Work-related stress is one of the most commonly reported causes of ill-health in the United Kingdom. Stress is not only damaging to health and wellbeing but can also harm your organisation’s productivity, competitiveness and profitability. So, it is essential both collectively and individually that you can get a handle on stress.
If you’re really finding the pressure getting to you and feeling stressed at your work from the minute you walk through the door, it’s time to stop thinking that it goes with the job and there’s nothing you can do about it. Yes, stress is something we have to accept, it is part and parcel of our work life, yet in truth we can all learn to handle stress far better.
If you don’t deal with Work-Related Stress or the stress in your life, you are putting your own health and well-being, along with your organisation’s productivity, competitiveness and profitability, at risk.
Stress is defined by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as ‘the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them’.
Have no doubts that work-related stress can be detrimental to one’s health. A recent study by the British Heart Foundation found that two in every five employees say that stress at work has affected their health, by causing them to smoke and drink more, eat poorly, and forego exercise.
“Once you accept, truly accept, that stuff will happen to you and there is nothing you can do about it, stress miraculously leaves your life.”
Srikumar Rao
You need to deal with your Work-Related Stress.
Stress is not an illness, but the psychological impact can lead to conditions such as anxiety and depression. Stress, anxiety and depression can also increase the risk of conditions like heart disease, back pain, gastrointestinal illnesses or skin conditions.
According to the HSE (Health and Safety Executive), in 2015/16 over 480,000 people in the UK reported that work-related stress was making them ill. This amounts to nearly 40% of all work-related illness.
Research from employee experience company Qualtrics, 67% of leaders and managers think the level of stress they experience at work is manageable; the other third was unsure or overwhelmed. Just half of leaders and managers feel they have enough time to do a quality job, and only 48% feel they can detach from work and are struggling to cope with the challenges of their job and in particular they struggle to maintain work-life balance.
Establishing a work-life balance is crucial if you are going to get a handle on your work related stress. Check out my series of articles on work-life balance.
A work life balance is so important to you. After all you’ve probably heard that on their deathbed nobody ever wishes they’d spent more time at work – don’t risk personally experiencing that regret later in life.
Neither should you suffer in silence, sit and worry alone and try to solve your problems internally, reprimanding yourself for not having all the answers. This is likely to increase anxiety and sleepless nights as your mind goes round in circles trying to decide what to do. Many others struggle with work-life balance and small business owners tell me all the time that their biggest headaches are caused by juggling work life balance whilst running their business day to day.
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”
William James
Your starting point is to recognize the warning signs.
What are the warning signs of stress?
Excess pressure at work can affect your mental and physical health in many ways:
Your body:
- weight loss/gain;
- skin rashes;
- muscle fatigue;
- indigestion; and
- raised blood pressure/rapid heartbeat.
Your mind:
- anxiety and tension;
- irritability;
- forgetfulness;
- disturbed sleep; and
- headaches.
Your behaviour:
- fall in performance at work or becoming accident-prone;
- increased use of alcohol, cigarettes or drugs; and
- tensions at home.
Unless the causes of your stress at work are dealt with, these symptoms can develop into much more serious, long-term ill health.
While some workplace stress is normal, excessive stress can interfere with your productivity and performance, impact your physical and emotional health, and affect your relationships and home life. It can even determine the difference between success and failure on the job. Whatever your ambitions or work demands, there are steps you can take to protect yourself from the damaging effects of stress, improve your job satisfaction, and bolster your well-being in and out of the workplace.
There are solutions.
Accepting that in today’s busy world, juggling the demands of your career and personal life is an ongoing challenge as is the need to reduce stress and maintain balance in key areas of your life. Often you feel overwhelmed with all the demands you face, whether from your job or personal life, probably working harder today than ever before, yet you are getting less satisfaction and enjoyment from what you do.
Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down.
Natalie Goldberg
The key to more effective work-life balance is to understand the “spheres” in your life and the dynamic that drives each one. It’s important to take care of yourself and get the most from life. Achieving a healthy work-life balance means managing your professional and personal life in ways that keep your energy flowing, your mind and body healthy and your whole self happy and content.
How balanced is your life? Are you living to work or working to live? # lifecoach #lifebalance If you are constantly stressed, your worklife balance needs fixing. The best way to de-stress is to focus on 4 priorities at the maximum. So what really matters to you? A work life nightmare
When do you make time to unplug during the week? When do you schedule “me time”? What do you plan on doing? Enhance your ability to unplug and relax. Plug in blocks of time for play that complement the blocks of time for work. Now see how this new rhythm feels. After a week, assess your physical and mental state. Did it feel good to have time for self-indulgence? By learning to relax and reboot, the most effective leaders ensure
There are numerous steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of being affected by stress and many of them are a matter of simple common sense. Read this article to learn simple steps that you can take to help minimise or avoid stress.
- Determine Your Personal Stressors
- Learn to relax
- Time management
- Ensure that you get enough fun out of life
- Reduce the demands on yourself
- Positive thinking
- Ask the right questions
- Live with gratitude
- Use positive statements that create positive internal dialogue within us
- Pick Your Battles
- Practise assertiveness
- Look after your physical well-being
If you’re ready to reduce your stress and enjoy more balance in your life, please make time to take that first step and contact me to arrange for your complimentary and confidential consultation and I promise you will learn 3 things to help improve your life.
“One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast. I think that applies to everything in life. We live as though there aren’t enough hours in the day but if we do each thing calmly and carefully we will get it done quicker and with much less stress.”
Viggo Mortensen
