Workplace Stress: How to Reduce Stress in the Workplace
January 24, 2020
Whether you’re trying to improve your team’s morale, or trying to reduce feelings of stress at work - these are the best ways to reduce workplace stress.
Workplace stress can present itself in a number of different ways, leading you to feel burned out, anxious and resenting your job. Some of the major signs that you’re stressed at work include:
If you recognise any of the symptoms of workplace stress, it’s important to take action before it has a detrimental impact on your health.
You will have heard the phrase ‘tidy desk, tidy mind’ - and for good reason! Keeping your workspace clean and organised is one of the best ways to reduce your stress levels at work.
A cluttered, messy desk can be distracting, taking you away from the task at hand and reducing your productivity. In turn, this can raise your stress levels and cause your workload to pile up. However, taking just five minutes out of your day to clean your desk can dramatically improve your mood and productivity, helping to reduce workplace stress.
One of the biggest causes of workplace stress is lack of organisation. If you’re not able to organise your workload, you’ll fall behind and struggle to stay on top of it, leading to an increase in stress levels.
If your workload is completely unmanageable, then it’s important to discuss it with your manager, or outsource some of it to freelancers if it’s your own business. However, if your workload is manageable but you’re just not very good at prioritising your work or maintaining productivity, then it’s important to put some processes in place to help you to get your work done, including:
By staying organised, you can ensure that you remain productive and reduce your stress levels at work.
Although it can be tempting to do all of your work yourself, taking on too many projects can lead to a huge amount of stress. Whether you own your own company, or you manage a team - delegating work to other people can help you to prioritise your workload, remain productive and ensure you’re consistently producing high quality work.
If you’re feeling overworked and under pressure, you’ll notice a huge increase in workplace stress, so it’s important that you take some time for yourself in order to keep your stress levels in check.
Whether you just turn your work phone off at the weekend, or take a week off half way through the year, taking a break from work will help to reduce your stress levels by helping you to recover physically and mentally, ensuring you remain healthy and happy at work.
Whether you’ve got too much on your plate, or you’re struggling with your mental health - it’s important to ask someone for help before you get too overwhelmed.
Whether you turn to your manager to ask for a reduced workload or extra support, or seek professional help - keeping your feelings of stress bottled up will only make things spiral out of control, so it’s important to talk about it with someone you trust.
Not only will it help you to put an action plan together to help you to manage your stress levels at work, but it’ll also take a load off your shoulders and ease your burdens.
Your diet plays a huge role in your stress levels. Not only does stress wreak havoc on your body, but the foods you eat can actually contribute to elevated levels of stress. Some of the worst foods to eat when you’re feeling stressed out include:
Instead, you should fill your diet with:
Whether you just decrease your caffeine consumption, or eat a few pieces of dark chocolate each evening - being mindful about your diet can go a long way to decreasing your stress levels.
From staying organised to taking regular breaks, it’s important to manage workplace stress to ensure it doesn’t get out of hand. Keep up to date with our blog, which is filled with tips and tricks to keep you happy and healthy at work.
