How to manage work stress: 10 practical tips

Everyone can experience job stress, no matter how much they love their job. Stress, in itself, is not bad: it is our natural mechanism to keep us awake, motivated and directed towards our goal.

However, this stress, if it is sustained in the long term, affects us physically and mentally, making us we are less efficient in our workplace and, furthermore, more prone to suffer from problems of health.

Next We are going to learn how to manage work stress, in addition to understanding how it originates and what problems it can cause us.

• Related article: "Types of stress and their triggers"

How to manage work stress?

As much as we love our job, there is no doubt that it can be a source of stress. Stress, like any other emotion, is adaptive. It is a physiological, psychological and behavioral response that helps us adapt to internal and external pressures.

That is, the stress It is our body's way of coping with the situation, keeping us active and awake so that we do not let our guard down and focus all our resources on being able to carry out the task that has been entrusted to us.

Stress, like joy, sadness or anger, is part of our emotional repertoire and is therefore necessary. The problem comes when it stays constant for a long time. This stress, already transformed into anxiety, can cause all kinds of health problems, such as heart problems, back pain, headaches, upset stomach, depression, sleep disturbances, immune system problems, as well as making us more prone to accidents on the road job.

The causes of this work stress can be several but, of course, all of them depend on how how comfortable the worker sits in his job or how he interacts with the rest of the organization.

It can appear related to an excessive workload, such as working too many hours, having few breaks, having an unclear role at work, having precarious working conditions, being exposed to harmful substances, loud noises... And, of course, having problems with other workers, such as colleagues and, especially, the boss, are common sources of stress.

Whatever the cause of work stress and how it manifests itself, there is no doubt that it can be very harmful to our employment. According to several investigations, suffering from anxiety at work can significantly reduce labor productivity, reaching a 30% reduction. It is for this reason that it is especially recommended to reduce this emotion in the workplace, both if you are aware that you are suffering or if you see other colleagues or subordinates manifest it.

10 ways to deal with discomfort

The first thing to understand when trying to manage work stress is that there is no magic formula that suddenly solves it. This is like everything in life: you must be constant.

Routinely applying the following strategies is the best way to reduce work stress. Thus, not only will we feel better and we will not be so burned out with work, but we will also be much more efficient, something that never hurts.

1. plan the work

Disorganization and stress go hand in hand. When we do not plan, all the tasks that have been sent to us accumulate or we end up delivering them after the deadline. The best way to manage or directly avoid stress is to plan.

This planning of work may seem like a no-brainer, but... How many of us have a "planning" of when we should do each task? Managing time, knowing how, when and what we use it for is the best way to prevent last moment we have to do everything we were supposed to have done for the last few weeks.

It is not necessary to be too sophisticated when it comes to programming the activities. It is enough to take an agenda or a calendar and go putting, realistically but in due time, all the tasks to be carried out. Also you can choose to use mobile applications, such as Google Calendar, and schedule reminders from time to time.

2. set goals

Every worker is efficient to the extent that he sets realistic objectives and goals, and manages to achieve them. It is much more preferable to set small objectives, achievable in the short and medium term, than not large objectives that have to be met within six months.

At first, this may seem counterproductive, since it gives the impression that having obligations daily activities is more stressful than considering a purpose to fulfill in a relatively distant time. However, the stress of small daily tasks is much more manageable than the one that will end up coming with the big purpose.

In addition, gradually achieving daily goals has great advantages for our self-esteem, since when we have to face a new one we will have already had the precedent of all the many more that we have already made.

In addition, facing new goals frequently is a very good strategy to maintain our motivation and job satisfaction, since humans like novelty.

• You may be interested in: "10 tips to achieve your goals"

3. be assertive

Sometimes what causes us stress in the workplace is not the work itself, but the place and the people we have to be with. It may be that in the office the air conditioning is freezing or sub-Saharan, there is a lot of noise, colleagues tell jokes and laugh out loud...

All these factors, which are not directly related to work and which may seem very insignificant, can affect our well-being if they bother us a lot. Lower well-being translates into lower productivity, something that neither we nor the company is interested in.

This is why it is so important to be assertive and tell the appropriate person about it.Let's see if you can solve it. It is very important to say, in a good manner, that these inconveniences, however small they may seem, are having a negative impact on our work performance.

