Dealing With Work Stress? Here’s What To Do

Statistics indicate that approximately 83% of US employees experience work-related stress. Indeed, work stress can adversely impact your overall mental and physical health. You risk developing depression, anxiety, burnout, and other mental disorders. Likewise, stressed workers are likelier to develop unhealthy behaviors like alcohol and drug misuse and eating disorders. Workplace stress is also linked to chronic back pain, IBS, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart attack. Therefore, it’s important to deal with work stress to prevent it. So, are you dealing with work stress lately? If yes, here’s what to do to achieve optimal results.

1. Plan your day

Sometimes, you experience stress because your day isn’t well organized. Indeed, an ill-planned day can lead to you doing so much without order. Fortunately, planning your day can be helpful. Not only does it help you start your day productively, it also enables you to determine what tasks to focus on. Moreover, you feel accomplished when determining how much work you tackled during the day. Effective planning also prevents you from making emotional decisions that may jeopardize your work. Therefore, you want to start planning your day if you haven’t already. Experts advise that you plan your day the night before, as there’s less noise and distraction. However, you can do it early in the morning and still achieve the best results. 

You also want to document your plan daily to refer to it throughout the day. Depending on your preference, you can write them on paper or your smart device. Likewise, make it a regular habit by planning at the same time each day. You’ll also find it helpful to invest in technology. Time management and planning apps like Todoist, Google Calendar, and Notion are great options, so feel free to consider them. 

2. Don’t bring your work home

Your home is where you destress after a long day at work. However, bringing work home can defeat this purpose. For starters, it may prevent you from spending more time with your family while causing you to pour your frustrations on them. Research also indicates that working overtime can increase your risk of depression, exhaustion, poor sleep, anxiety, and migraines. It can also affect your productivity, making you susceptible to losing your job. Therefore, it’s best to leave work at the office and embrace your home as your haven. Defining your after-work hours is essential, especially if you have a flexible work schedule. Again, planning your day can help you finish your work on time, so you don’t have to bring it home. 

It’s also helpful to converse with your boss and colleagues about your work hours and why you wouldn’t attend to work after the designated time. This way, they would readjust their schedules to suit the appropriate timeframe. Consequently, ensure that you leave work-related gadgets at the office or switch them off if you have to bring them home. Avoid checking your emails after work hours, and spend more time with your loved ones. 

3. Take a break 

Sometimes, work stress can be intense and require some days off to recover from. While the human body can tolerate stress for a short period, prolonged stress can be harmful. First, your body is more prone to illnesses and medical conditions. Likewise, your mental state can suffer as a result. Therefore, you want to consider taking a break to reenergize yourself. Fortunately, certain signs can help you determine when to avoid work for a while. Lack of motivation, bad mood, poor eating habits, withdrawal from loved ones, frustration, fatigue, etc., are signs to consider. 

A vacation is effective for getting the needed rest, so keep this in mind. However, you want to avoid attending to work while on vacation, as that can defeat its purpose. You can consider a staycation if you can’t afford a trip now. A staycation allows you to enjoy the benefits of a vacation without leaving your home, so feel free to consider this. When you return to work, ensure that you take short breaks to prevent stress from building up. 

4. Get support 

Sometimes, additional support from external sources can help you reduce work stress. For instance, trusted family and friends can help you attend to household work so that you can unwind after work. Likewise, you can talk to your employer about the stress you endure at work. They may have stress management resources that can benefit you greatly. You’ll also find it helpful to work with therapists to determine the best ways to overcome stress and protect your mental health. You can consider sites like BetterHelp.com for the best results.