’s often a sign that you need to slow down. Take a break. Get up from your office chair and move around. This is almost equivalent to having a miniature exercise.
There are many instances when what we see on our computer screens affect our mood. It can be a very difficult report that you’re trying to make or a calculation that doesn’t compute. The point here is that the information you have at your workstation is crowding your brain. Your cognitive resources are not yet up to the task.
If that is the case, then moving away from your workstation for a few minutes will help you gather your thoughts. Go downstairs or walk the entire length of the hallway several times. Whatever you do, move away from your workstation once every 1-2 hours.
3. Ramp Up Your Fluid Intake
Do not underestimate the value of fluid intake. Every cell in your body relies on sufficient amounts of water to maintain critical processes. It helps to make sure these cells don’t overheat.
While any fluid will do, it is best to stick with good, old plain water. Fresh fruit juices can also help since these have vitamins that can help fight stress. There are also minerals that enhance the proper functioning of the different organs. Fresh fruit juices also contain phytochemicals that are good for the heart. These can help improve the delivery of blood throughout the body.
Some folks may drink coffee or tea. These are natural stimulants that can perk you up. Unfortunately, these drinks don’t sit well with some individuals. It’s still best to drink water.
4. Give Yourself A 5-Minute Break To Meditate
One good way to alleviate anxiety in the workplace is to find time to meditate. Many people meditate because it is an effective stress-management technique. It is very easy to perform, too. The idea about meditation is to focus only on a single point. For beginners, try focusing only on breathing.
Sit in a comfortable manner on your chair. Place your hands on your lap and place the feet flat on the floor. Now close your eyes and breathe in a relaxed manner. Focus on your inhalation and exhalation. This is the only thing that will occupy your mind.
What you are doing is focusing all of your energy on this particular thought – your breathing. Your mind will not be focusing on the things that are causing you stress and anxiety.
5. Perform Deep-Breathing
Meditation teaches you to focus on a single thought. Deep-breathing exercises help you deliver more oxygen to the brain to help fight anxiety and stress. The human brain requires an adequate supply of oxygen to help promote a calmer state.
Like meditation, find a place where you can lie down or sit in a more comfortable, more relaxed manner. Think of a place that is relaxing, peaceful, or tranquil. Most folks think of the beach or a grassy field. Whatever it is, it should be a place that can make you feel at peace.
Now try inhaling as slow and deep as you can through your nose. Hold your breath for about 5 to 10 seconds before letting the air out through your mouth. When breathing out, make sure to purse your lips. You need to exhale slowly, too.
6. Find Time To Laugh Even At Your Own Expense
The workplace is often a very serious environment where people rarely smile, let alone laugh. But, laughter has the uncanny ability to flood the brain with feel-good hormones. These substances can make you forget your worries and help fight anxiety and stress.
Find time to share a laugh with your officemates. It may be brief, but the effects are remarkable. During break time, it is always possible to crack jokes or share some funny stories with colleagues. As such, instead of talking about the next episode of The Walking Dead, you’ll do a lot better talking about the previous episode of Saturday Night Live.
The good news is that there are now companies that put value in laughter as a means to combat workplace stress. Consider yourself lucky if your company has such a philosophy.
7. Do Not Procrastinate
Most people get very anxious whenever a deadline is drawing near. Some have this attitude of procrastinating to the point that they only do their tasks at the 11th hour. This is a very stressful behavior. And while some individuals may thrive when pushed to the hilt, one can never know how it is affecting their psychological health.
As such, if you want to reduce work-related stress, try writing down all of the things you need to do. Examine your to-do list and determine which ones you should do first. Sometimes, it is often best to divide bigger activities into smaller components. This way it is a lot more manageable.
8. Communicate With Other People
It helps to communicate your worries with someone else. It is best to verbalize whatever is bothering or making you anxious. Stress and anxiety are pent-up psychological energies. This energy requires an outlet.
Voicing out whatever it is that’s making you anxious or stressed can help you feel a lot better afterward. You may find it absurd, but some people use a box to whisper their “issues” into. As long as they are able to vent out their anxieties, they will feel much better. Of course, you don’t need a box to do that. If you have a close friend in the office, he or she can always lend you his or her ears.
There are many ways in which you can manage stress and anxiety in the workplace. The things we shared here are just some of the more common ones. Find one that works for you or combine several for a stress-free work.
