The stress epidemic is affecting the American working population with the percentage of workers complaining about getting stressed as work already high and rising. The CDC’s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health actually puts the number of Americans that are very stressed at work between 29 and 40 percent.
Work-related stress, unfortunately, has serious health consequences, ranging from the relatively minor such as colds and flus, to the more serious such as metabolic syndrome and heart disease. Still, because work-related stress is so common, it can be difficult if not impossible for many people to find a low-stress job. A better option would be to adopt more effective strategies for reducing stress at work.
Here are 9 Ways You Can Cope with Stress at Work:
Take a Cup of Hot Lavender Tea
Lavender has been proven to help naturally induce feelings of calmness. According to a study whose findings were published in the journal Phytomedicine, lavender oil was found to be as effective as lorazepam, which is a pharmaceutical drug, when treating adults suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
If you don’t particularly like lavender, you can try peppermint or chamomile tea, since they have both been shown to be beneficial in inducing feelings of relaxation as well as reducing irritability.
Take Some CBD Oil
CBD can help ease some of your work issues and improve your work life. CBD can help with any career that causes unnecessary stress. While everybody has stressful things that happen in their life, any career that produces stress constantly can benefit from CBD oil.
The most effective way to use CBD oil in the workplace is by treating social anxiety. Anxiety is a serious occupational issue for employees and employers alike. Its negative impact on workers is obvious while its monetary effect on businesses is significant.
Stop Being a Perfectionist
Being a high achiever will help you excel at work and feel good about yourself. However, being a perfectionist can drive you and those around you a bit crazy. Especially in a busy, fast-paced job, it is not always possible to do everything perfectly.
A better strategy would be to strive to do your best and then congratulate yourself on your effort. You will actually have better results and you will be much less stressed at work.
Don’t Multitask
Multitasking was once hailed as the best way to get more done in a day and maximize one’s time. However, people soon realized that once they had a phone in the ear and were simultaneously making calculations, their accuracy and speed were both compromised.
There’s a certain kind of frazzled feeling that’s associated with splitting one’s focus that tends not to work so well for a lot of people. Instead of multitasking, you should try a different strategy such as chunking.
Stay Organized
Planning ahead to stay organized at work can greatly reduce stress at work even if you are a naturally disorganized person. Being organized with your time means that you won’t have to rush in the morning to avoid being late or even rush to get out at the end of the day.
If you stay organized, you will avoid the negative effects of clutter while still being more efficient with your work.
Be Clear on the Requirements
One factor that significantly contributes to job burnout is having unclear requirements. If you don’t know what is exactly expected of you or if the requirements are always changing, you can easily find yourself more stressed than is actually necessary.
If you are always finding yourself in the tarp of not knowing whether what you are doing is actually enough, it can be a good idea to talk to your supervisor and go over your expectations as well as strategies for meeting them. It will be a great stress reliever for both of you.
Exercise
Exercise is probably the last thing that any employee wants to do at work, but it is impossible to deny the fact that it is great for stress relief. When you work out, the bod produces endorphins, which are chemicals un the brain that act as feel-good neurotransmitters.
Endorphins work similarly to morphine since they trigger a positive feeling in the body and reduce your perception of pain. Exercise also helps you forget about your workplace stresses since you are too busy focusing on the task at hand.
Get Some Fresh Air
Lowering your stress levels at work could be as simple as stepping outside to get some fresh air. However, stress relief isn’t the only benefit of getting some fresh air. You can also enjoy other benefits if you take a break from your work and get back to nature including improved memory, improved concentration, and restored mental energy.
Find a Hobby
A hobby can be a great way to improve work-related stress. Whether the hobby is gardening, running, reading, music, scrapbooking, or whatever you choose, it helps stimulate creativity and alleviate high blood pressure.
Final Thoughts
Stress at work is not a joke. If your health takes a hit because of stress, your productivity will also be affected. It is important to cope with or manage your stress effectively to minimize the undesirable consequences. Consider the 9 tips discussed here to better cope with stress at work and maintain a happy, healthy, and productive work-life balance. It will definitely be worth it in the end.