4. learn to say no

Many times, either due to social pressure or because we are "good guys", we accept tasks that do not correspond to us.Like helping a colleague finish a report or putting in extra hours to finish something someone else should really do.

To the extent that this task really is not for us to do and that we can avoid doing it without endangering our position, it is highly recommended to learn to say no.

It is evident that in the workplace colleagues are not just that. In any company where there is a good work dynamic and culture, workers can be friends and enjoy their free time together. However, that is not a reason to allow others to take advantage of us and burden us with their tasks.

5. Disconnect

Sitting in a chair and looking at a screen for hours is not comfortable. Nor is it having to be replenishing the pantries of a supermarket or loading bags on the construction site. Regardless of the type of work we do, it is clear that repetitive and monotonous work exhausts us mentally and physically.

A good way to break the monotony is to look for moments in which we can disconnect, even briefly. We can stretch our legs, go for an infusion, talk with a colleague about a topic not related to work... these are ways to clear our minds of stress.

6. Relaxation

One of the best ways to combat stress is relaxation. Being in the workplace, it is very important to be able to find a time when we can take time for ourselves and our mind, clear and free it from the burden of the workday so that it can continue in the best possible way.

There are countless relaxation techniques that do not require many materials, such as yoga, guided meditation and techniques such as Jacobson's progressive relaxation or Mindfulness. All these relaxation strategies are ideal because they help us to have a greater capacity for self-control and emotion management.

It is also very important to control your breathing, breathing in slowly and deeply, several times. This way we will make the heart beat slower, anxiety levels will be reduced and our mind will be calmer.

• You may be interested in: "13 apps to relax anywhere"

7. Exercise

Stress can make us feel very tense, something that we will need to release anyway and what better way to release it than by exercising? Exercising is, along with relaxation, the anti-stress strategy par excellence.

Doing sports on a regular basis releases endorphins., hormones which are of great importance for our physical and mental health, since they induce us to a great sensation of well-being. In addition, exercise makes it easier for us to fall asleep at night, making us face the next day with energy.

8. Sleep well

The best way to cope with our each working day is to sleep well. You cannot expect to give 100% of yourself if you have had very poor sleep.

Sleeping less than 6 hours, going to bed later than 12 and having a very light sleep is fatal to our work performance and significantly reduces our performance.

Due to this, when we find ourselves in the workplace and we see that we cannot do what we we are asked fast and well, we will feel very frustrated, and that is when stress comes labor.

One of the best ways to prevent poor quality sleep is by restricting the use of electronic devices, especially mobile phones, computers, and television. Using screens in the two hours before we go to bed has been shown to affect our ability to fall asleep quickly.

9. Reduce stressful substances

Caffeine, alcohol and tobacco are stress-inducing substances. Although caffeine is the healthiest of the three, it is, in turn, the one that can cause us the most anxiety.

We must reduce the consumption of coffee or tea both at work and at home, since the more cups we drink, the more nervous we will be. Also It is very important to avoid consuming it after 6:00 p.m. since it greatly interferes with our ability to go to sleep.

As for tobacco and alcohol, these substances, if you consume them, it is not appropriate to do so in the workplace. Not only because of its obvious health problems, such as causing lung and larynx cancer, but, like coffee, they are potent stress-inducers, especially when you can't consume.

10. You are what you eat

The saying "you are what you eat" applies to absolutely everything, and stress was not going to be the exception.. In addition to what we have already discussed with caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol, there are foods that induce anxiety. That is why eating a healthy diet helps to combat and avoid stress.

It is recommended to avoid heavy meals, especially at dinner time. It is also important to eat five times a day since in this way the body will not have so much pressure when it comes to metabolizing what is consumed, having more energy and performing better. And it is very important to also take 5 pieces of fruit and vegetables every day.

Bibliographic references:

• Quick, J. C., Quick, J. D., Nelson, D. L., & Hurrell, J. J., Jr. (1997). Preventive stress management in organizations. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10238-000
• Kirkcaldy, B., Cooper, C. L., & Ruffalo, P. (1995). Work Stress and Health in a Sample of U.S. Police. Psychological Reports, 76(2), 700–702. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1995.76.2.700