8 Stress Management Strategies
to Bust Your Stress from Work
See also: Stress in the Workplace
If you are feeling stressed out at work, you aren't alone.
Nobody enjoys feeling anxious, and you may actually shorten your own life span by being too stressed. Luckily, there are many stress reduction strategies that anybody can use to reduce their stress at work.
This article will outline the eight best stress management strategies that you can use to see a drastic reduction in your stress level starting today.
Gratitude
You've got a lot to be grateful for
When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.
Anthony Robbins
Stress often comes from a place of annoyance with our surroundings. When you don't want to go to work, but have to do it anyway, that can manifest as a feeling of stress. There are many other manifestations of this basic concept.
Next time you can't figure out how to deal with stress, take a moment to slow down and consider what you can be grateful for in that moment. Even with deadlines looming or an overbearing boss, you've probably got a lot to be grateful for. Having a roof over your head, or even just a steady job in the first place, is more than a lot of other people in your community have. If you think about the world as a whole, there are billions of people who live on only a few dollars a day.
These facts are not meant as a guilt trip. After all, stress in the workplace has become an issue for a lot of people. The point is to remind you that there are many aspects of your life which probably bring you joy and satisfaction. Try to spend a few minutes each day focusing on what you are grateful for.
Meditation
Meditation can greatly improve your quality of life.
Meditation can greatly improve your quality of life, a regular meditation practice will lead to reduced levels of stress. Sitting still for ten minutes a day could improve your life.
There are many apps out there to help you get started with meditation. Headspace and Calm are two of the most popular apps on the market and can be great for beginners. However you decide to do it, meditation can greatly improve your quality of life.
Clean Up
Cleaning up your workspace creates an immediate
shift towards a better mood.
The third strategy is to clean up your physical surroundings at work.
Show up an extra ten minutes early to put everything away, wipe down your desk's surface, and check to see that you aren't missing any crucial supplies. Your mental state is partially a reflection of your physical surroundings, so cleaning up your workspace creates an immediate shift towards a better mood. This is one of the fastest ways to deal with stress.
Get Some Fresh Air
Go into nature where you can breathe the fresh air.
Go outside!
Spending more time outside on a regular basis can improve your mental health. This effect is intensified by adding some exercise to the mix. If you can run a few miles before work, or hit the gym and hang out outside for a little while afterwards, you can count on your stress going down.
Even without the exercise, being outside is great for your mental state. Go into nature where you can breathe the fresh air and hear the birds chirping. While you can't go exploring during the workday, you can at least put aside a few hours each weekend to get out of the house.
See our page: The Importance of Exercise for more information.
Rest At Home
A little rest will actually amplify that work ethic.
Strategy number five is to rest at home.
Some people think that they can work 14 hours a day and not suffer from fatigue, but that is probably a fantasy. It is important to take care of yourself. Working hard is great, but a little rest will actually amplify that work ethic while reducing your stress. So make sure you maintain a healthy work/life balance.
Music
Listen to the music for the purpose of their relaxation.
You might or might not notice, but the music you listen to everyday can have a profound impact on your mood more than you think.
We have heard before that music can improve mental health. Some psychotherapists, even suggest listening to music as one of the means of treating people with depression.
Now, when it comes to reducing stress, music has been found to help people cope with stress. There’s one condition though. People who listen to the music have to listen for the purpose of their relaxation in order to actually see significant reduction in their stress level.
Discuss What’s on Your Mind
Talk to your closest friends.
When you struggle with trying to cope with stress, or you have something on your mind, do not be afraid to be judged and do not keep quiet.
Consider speaking what’s on your mind to the closest member of your family or your friends. Don’t forget to make sure that the ones you talk to are not dealing with stress themselves. You don’t want to bother people who are fighting their own stressful battlefield.
If it is too scary to talk to someone close, you can talk to a reliable friend who is not in your inner circle of your everyday life. That way you know that a friend will give you her honest opinion and will be unlikely to tell anyone about it. Even if nothing really changes by doing this, at the end of the talk, you will surely find that a weight has been lifted off your chest almost instantly.
Analyze the Stress
Try to identifying the source of your stress.
The final strategy for stress is to stop and think, "What is this stress telling me?"
If you are stressing out and you start searching for the reasons why, you may identify the source of the stress. You might realize you are stressing about a project deadline, and you could ask your boss for an extension. Or perhaps you are stressing about the rush hour traffic of your daily commute, and decide to try to negotiate a different starting time.
Whatever the case may be, identifying the source of your stress can lead to valuable insights about how to improve your situation.
Final Thought
There are a lot of stress management strategies out there, so this article is only a starting point. It is a great idea to seek even more ways of dealing with stress. Even if you don't, these eight stress management strategies will have a profound impact on your ability to manage stress at work.
Further Reading from Skills You Need
The Skills You Need Guide to Stress and Stress Management
Understand and Manage Stress in Your Life
Learn more about the nature of stress and how you can effectively cope with stress at work, at home and in life generally. The Skills You Need Guide to Stress and Stress Management eBook covers all you need to know to help you through those stressful times and become more resilient.
About the Author
This article was written by Yazi, an inspired writer who researches and writes content for several companies, including Carter Capner Law, a leading law firm who provides legal services in many areas including work-related stress claims.