Let’s face it. Many of us have felt themiserable feeling that stress and tension related to our jobs can cause on adaily basis. Aside from feeling bad from a mental perspective there are serioushealth issues that can develop if you don’t do something and make some changesto reduce your stress levels.
Stress and work are like two peas in a pod.They go together well, and because of this, many people dread waking up everymorning. Stress is not something to take lightly. You could say that it’s afact of life, but having too much stress could lead to some major healthproblems down the line.
Rather than waking up every morning andfeeling the wave of stress and tension flow over you here are 10 easy ways to reduceyour stress level that you can start using today.
Just think of how stress affects you in theshort term. You may get headaches, or even worse, migraines. You may start tofeel anxious, as if you are going to have a panic attack. Maybe you have difficultybreathing, or you could simply feel exhausted.
That’s just the short term. Think of thelong term effects that are much more serious. You could get abnormally highblood pressure. Depression may start to become part of your life. You couldstart to lose or gain large amounts of weight. Or, worst of all, you could havea heart attack. Just seeing all these effects should be enough to tell you thatcontrolling stress is a MUST.
If stress hits you hard in the workplace,you are definitely not alone. In fact, according to the American Institute ofStress, four out of five workers in the United States experience stress on thejob. That’s a whopping 80 percent!
So what causes this workplace stress? Manycite unfair or unrealistic workload demands as one of the major causes. Thisworkload often causes a lack of balance between one’s personal life andprofessional life. Another huge cause of workplace stress is a lack of jobsecurity. If you are constantly wondering if you will have a job next week,stress will definitely start to creep in and take over your life. This becomeseven truer if you have a family and children that depend on you.
Lastly, many workers cite personalityconflicts as a cause of workplace stress. You can’t choose your coworkers, soyou are bound to meet others with personalities that clash with your own. Thiscan create animosity in the workplace, and can become even worse if yourpersonality conflicts with that of your superiors.
So, now that you know the effects of stressand some of the causes behind it, what can you do? It may be impossible toeliminate it completely, but how can you at least reduce stress in theworkplace? Here are ten tips that you can and should start applyingimmediately.
1.Acceptcriticism
Nobody is perfect. We all like to think weare, but this just isn’t the case. You have to accept criticism. It’s part ofany job. Take it for what it’s worth and use it to improve. If you go nutsevery time somebody asks you for a revision or isn’t completely pleased withyour work, you will never make it through the day. Accept criticism as it comesthrough and do not take things personally. People that do this tend to build alot of animosity in the workplace and it makes for a toxic environment foreverybody.
2.Stopcomparing yourself to others
It is quite common to want to compareourselves to our coworkers. John may make a higher salary than you. Lisa mayhave gotten the promotion you have always wanted. Steve may have a niceroffice. Stop comparing! If you make it your business to constantly compare yoursituation to others then you will never be able to focus on the task at hand.This will eventually turn into an obsession and you could turn to hate yourcoworkers because of it. It is not healthy to compare yourself to others. Focuson yourself and how you can improve and you will eventually reap the benefitsof your hard work. Do not obsess over things you cannot control. In the end, itis nothing but a waste of time and energy. Instead of comparing yourself toothers, set your own personal standards to follow. Make goals for where youwant to be in the future and focus on them. Compete with yourself and you willbe surprised at how far you can go.
3.Communicatewith others
If you keep all of your thoughts andfeelings inside without talking to anybody, you will detonate like a bomb. Youmay be feeling bad about a certain project. Perhaps you don’t like what acoworker said to you. Regardless of what is bothering you, make sure to talkabout it with others. Not only will this make them aware of issues in theworkplace, but it will also relieve any stress you may feel regarding thatproblem.
4.Uselists to your advantage
If your mind is filled with a ton of ideasand tasks, you won’t know what to hit first. It will be like a huge ball ofstress twirling around in your mind and will make things seem worse than theyreally are. Writing down a simple list of things you need to accomplish on adaily basis is a great way to stay organized mentally and reduce stress.Another good thing about lists, besides their organizational advantages, isthat they make you feel good. Think of the last time you wrote a list. When youcrossed something off of it as being accomplished, you felt good, didn’t you?That’s what makes lists even more valuable, so start implementing them intoyour daily schedule now if you haven’t done so already.
Now that we’ve reviewed a few easytechniques that anyone can use this next group will not only help lower yourstress levels but just may contribute to you living a longer healthier life.They may be a little more difficult to implement but the benefit outweighs thedifficulty of the task.
网友评论