Professional life’s primary components are goals, revenue, and results – that’s what many words represent in a professional’s daily life and which can provoke the dreaded stress, one of the great evils of modern society.
Stress causes a series of problems to physical and mental health , including: cardiovascular problems, high blood pressure, gastritis, weakened immune system, insomnia, difficulty concentrating, depression, among others.
There are some ways to avoid stress at work, such as:
1. Identify what is causing the stress
Are your relationships with colleagues your problem? Your boss’s temperament? Too many demands? An authoritarian organizational culture? Poor infrastructure? Ineffective processes? Try to identify the causes of stress at work, as that is the first step to finding solutions.
2. Focus on prioritizing what you intend to accomplish during the day.
Workday is a busy day, so a way to decrease stress is to set priorities and establish an order in which to do the activity. If unsure, ask your supervisor what you should be doing first. Do not try to do more than one activity at once. Do one thing at a time.
3. Manage your time well
It is not healthy to work 12 hours a day. It is also not good for your body and mind to sit in the same position for 8 hours. Therefore, talk to your superiors about the excessive demands, if there are any. Also, take breaks and do not neglect your rest time, such as weekends.
4. Have full focus during working hours
Eliminate distractions during your workday so that you can accomplish everything you set out to do, avoiding worry and self-pressure . In addition, distractions kill your productivity and make activities seem slower and more laborious than they actually are.
5. Set achievable goals
Your work goals should be challenging, but they shouldn’t be impossible to achieve. Many people start to believe that they are incapable simply because their work goals are too demanding.
6. Take short breaks every 3 hours to rest
From time to time, your body and mind need to change position and activity to recover their energy. So, every 3 hours, get up from your desk, stretch, have a coffee and have a pleasant chat with a colleague. It will do you good.
7. Take the opportunity to eat something light and maintain a balanced diet
Eating heavy meals during work hours can make you sleepier and less energetic. Therefore, opt for light foods, such as salads and lean meats. Leave heavier meals for the weekend.
8. Cultivate positive interpersonal relationships in the company
Being on good terms with the people around you, even at work, may sometimes make you forget what’s happening in your head and to your body. So let’s try to be friendly with each other at work, too. You can spend break and meal times with them, where you can exchange ideas and have fun in their company.
9. Exercise
Regular exercising increases the secretion of some neurotransmitters that enhance the feelings of pleasure and well-being in everyday life. Because of this, physical activity needs to be a regular activity in one’s life as it not only helps in reducing the impact of stress effects but overall health as well.
10. Sleep well
Just like physical exercise, a balanced sleep also plays a fundamental role in mental health. It is during sleep that we organize information and recover the energy of the body and mind. Without this recovery of energy levels, we will certainly become more tired, stressed and less productive.
11. Balance between different areas of life
Remember that work is important, but it is just one of the different areas that make up your life. Therefore, balance your time and dedication to all of these “sectors”, which should include family, friends, rest, leisure, self-care, hobbies , etc.
Face stress as a friend
The biggest secret to avoiding stress at work as well as in personal life is to stop trying to avoid it. No kidding! American psychologist Kelly McGonigal recently conducted a study involving 30,000 adults in the US over eight years and concluded that stress can be a positive thing. According to the expert, it only becomes negative for those who think it has only negative effects.
As McGonigal said, thoughts project how people view reality and so consequently influence actions and reactions to what happens in life. Thus, a change in the view of stress changes a response of the body to it. Thus, stress can be a power driving us to action, as long as it does not go beyond what is healthy.
The psychologist warns, however, about the harmful effects of stress, highlighting the following data:
- People who experience a lot of stress have a 43% higher risk of death;
- 182,000 American deaths were premature due to stress, or 20,000 deaths annually;
- Stress is the number 15 killer in the US, killing more than skin cancer, HIV, and homicide combined.