2 Key Ingredients For Managing Stress in Workplace

According to the American Stress Institute, almost 80% of us feel stress on the job, with around 50% of us saying we need help with managing and understanding stress. That’s some big numbers! The thing about stress is that we need a certain amount of it in our day-to-day lives to feel stimulated, challenged and not get bored.

The problems really start when the amount of stress outweighs our coping strategies and we don’t effectively recover from it.  Chronic stress leads to burnout which is seriously damaging for your physical, mental and emotional health not to mention the financial cost which your organisation will shoulder.

This is an article about workplace stress, but it’s important to remember that stress and pressure don’t only come from work. Our home lives are becoming increasingly busier and more challenging to deal with, especially when kids are involved in family life.

There are some simple steps you can take, the changes don’t happen overnight, but the goal isn’t perfection with stress management, the goal is identifying and creating enough mental space for yourself to choose a response which better serves you. Not always easy, in fact, rarely easy.  But it is doable with time, consistency and practice. The good news is, that we are surrounded by stress in our daily lives, so there are literally hundreds of opportunities to practice!

Here is a bit more info on the top 2 ingredients for making changes to how you interpret and respond to stress.

NOTICING.

Begin to observe and keep a note of what causes you stress on a daily basis. Is it always the same thing or type of situation which cause stress for you? Take this a step further and begin to notice how you are responding to these stressors, what are the thoughts, feelings and emotions brought about by the stress and what is your actual response?

CHOOSE AN ALTERNATIVE RESPONSE.

If the way in which you react to stress in the workplace is not helpful to you and is damaging your communication, clarity, fulfilment or relationships then it’s time to start choosing to respond differently. Think about a stressful situation and consider what a preferable ideal response might look like. How can you move 1 small step closer to this outcome next time the situation arises?

It is very simple really, but it isn’t easy. 

When you do get it wrong (and you will quite regularly), just be kind to yourself, acknowledge you didn’t respond as you wanted to and then tell yourself ‘ok, I’ll get it next time’ then go again.