8 Ways To Reduce Stress At Work
by Ron Huxley
1. Express feelings and emotions. Putting stress into words through
communication with colleagues can prevent the isolation often felt
during the later stages of burnout. The exchange of ideas acts as a
buffer because sharing and communicating has a unique way of
relieving stress and putting things in perspective.
2. Schedule down time. Everyone needs breaks away from work. Instead
of using lunch or coffee breaks to catch upon unfinished or extra
work, spend down time doing something completely unrelated to work.
Time off is absolutely essential in refreshing attitudes and job
outlook.
3. Recognize energy patterns and schedule work accordingly. During a
normal work day, we all have high and low levels of energy. Finding
out when high energy levels occur and then scheduling stressful
duties only during those times will prevent wear out and energy loss.
4. Never schedule more than one stressful activity at the same time.
This may take some thought and planning beforehand, but putting up
with only one stressful situation at any given time will prevent work
pileup, make you feel like you're accomplishing more, and relieve the
stress of' feeling overworked.
5. Engage in outside physical activities. It's very important to
participate in physical exercise because stimulating the body
refreshes the mind. Our brain requires activity by the rest of our
body in order to revitalize the senses and enhance performance.
Exercise also builds physical resistance and makes us feel better
about ourselves. When stagnation sets in, resistance and energy are
lowered, and the natural tendency is to become more susceptible to
physical and emotional distress.
6. Break projects down into smaller parts. Some of us have a tendency
to become overwhelmed by a project soon after we start it. By cutting
a big project down to its individual components, it never looks as
difficult or overwhelming. We can then tackle it piece by piece and
never even realize how big it is until it's finally done.
7. Delegate responsibility. If we're ever in a position to delegate
responsibility to others, we should make it a point to do so. Rather
than take on every problem that comes up, we need to allow others to
share in problem solving and decision making.
8. Learn to say no. Never feel obligated to take on extra assignments
or do special projects which aren't required but which cause feelings
of anger and hostility. Saying yes all the time makes us feel
helpless, while being able to say no gives us a feeling of control
and satisfaction. This isn't the same as not wanting to get involved
and committed. Giving ourselves the choice of what we want to be
involved in or committed to is the kind of control we need to have to
become stress free.
Ron Huxley is the founder of the
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