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What Strategies May Help Reduce Job Stress?

Long hours, project overload and employee relations are just three of the many reasons you may experience stress at work. Job stress can have a significant effect on your health, causing both short- and long-term complications like headaches, weight gain, depression and cardiovascular disease. Stress can also make you a less-efficient employee, and not as much fun to work with. You can use some simple proven strategies to help reduce your job stress.

  1. Be Well Prepared for your Work Day

    • The better prepared you are for your day, the more effective you will be at handling small pressures that come your way. Mastering small pressures prevents them from developing into big problems, which can lead to a feeling of being overwhelmed and can cause you to shut down. The best way to prepare for your day is to get at least eight to 10 hours of sleep per night. Improving your overall health, by getting regular exercise and maintaining a nutritious diet, can help strengthen your body, making it easier to handle your work day.

    Take Your Breaks

    • Unfortunately, when the work load increases, so do the hours. Many dedicated employees attempt to stay on top of excessive workload by working through standard breaks and even lunch and dinner. This persistence is not a good idea. For starters, eating quickly at your desk can cause indigestion, which can decrease productivity. Even a small break from your work can make you more efficient and reduce your stress level. Take a walk around the building, do deep breathing exercises or listen to your favorite song. These small activities help recharge your batteries and keep you from reaching your breaking point prematurely.

    Set Priorities

    • It is also important to set priorities when working on more than one task at a time. Sometimes you may not even realize how many items are on your plate until you write them all down and look at them. Some can be eliminated by delegation. Some can be arranged into a more workable order. You may recognize that a task or two cannot be accomplished today. Number the remaining tasks in order from most to least critical. Then attack each task one at a time. You may even have to break tasks up into steps to make them more workable. Coming up with a plan is sometimes half the battle.

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