You may be experiencing the first symptoms of work stress or burnout syndrome.
Do you feel that you no longer enjoy your work? Are you tired from early in the morning? Do the goals and achievements you get in your job no longer cause you any positive emotion? Do you feel too exhausted both physically and mentally to perform your job correctly? Are you more irritable or cranky lately when you work? … Do you feel you hate your job?
You may be experiencing the first symptoms of work stress or burnout syndrome.
This type of stress is the one born as a direct consequence of the job of the person suffering from it. It is found to a greater extent in those professionals with very long working hours and with direct treatment with third parties (health, professors and teachers, customer service or any other work facing the public).
Work stress is also known as burnout syndrome, burned worker syndrome or occupational burnout syndrome. Regardless of the name given to this discomfort, it indicates exhaustion, fatigue and emotional stress derived from the relationship that a person has with their work.
Normally it begins with a feeling of stress on the part of the worker caused by the feeling that he does not have enough resources (time, capacity, energy …) to perform his job successfully. Subsequently, stress results in a discomfort similar to physical and mental exhaustion, experiencing symptoms such as anxiety or body tension.
Finally, behaviors appear that are established in the habitual behavior of the person and that had not been previously detected in the way they act. These new attitudes are usually defensive and are presented as bad mood, bad responses to peers or apathetic or unpleasant behavior, not corresponding to what would be classified as good manners.
However, despite the discomfort that this type of stress can cause to the person who suffers from it and to those around it, it is a reversible situation. By following a series of habits, rules and advice, you can reduce your symptoms of work-related stress or burn-worker syndrome.
How can you reduce your stress levels from work? Below you will find 7 tips by CEO of id bages.
1. Report what you feel
First of all, it is recommended that you share with your close friends or co-workers what your feelings are. Your family members, your friends and your work team are likely to notice that you are stressed, tired or more dull lately. Sharing it with them can help you and them identify what is happening.
The simple act of verbalizing it will make you more aware of what your feelings are and diminish the possible feeling of helplessness or of not knowing what happens to you.
Also, you may not be the only one in your job who feels the same. If part of the employees of the company or organization you feel the same way, you can take measures to collectively reduce your levels of work stress. You can propose means to reduce burnout syndrome jointly, in groups or individually and, in parallel, support each other in your progress.
2. Practice meditation or another relaxation tool
It is possible to reduce stress levels through meditation or relaxation of both your body and your mind.
The
best times of the day when you can practice this type of exercise are first
thing in the morning and before bedtime. When you wake up, it will be good
for you to prepare your body and mind to face your workday with the best
possible mood and, in the same way or by another help tool, at the end of the
day it is recommended that you return to take you to a state free of stress to
be able to rest properly and have a
restful sleep .
You can choose which method works best for you or which one you are most comfortable with depending on your tastes. Below are several:
– Enjoy some relaxing music.
– Practice breathing exercises.
– Rest your mind, give yourself a few minutes without thinking.
– Visualize situations and positive images, you can be real or unreal.
– Verbalize positive thoughts.
3. Exercise your body
One of the consequences of work stress is that not only are you mentally exhausted, tense or anxious, your body is too!
To reduce your burning worker feeling you can reduce the consequences your body suffers in this regard.
A body correctly exercised and released from muscular tensions will help you reduce your stress level.
You can go to a gym, a personal trainer, or exercise at home, any option will provide benefits quickly. Performing high intensity exercises such as martial arts, indoor cycling or jogging, you will discharge the tensions and accumulated anxiety and, through more relaxed activities such as yoga or pilates exercises, you will relax your muscles and relax your body and mind.
4. Avoid the routine
This type of stress, labor or work-related, is found to a greater extent in workers whose work is very routine, repetitive or monotonous, when the creative facet is eliminated; which is, in itself, an antidote to stress.
To avoid routine actions or procedures, you can generate other more varied alternatives yourself and combine them with each other in order to have the feeling of being doing your job in different and novel ways, or that you are not constantly repeating the same action.
Sometimes it is difficult to change the routine of a job due to the norms and standards that it entails. In this case you can also generate non-routine behavior at other times of the day, any changes that you introduce and make in a sporadic or varied way will help reduce your feeling of monotony and routine and, consequently, reduce your stress levels.
Several examples of actions that will get you out of your routine:
– Vary the position or orientation of your table or computer if possible. If it is not, include news in your workplace.
