Work-life comes with its own set of anxieties. This is normal, but you shouldn’t let yourself be overwhelmed by stress either. Here are some easy ways to manage stress at work.
H2 What is stress?
It is a state caused by disturbances (physical, psychological, emotional) – which can end up in real aggression depending on the degree of intensity – on our body. Stress can have multiple consequences, positive or negative, even harmful. Therefore, while it is normal to feel a certain constraint at work, it is essential not to let yourself be overwhelmed to the point of becoming overworked and ending up in burn-out.
H2 The right stress
It is short-term, induced by slight pressure and is characterized by increased positive motivation. It is a kind of boost that will allow you to temporarily surpass yourself in order to reach the (reasonable) objective set. The enthusiasm and energy generated by this positive stress will be communicated to the entourage and will have a driving role, especially for a manager in the management of his projects with his team. Once the mission is successful, it is a feeling of satisfaction with the work done, pride, and accomplishment. The manager doped with the right stress will have no worries about taking (and giving his team) a rest that he will consider “deserved”.
This is where the difference is made with bad stress, which, when you are a victim of it, lasts and forbids any retreat and period of respite.
H2 Bad stress
Clearly more insidious, latent, and too often ignored, bad stress sets in over time and gradually eats away at its host: fatigue, irritability, sleep/eating disorders, concentration difficulties, etc. The pressure – of high intensity despite its deceptive appearances – is permanent and follows an exponential upward curve.
Far from nourishing positive energy, bad stress rinses away, exhausts, wears out, sometimes kills. It is therefore essential to learn how to manage it so that you can say stop before it is too late.
H2 How do you manage stress at work?
- Acting on what you can control
Stress is like a feeling of loss of control. Often, there are things we can’t control that are beyond our control. There’s no point in dwelling on them and letting yourself be disturbed by them.
On the contrary, it is important to act on the areas that are under our control. By doing so, we reduce our field of attention and we can better apprehend the hazards that arise.
- Setting priorities
Sometimes you may have a long list of tasks for the job. The accumulation of activities can weigh on our consciousness and make us brood. To avoid this, it is enough to set priorities and act gradually to reach our goals.
- Relativize
When anxiety assails us, we can calm down, take a deep breath and step back. Most of the situations that stress us are temporary and concern only a part of our professional life. Putting things in their proper place allows us to relax and better understand our feelings.
- Managing repetitive interruptions
The phone rings, e-mails pile up, notes pile up, and you’re distracted from your daily tasks.
It’s a good idea to know how to filter this flow of information and manage it so that you don’t get carried away by a feeling of overwhelming information. Not all messages are worthy of attention.
- Enjoying leisure time
People tend to work more than they need to, thinking that they will be able to overcome their anxiety by doing this. On the contrary, it makes more sense to know how to balance things out. Therefore, it is important to allocate sufficient time to activities that free our minds. There is no point in trying to work hard to achieve our goals.
- Avoid conflict
When you’re under pressure, it can happen that you’re on the edge of your skin. Others can irritate us more easily. However, in order not to add stress on our backs, it is better not to get into unnecessary and counterproductive arguments.
In the end, it’s all about self-management, distance and peace of mind.
