23 Ways of Managing Workplace Stress & Emerge Stronger
This article deals in-depth with many things related to workplace stress. It discusses the symptoms, causes, tips for managing workplace stress. I also point out some useful resources in the article, like this one here – Turning Stress into Positive Energy and Resilience. Hope you will enjoy the article. You can leave your feedback at the end.
Workplace stress refers to the bad physical and emotional effects one experiences when the demands and pressures at the job become too much to handle for an individual. This can arise, if Allah wills, due to poor match between job demands and the capabilities of the worker.
A person suffering from workplace stress may display numerous symptoms and behavior patterns like excessive fatigue, tension, worry, anxiety, fear of losing the job, not wanting to go to the job daily, difficulty in concentrating on work, procrastination, aggressive behavior etc. A stressed worker may also experience many health related problems.
About one-third workers in today’s world exhibit high levels of job related stress. A major percentage of people report their jobs as number-one stressor in their lives.
Here are just a few workplace stress symptoms:
- headaches, back ache
- tiredness, fatigue
- sleep related disorders
- digestive problems,
- low sex drive
- heart and blood-pressure related ailments
- unhealthy eating patterns
- feeling overwhelmed
- procrastination
- feelings of inability to cope with work demands
- difficulty in motivating yourself to handle challenges in the job
- avoiding responsibility
- unable to stop worrying or thinking excessively about work even when you are with family
- getting into the habit of excessive complaining about job related matters
If someone exhibits any of the above symptoms, it is not completely certain that the person is suffering from workplace stress, but there is a high probability.
Causes of Workplace Stress:
The number #1 reason: Skills of the worker are not in agreement with the demands of the job. A person may not be best suited for a job. As an example, imagine a timid person who hates cold-calling and dealing with rejection. If such a person gets into a marketing job where he is expected to do a lot of cold calling and pitching everyday, such a person is very likely to feel immense pressure and difficulty. No wonder he will want to quit the job and hate every moment of it.
Another scenario is that of a person who is an extrovert and loves talking to people, interacting with them and helping them out. Imagine that the job of such a person requires him to sit at his desk all day long in front of a computer doing some technical work, in complete isolation or with very few people to talk to. In such a case, it is very likely that the person is soon going to become totally frustrated and think of quitting his job.
Many times, the happiest workers are those whose job responsibility perfectly matches their personality trait, skills and expertise. Work becomes easy and fun for them. Even if tough situations, challenges and pressures arise, they wouldn’t mind it so much.
There can be other reasons, after the will of Allah, which can be a cause of workplace stress. Examples include:
- poor working conditions,
- office politics,
- over-burden of work,
- bad treatment received at work,
- job insecurity,
- over-demanding boss,
- un-cooperative colleagues and management,
- long working hours,
- being underpaid,
- under utilization of skills,
- unable to spend time with family,
- job responsibilities not clearly defined etc.
- your complaints and grievances are not being addressed
Managing Workplace Stress: A mistake many people do is to try to completely eliminate stress from their lives. I will reveal below why this is a mistake and a futile thing to attempt.
Your objective should be to try to reduce stress to manageable levels and also to learn how to cope with stress, pressures and challenges. Here are some of the things you can do to manage workplace stress.
- Try to get a job in a field which you love and are good at
- Learn to interact and get along well with co-workers
- Develop good rapport with your seniors
- If you are unhappy with something, bring it to the notice of those in charge in a polite manner
- Show patience and allow time for changes to take place after you have put your complaints to the management
- Work with enthusiasm and energy
- Take care of your health, it is important to have high energy while working – specially in stressful conditions
- Get worries off your chest by talking to a friend who may encourage and advice you
- Maintain healthy lifestyle – regular sleep and eating patterns, exercising, balanced diet etc.
- Take up a new hobby just to get your mind off worries
- Enjoy some time with friends and families. It can refresh you up inshallah
- Keep a diary of your daily emotions at workplace, see how better you get each day at dealing with stress and negative emotions
- Don’t be too hard on yourself
- Learn to relax and let go of worrying thoughts, do not indulge in them frequently
- If overburdened with many tasks, learn to prioritize and get the important ones finished first
- Practice deep, slow breathing and other calming techniques
- Learn and practice self control – keep your anger and negative emotions in check
- Overcome procrastination by doing your best to find the root cause as to why you are procrastinating about something
- Learn to tackle challenges and difficulties in a positive way
- Look for positives in your work and other situations you have to face
- Know that everything is not in your hands. Do the best that you can and as much as you can, leave the rest to God and resign to His Will
- If you are going too fast, slow dowwwwwwwwwn!!!
- Spend some time close to natural surroundings – like in a park, near a waterfall etc.
Should You Try to Eliminate Workplace Stress Completely?
A major point to remember is that some amount of stress and pressure can be good and beneficial. When it gets too much that you should start taking steps to cope with it. Many people want to completely get rid of stress and don’t want anything of it. This is a wrong approach, and in most cases, a futile one.
Firstly, which person in this whole wide world is completely free of stress? Whether it is stress at workplace, family rifts, debts, health problems etc. Almost everyone is suffering from some problem or stressor or the other. So, if you completely want to avoid stress, is it not a futile attempt on your part?
Secondly, the important thing is not the actual stressful situation itself. What is more important is the way you deal with it and how much you get affected by it. What is stressful for one person might not be so for another in the same situation. It is about the coping skills of the individual.
A person with a timid heart may get worried easily, while one with more courage may take it all in his stride and keep moving forward. Thrivers are those people who take adversity in their stride and continue to march forward. They emerge from adversity a lot more stronger than they were previously.
What is the quality of thrivers which is helpful, after the will of Allah, to enable them to deal with stress and tough situations in a much better manner than other individuals. Resilience coach, Angie LeVan, offers some insight into this matter. Look over her article here – Turning Challenges Into Positive Growth
Importance of Relaxing:
Learning to become tough and thriving in stressful situations is an important skill every person should possess. You can find that almost all people who achieved worthwhile success in any field in this world had this quality in them. I will point out a resource to assist you in this regard – Being Tough: Turn Stress into Resilience
If you think that now is not the time to learn how to relax and slow down, when you are faced with a difficult situation, ponder over these few quotes given below:
The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it. ~Attributed to both Jim Goodwin and Sydney J. Harris
For fast-acting relief, try slowing down. ~Lily Tomlin
The mark of a successful man is one that has spent an entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it. ~Author Unknown
Is everything as urgent as your stress would imply? ~Carrie Latet
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
~William Henry Davies
The Best Quote:
These quotes sum up beautifully what is required for you to do when faced with workplace stress. But I have saved the best quote for the last. Here it is – ponder deeply over it, don’t just read and forget it:
Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths. ~Etty Hillesum
Here we are advised to slow down and enjoy small pleasures of life. Live in the present, enjoy each moment to the fullest. There is no need to needlessly rush about things. The calm and composed man inshallah enjoys life lot more than the one who is always in a hurry.
Finally, do check out this resource – Turn Stress Into Resilience, Energy and Enthusiasm
Other Helpful Resources:
Managing Workplace Stress – Avoid burnouts, get along with co-workers
The Myth of Self-Improvement – Self love is so much easier than self-improvement
Stress Management Activities – What things people find effective in dealing with this monster
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