How can you manage work-related stress?
You have come home but still think about work. It’s late-night yet you can not sleep and tasks and responsibilities prevent you from sleeping. Work-related stress is common and almost everyone is experiencing it. But you can reduce or take it under control through scientific ways.
This article introduces the signs and symptoms of work-related stress, causes, and the ways you can reduce stress at work.
What are the symptoms of work-related stress?
The signs and symptoms of work-related stress could be different for each person. Also, they could vary by the different conditions of the person experiencing them. One single person might not have the same signs over his/her career. But you can have a general understanding of the signs and get familiar with them:
- Change in mood
- Lack of energy or fatigue
- Headaches
- Stomach problems; diarrhea, constipation, constipation
- Chest pain and rapid heartbeat
- Lack of sleep
- Having signs of cold and infection
- Muscular tension
The psychological signs and symptoms of work-related stress include the following:
- Pessimism
- Irritability
- Discouragement
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Concentration problem
- Decision-making issues
- Feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope
- Raise in absent days
- Decreased work performance
- Lack of confidence, commitment, and motivation
- Problems with interpersonal relationships
- Getting to work late
The causes of work-related stress
There could be tens of reasons for work-related stress and they are different for each person. Two people can be in the same environment under the same conditions, but their stress could be due to different causes. Also, stress influences people differently.
The following are some of the causes of stress related to work:
- Long working hours
- A large amount of workload
- A sudden change in the company
- Strict deadline
- A change in tasks and duties
- Job insecurity
- A tedious-dull job
- Lack of skills for the job
- Inappropriate working conditions
- Lack of equipment
- Inappropriate sources
- Harassment
- Discrimination
- No or low promotional opportunities
- Bad relationship with colleagues
- Can not cope with change
- Not understanding role and responsibilities
- Being bullied
- Have negative feelings
- Low salaries
How to manage or reduce work-related stress?
The following tips and tricks can help you to reduce work-related work in a smart way:
Get your time to recharge
Adam Grant, the organizational psychologist at Wharton business school, explains that you need to recharge yourself. He indicates the point in an Instagram post really well that if you do not rest regularly, you will get burned out, which is a source of stress.
Daniel H Pink is the author of six books, four of which have been on the list of New York Times best-selling books. In his amazing book When The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, he explains that you should have lunch at work and the most important meal is lunch. You might be wondering why he says lunch is the most important meal. Pink explains that the time you get away from work and eat food refills your energy. He explains it further that you would better have your lunch in another place, not your desk.
All of the tips Pink provides are scientific and have a database background. Daniel explains further that during your lunch, you would better avoid talking about work and instead discuss fun topics and anything aside from work. If you laugh and have fun during lunch, your work performance will increase, and you are less likely to experience an afternoon slump.
Increasing productivity and work performance is a good way to avoid or decrease work-related stress.
Remember when you really wanted to be here
Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy have written a book together called “No Hard Feelings.” In addition, the two have an Instagram page together that many famous people follow, such as Adam Grant, we mentioned above.
Some of the most important points about work and life are presented in designs so you can remember, make a decision and act on them.
One of my absolute favorites and I had a speech about it at work was this. There is a ladder, and there are two people at the bottom and top of it. There are two sentences in each one. The person at the bottom is looking at the top and says, “remember when you really wanted to be,” and the person at the top: “where you are right now.”
I have a confession; I have been in this situation. There was a time when I could not find a job, and I didn’t know what to do. I really wanted to have one and pay debts and expenses. One year later, I was working this job and overwhelmed with tasks. I was considering quitting, and this Instagram post came to me.
I looked back and remembered that I really wanted to have a job. I do really want to be here with all of this stress, tension, tasks, and heavy workload. I filled my coffee with a delicious cookie and went through the day. It was a good day in the end, and I felt satisfied and less stressed compared with the previous day.
Remember the reason or purpose you are doing it
You might have heard about Jon O. Gordon or have seen one of his videos, or read one of his books. He works on the topics of leadership, culture, sales, and teamwork.
Of all he has said or written, there is one sentence that I have written on paper and stick to the right side of the computer screen at work:
“We do not get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it.”
I and my colleagues have thought about this sentence for long hours and have figured out its importance. I am going through all of this hard work, waking up early, taking orders, etc., for my family, so they can have what they want.
My colleague is working hard because he wants to see the smile of his fiance in the evening.
