When our workload is substantial, when we don’t like our job, when a deadline approaches, when we have goals to achieve… we are under pressure.
But all this stress has repercussions on our well-being, our productivity but also our mental and physical health. It is therefore crucial to learn to manage your stress at workplace like Appliance repair.
In this article we will see what are the causes of stress at work, what its consequences are but also how to better manage it.
The techniques I share with you here have helped me overcome my anxiety on many occasions. Hope they help you too.
The causes of stress at work
There are many causes of stress at work, but they usually boil down to 5 things:
- overwork
- a lack of control
- a bad corporate culture
- a bad relationship with others
- boredom at work
We will see each of these reasons in detail.
Work overload
One of the main causes of stress is overwork. The more things we have to deal with, the more overwhelmed and under pressure we feel.
When our tasks accumulate in our to-do list and we fall behind on our work, we stress. Because we know that falling behind has consequences. Very often this means that we have to deal with the dissatisfaction of the people we have engaged with, whether they are our boss, our customers or our shareholders. And it is never fun to have to tell someone bad news, it is even scary.
Beyond the professional sphere, work overload also impacts our personal life.
When we have a lot of work, we leave early and come back from the office later. And when we’re at home, we finish the chores that we didn’t have time to do during the day.
As a result, we spend less time with our family and loved ones.
Our partner criticizes us for working too much and our loved ones tell us that they would like to see us more often.
All this pressure at work and at home creates stress in our lives.
Lack of control
At work we all lack more or less control, whatever our status.
For an employee, it is the boss who has control and for a boss it is his customers or his shareholders.
We are never 100% free and in control. It’s not a problem in itself it’s just the way things work.
On the other hand, it becomes a problem when we have so little control that we feel like a prisoner.
When our boss or our clients consult with us several times a day to see if the job has been done well or when our shareholders decide for us what should or should not be done, we can feel like we are being stifled. And this lack of freedom can be stressful.
Bad corporate culture
Corporate culture can also fuel our stress at work. As a reminder, corporate culture is the set of values, codes, traditions and rules that define the way a business operates.
The corporate culture can be stressful if you don’t share the values of the company or if the culture itself is toxic.
Let’s take an example to better understand.
Say you work for a finance company and that company promotes elitism. Let us also admit that it encourages competition and not mutual aid and benevolence. This “walk or die” culture can create an austere and individualistic work environment.
If for you human values are important, you will have great difficulty working in this company. Every day you will evolve in a work environment whose values are contrary to yours. And in the long run, it can become overwhelming and stressful.
Corporate culture therefore has a very real impact on our stress at work.
Bad relationship with others
We often spend more time with our colleagues than with our family and loved ones. A bad relationship with them can then make our days at the office very long.
These bad relationships arise for different reasons: divergent points of view, difference in character, interpersonal conflicts and in the worst case verbal / physical aggression or even harassment.
These tensions are a natural source of stress and anxiety and these conflicts must be resolved as quickly as possible. We will see how in the last part.