– Innovate with innovative alternatives that lead you to the same work results. You may even discover better ways to do it.
– If you go out to eat daily, it varies from cafeteria, restaurant or menu.
– Change the round trip to your place of work, or it varies from means of transport.
5. Allow yourself to take small breaks
This section is closely related to the previous one. To avoid the emotional and mental wear and tear that your work can produce under the symptoms of work-related stress, it is recommended that you take a break at certain times of the day and rest briefly.
Let your body and mind rest in the moments when you feel the exhaustion derived from work stress. You will be more productive by introducing rest times and working with your body in conditions, than trying to tighten to the fullest when you are not in the optimal conditions to be effective or efficient.
Activities you can do to disconnect a few minutes:
– Have a tea with a partner. There is a lot of variety of relaxing infusions or antioxidants. If you suffer from stress they will sit better than a coffee or a soda with a lot of sugar or caffeine.
– Prepare a small snack or revitalizing snack. Find foods that are not heavy and that give you energy, for example: fruit, nuts, a skimmed yogurt …
– Make simple hobbies, which do not involve too much effort or take a long time (a word search, a crossword puzzle, solve a maze …)
– Sleep or rest your eyes between 10 or 15 minutes. Approximately a quarter of an hour of sleep will give you a little moment of personal relaxation, as well as a perfect energy boost to continue your workday.
6. Set yourself short-term goals and applaud and celebrate your achievements
Work stress and anxiety can lead you to think that you are not achieving achievements in your work, that you are not fulfilling the objectives that you should achieve or that you do not reach new goals.
Dividing long-term objectives into short-term mini-objectives can help you see your progress and be aware that you are getting ahead in your work. Actions you take on a day-to-day basis and that you have internalized as usual can also be a motivating achievement and you may not be taking them into consideration: draw positive conclusions from a meeting, overcome a sales appointment with good results, finish a job on time and meet deadlines, receive a compliment from a superior or a partner …
Remember not to overlook any of the small or great achievements you get, celebrate them as they deserve, applaud them, share them, or simply verbalize a congratulation to yourself.
Being aware of the positive work advances that you achieve as a professional, celebrating them and giving them importance, will help you combat the low mood or bad mood that you may feel derived from work stress.
7. Seek support
Finally, it may be customary that, although you have implemented the above tips, your levels of work stress do not decrease, you are not comfortable with your emotional situation and, certainly, you would like to change it and improve it. In this case, you can seek extra support in professional or psychological help.
The role of a professional who accompanies you on your journey to lower levels of stress, until you eliminate them, can be very useful. Learning to fully enjoy your life and your work with positive moods can be very difficult to carry out and maintain in the long term. For this reason, it can be very helpful to look for an accompaniment that guides you in the most appropriate way and reinforces your strategies and tools to minimize work-related stress.
When is the time to go to a psychologist for feeling stressed because of your work? The answer to this question is very varied and depends mostly on you. You should ask for help when you think it is necessary or simply when you feel like enjoying it. To do this, you must be aware of the signals that your body sends you. Take at least one moment a day to assess what are the signs that you may be experiencing the burn worker syndrome and measure your progress.
conclusion
In summary, if you feel that you are experiencing the symptoms of work-derived stress, you feel anxiety, body tension, physical and mental exhaustion … The first thing you should do is share it with those who can support you or feel the same as you; It will be more bearable.
In addition, you can lower your stress levels by making small changes and introducing new habits into your day to day, both inside and outside work. Practice meditation twice a day and exercise your body to reduce and prevent symptoms derived from burnout syndrome.
Do not fall into the routine, look for alternatives to tasks or monotonous actions such as going out to the balcony or another outdoor place when you have a good day, if your work is office; or look for new tools or ways of doing things to avoid always doing them in the same way.
Allow yourself to rest when necessary, you will perform more with a clear head and a body in good condition; Solve a simple crossword puzzle, prepare an infusion, or look for any other activity that helps you disconnect a few minutes and return to your workplace with the batteries charged.
Challenge yourself with short-term goals that pose a challenge and don’t forget to applaud yourself when you get them; It will make you aware of your professional progress.
Finally, if you feel that work stress and its symptoms are very strong or do not allow you to carry on a normal day-to-day basis, you can request professional help. A psychologist can help you reduce stress symptoms effectively and also teach you habits and routines to keep them from coming back.