April is Stress Awareness Month, and this month our blog will highlight a few ways to help you relax. One of the biggest cause of stress in our life is work. Maybe you are working at a job you don’t enjoy, or with people you don’t get along with. Sometimes certain aspects of a job can induce stress. Whatever your reason, millions of Americans suffer from job-related stress. But there are a few things that will help you relax more when you are at work to help your overall health.
Time management is a big source of stress at the office. If you are organized at your job, it will be easier to deal with things that seem to pile up on you. Create a balanced work schedule that allows you to take a break every once in awhile. All work and no play will actually make you less productive. Find five minutes every hour to relax, go for a walk, have a snack or make a personal phone call.
You should also avoid packing too much into your day. Scheduling meetings back to back, for example, keeps you too far away from your actual work, for too long. If you have too much on your plate, prioritize. Complete the most important tasks first and get to the less important stuff once the heavy lifting is finished.
Technology is adding to stress at work, because it can seem like a never-ending work load. Emails and phone calls, texts, messages can all pile up on you. No, you can’t control when you receive 100 phone calls an hour. But you can control how you react to all of the messages. Don’t feel pressure to answer everyone the second you receive a message. Make a plan for days when you receive a lot of messages to answer the most urgent first. Several messages may be anticipated (reminders about meetings, for example) so schedule them into your day beforehand.
A study at UCLA found that stress hormones are released when people are working in a messy environment. If your desk looks like a paper recycling facility, covered in past memos or notes, it’s time to get organized. Clutter usually piles up on your desk because you are putting things off. Look at each piece of paper and place it into an organized tray. Split the tray into three sections: a section for paper that can be recycled, a section for papers you may need to reference, and a section for papers that require your attention.
It’s estimated that over 40-percent of the United States workforce experiences stress at work. If you are able to organize your life, take a break once awhile, and breathe, you will be more productive and you will enjoy your job more.
Do you have your own ways of dealing with stress at your job? Share you thoughts here or comment on our Facebook page!