The next time you feel stressed, burned out, overwhelmed with a pile of work to do, take a look back and try to remember why you are doing it and for who.
Love what you do
It might be cliche and hard, but how can you end up loving what you do for a living? The job you might not have picked up my passion or forced me to do so.
You and I spend most of our time at work, and if we do not enjoy what we do or have no passion for it, we miss a large amount of joy in our life.
This is the question that Cal Newport tries to answer in his book “So good they can not ignore you.” Newport asked the question from the people who loved their hob, and he was surprised to find out that most of them did not like what they did at the beginning. So how do they find a passion for the job?
It was revealed that over years of staying in the job, as they became experienced, their passion grew. But you and I have been told to follow our passion, but the findings contradict the common saying.
The research of Amy Wrzesinski Ph.D. at Yale University indicated that people who experience three things at work are passionate about what they do:
Creativity
Creativity means that you have an opportunity to implement your ideas into what you do.
Control
It means you can pick when, where, and how you do your work.
Impact
Impact means your work has a positive impact on your customers or co-workers.
If you do not experience the following in your job, you are less likely to continue having passion in your job.
Let’s say you are a motion graphic designer and have been working for this Digital Marketing agency for about 15 years. After all of these years, your manager still tells you what to do and publishes your work on the part of the website that no one sees. In a situation like this, Newport doubts that you can keep your passion.
The mentioned features are rare and valuable, so if you want to achieve them, you need a rare and valuable skill set.
So how to develop a rare and valuable skill set?
1. Change to craftsman mindset
The first step is to change your mindset. Carol Dweck, in her book The Mindset, says the same thing that you can achieve a lot by changing your mindset.
You need to change the passion mindset to the Craftsman mindset.
Instead of thinking about what the world can offer me. If the job is not providing passion, you might start to think of a new one. It makes it hard for you to get experience and build a skillset.
On the other hand, a person with the craftsman mindset thinks about what he/she can offer the world. They are dedicated to improving themselves at the job or craft. So the person becomes uniques and valuable to the team, colleagues, and company.
Such a person knows that the passion fluctuates, and if they do not have it, they are fine with it. Instead of thinking do I love this, they say do I love the process of getting better at this. This is while the process can be tedious and boring.
2. Complete challenging projects
If you do challenging hard tasks that are beyond your skills, you develop a rare and unique skill set that differentiates you from your peers and colleagues. You stand out among others.
If you do tasks for an international company, you can make a name in the field for yourself. You become the go-to person that everyone wants to work with you.
Now you have more flexibility over choosing projects, people to work with, the time to work with, and the related aspects of your work. Your passion is likely to grow in this case as it was with Joe Duffy, one of the world’s most respected and sought-after thought leaders on branding and design.
3. Use deliberate practice
Anders Ericson, the renowned psychologist, found deliberate Practice in his research to be the golden standard of improvement. He developed the idea in his book “Peak, how to master almost anything.” It needs to be mentioned that Malcolm Gladwell used part of his research and developed the “10 000-hour rule,”
Cal Newport thinks that you need to put Deliberate Practice into your daily life so you can become rare and unique. A period of undistracted focus to push your abilities to the edge of what you are capable of. Then you receive immediate feedback or guidance from p[eople who are experts in this field.
The way deliberate practice works is like this:
- Set a specific goal
- Put intense focus and effort
- Get immediate feedback
- Experience frequent discomfort
- Repeat the cycle
Stress is our body’s natural response to new situations or events. You and I might not be able to eliminate it but still can cope with it. I heard a quote from an economist that said you could not do much about an economic crisis, but you can be sure to have an umbrella and be safe about it.
Determine if your health is fine or not
Your stress could be the signs and symptoms of a health problem you are not aware of. The issue is bothering you but you think you have lost motivation and need a holiday.
What if your heart is not working properly or you lack an essential vitamin?
Tests and screens can help you find the problem and get rid of it.
Let’s sum up…
There are various sources of work-related stress, and you can know the signs. The article explained them and the ways you can reduce them.
As explained, the source of stress could be health issues. Tests and screens could help to find the health issues. Southern Nevada Occupational Health Center provides health tests, diagnostic tests, screens to check your health. SNOHC also provides immunization and vaccinations.
Give us a call at (702) 874-4769 to ensure your health and safety, or go through the menu of the site for further information.
