Successfully Managing Work Stress

It is normal to experience some workplace stress every now and then. This is especially true during periods when things are particularly busy or when various deadlines loom.

According to consulting firm Korn Kerry, employee stress levels are on the rise, climbing nearly 20% over the past three decades. A variety of reasons for this rise in stress include everything from technology changes to increased workloads, conflicts at the workplace, and the greatest source of workplace stress: difficult managers.

In fact, the problem has gotten so bad that 76% of employees say that job-related stress has negatively impacted their personal life. It has impacted their relationships, 66% experienced sleep loss and half of the employees say that their health have been affected adversely.

If your stress level at work seems to be going nowhere but up, it's time to get ahead of the problem before it impacts not only your performance, but your personal life. Here are a few ways to start.

1. Daily Organization If like so many workers who fall victim to stress because they are constantly pulled in a multitude of different directions, you can escape this by spending the first few minutes of each workday getting organized. Look at your calendar to see what your appountment or meeting schedule is like and set your priorities for each day so you know which tasks to tackle first. This will enable you to make the best use of your time. Organizing daily will be an important step in taking one source of work anxiety off your list.

2. Keep Your Skills Current With the age of automation impacting all aspects of life, many workers fear that they'll be replaced and become obsolete. Others find themselves struggling to keep pace with new technology as it takes hold of our lives. If you find either scenario applicable, the best that you can do for yourself is work on educating yourself to keep your skills up-to-date. You can do this by taking courses, learning new software or renewing the certifications you hold. The greater the effort you make, the less you'll have to worry about losing your job to a robot or falling behind your co-workers..

3. Utilize Your Support System Having a strong support system at your place of employment can lower your daily stress. Building relationships with your co-workers is important because the more you know each other and work well together, the more you can supported each other through those difficult times.

4. Allow Yourself To Take Breaks Stress can rapidly build up as you are busy working away at your desk without as much as a minute to catch your breath. Taking breaks during your work day, can really help ease some of the tension that you might be experiencing. Scheduling a mid afternoon walk as a recurring break on your calendar could greatly help change your outlook for the better. Don't forget to take time out for a nourishing meal also, but be careful not to eat a heavy meal which could leave you sluggish.

5. Find A Quiet Room To Avoid Distractions Whether it's the constant dinging of your email, your ringing phone, or the coworkers who can't seem to tear themselves away from your desk, the more on-the-job distractions you're subjected to, the less productive you're apt to be. Rather than let those interruptions detract from your efforts to get your work done, eliminate them periodically as your schedule and office environment allows.

For example, if your office has private conference rooms, and you're able to book one for two hours a week, use that time as an opportunity to do some disturbance-free work. Don't tell your colleagues what room you'll be working from, and take only your laptop if possible, so that your cellphone doesn't distract you from what you're trying to accomplish. Once you're set up in your private room, unplug the phone if there's a landline in there or turn off its ringer. And then use that time to hammer out the tasks that require the most concentration.

If your office doesn't offer the option to occasionally hide out in a conference room, try asking your manager to work from home once a week to achieve a similar goal. If you can prove that this flexibility makes you more productive, chances are, it's a privilege you'll be allowed to uphold.

6. Strategically Schedule Your Meetings According to The Muse, there's perhaps no greater productivity zapper than meetings, accounting for a good 35% of middle managers time spent. For upper management that time climbs to 50%. But if you're smart about scheduling meetings, you'll carve out more time for actual work and spend less time wasting away in conference rooms.

To start, be more selective about the meetings you agree to attend. Unless your presence is absolutely required, learn to say no if you have pressing obligations that make for a better use of your time.

Scheduling multiple meetings back to back with small breaks in between will get them done in one fell swoop, leaving longer blocks of time for other work. Or even better, designate one day a week as "meeting day." This will leave the other four days open for you to work on important things.

7. Get Plenty Of Sleep This is perhaps the easiest to fix, of all the reasons given for work-related stress. The majority of American workers don't get enough sleep on a regular basis, and when you show up to work groggy and exhausted, it can cause your stress levels to skyrocket. The solution? Make more time for sleep in your schedule. Cancel social plans if doing so enables you to go to bed earlier, and ignore your work emails if they tend to keep you up late at night. Taking care of yourself physically will go a long way in helping you avoid stress in the first place.

8. Begin Your Day With The Least Favorite Task All of us have work tasks that we enjoy and those that we dread and put off indefinitely if we could. But rather than push off the dreaded task until the last possible minute, make it the first thing you tackle at the start of your workday. This way, you'll have more mental energy to attack that thing that you detest doing, as opposed to eight hours later, when your mind is already clocked out for the day. Once you're able to check that loathsome task off your list, you'll be able to approach the rest of your day with a clearer head and a more positive disposition.

Final Thoughts

Workplace stress is sometimes unavoidable, but you can keep yours to a minimum by taking the above steps. Feeling productive is essential to your work-related happiness. And that, in turn, could have a positive impact on not just your job but your life as a whole. And who knows? If all goes really well, you might even land a promotion by stepping up your game.

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