Your dream job can turn into your worst nightmare real quick with workplace stress.
Workplace stress burns out employees around the world. In fact, workplace stress is the third-leading reason why employees quit their jobs. According to a study, the leading causes of workplace stress are:
- Excessive workload
- Unhealthy working environment
- Lack of career growth
- Lack of professional respect
- Domestic problems
How do you deal with Workplace Stress?
Stress is a matter of perspective. For optimists, stress can be interpreted as a challenge that will be eventually overcome. Pessimists feel stressed because they are overwhelmed with the challenges before them.
Having to deal with workplace stress alone is stressful. Out of necessity, people are forced to face stress every day without having enough time off to recover. Stress affects your performance, which leads to more stress when your stress prevents you from accomplishing your tasks completely. This in turn puts a heavier burden onto your shoulders when your job security is threatened by your declining performance. It’s a vicious cycle that only ends when you either get a one-week vacation or you quit your job altogether.
It doesn’t have to get that bad. Workplace stress can be broken down by simply adjusting certain aspects of your perspective and lifestyle.
Nothing causes stress in the office more than an approaching deadline. The real problem with work deadlines is your inner procrastinator that led you to a tough spot. To accomplish a task consistently and to avoid procrastination, set realistic and attainable checkpoints for the completion of the task.
For example: You were tasked by your boss to send out 100 emails manually. Instead of thinking of the big task in numbers, you can divide the targets so you won’t be overwhelmed with the deadline. Instead of sending out the last 80 emails in the last 3 hours of your shift, start sending the emails as early as you start working, targeting checkpoint targets as you go. You can target to send out 25 emails by 10am, another 25 by 1pm, another 25 by 3, and the last 25 by 5pm. By adapting your perspective of the task, you can quickly change your outlook for work and replace it with a can-do attitude that employers love.
Having an open communication with your colleagues and superiors can greatly reduce workplace stress. Being able to communicate improves your relationship with your colleagues, to the point that you care about your welfare as a whole. The reason why many people are demotivated to work is because not many find their colleagues and superiors worth working for. Getting to know your colleagues a little bit better may actually lead you to like your job and your workplace, and stress would be no more than an afterthought.
Conclusion:
People respond differently to stress. Being stressed should not be taken as a sign of weakness, but rather as a call to focus on yourself and listen to what you really want to accomplish.
Workplace stress is not meant to be handled alone. Talk to seasoned employees to get some tips on how to handle the stressful working environment. Just remind yourself whenever you feel stressed that stress goes away, one way or the other. Something as temporary as stress shouldn’t take away something as important as your job.
