We’ve all experienced it at one time or another, or maybe even on a daily basis: stress at work. Stress plagues more workers throughout the country every day, with 40 percent of adults lying awake at night because of office stress.
After a bit of research, we’ve come up with a few tips on how to manage stress at work, from sprucing up your workspace to having better time management skills.
Practice Time Management
When you first arrive at the office, take a second to settle in and prepare yourself. Take a few deep breaths or read a news article instead of diving into things head on. Then develop a priority list of tasks and work through as much as you can. For pressing deadlines or large projects, block a portion of your day to focus on that without any interruption.
It may not be extremely appealing, but try to tackle the task you don’t want to do first to remove some stress at work. Then it’s out of the way and you won’t have to worry about it when the mid-morning rush picks up or the day starts to come to a close.
Organize Your Workspace
Think of it this way: mess equals stress. If papers pile up around you, or regular junk, you may notice your stress level at work start to rise. Focus becomes difficult when your desk is littered with cards, papers or anything else that’s unnecessary.
Before you’ve even developed a list of things to do, organize your desk and have everything you need within arm’s reach. Then you won’t have to stress about finding that lost phone number or random Post-it note. It’s always calming to have familiar things around you, like family photos or personal touches to make your workspace your own.
Take a Lunch Break
We’ve mentioned this before, but a lunch break will greatly reduce office stress. You may not have a full hour or even half an hour, but 20 minutes of stretching, walking and eating a healthy lunch can completely turn around a hectic workday for the better.
No matter your time limit, get away from your desk. Your mind and body will thank you for it once the afternoon hits.
Improve Your Communication Skills
Improving communication skills to help eliminate office stress starts with bettering how you view yourself. Instead of seeking approval or blaming yourself for things that are out of your control, try to focus on the work itself. Then learn to actively communicate your needs, or talk with a trusted coworker about the stress you’re experiencing. They may have some great advice about how to handle it head-on.
Leave it at the Office
Occasionally it’s unavoidable to not take work home, but for the most part try to leave it at the office. Many workers suffer from a lack of work/life balance, which ultimately affects productivity and your stress level. Once the day comes to a close, look back at the things you’ve completed and take note of your accomplishments.
The commute or public transit ride on the way home can be rough. Before you leave, spend a few minutes in your office in silence without frantically worrying about everything you didn’t accomplish. There is always tomorrow.
How do you manage office stress?
