Are you facing with anxiety, depression, mental stress, frustration, burnout, or bullying at workplace? There are ways to deal with a toxic workplace, ease the mental stress of remote working, ease the depression due to work pressure and improve your work-life balance.
These last few months have shown us how rapidly our world can change. The ability to be adjustable and flexible life has been to a new place.. Information, plans, teams, and customers have shifted at a reeling pace, accompanied by a higher level of fear and anxiety. Managing workplace stress is becoming a high priority and a big challenge for many of us.
Workplace stress and its harmful effects on humans’ mental health have rapidly risen up during the last few months. It is the cause of many different stress reactions (like anxiety and depression), related diseases and unhealthy behaviour among employees.
Workplace stress prevention can reduce the mental health risks for individuals who are facing the problems related to mental health, as well as organizational and societal costs. The success of workplace stress interventions depends on proper implementation and proper planning.
The experience of job stress is the psychological state that describes an imbalance between people’s perceptions of the demands placed on them and their ability to cope with those demands. Work-related stress doesn’t just vanish when you head home for the day. When stress continues, it can take a toll on your mental health and well-being.
Causes of workplace stress :
Following are some of the factors that commonly cause work-related stress:
- Long hours
- Heavy workload
- Changes within the organisation
- Tight deadlines
- Changes to duties
- Job insecurity
- Lack of autonomy
- Boring work
- Insufficient skills for the job
- Over-supervision
- Inadequate working environment
- Lack of proper resources
- Lack of equipment
- Few promotional opportunities
- Harassment
- Discrimination
- Poor relationships with colleagues or bosses
Strategies for managing mental stress in the workplace :
Here are strategies for you and your employees to be more effective at managing workplace stress.
Developing Self-Awareness: Everyone can increase awareness of how they behave on their work/job. They can learn to know their own boundaries towards work.
Developing Outside Interests: In addition, every employee can develop outside interests to take their minds off work.
Leaving the Organization: If some situations employee may incapable to improve his situation/circumstances/skills. , As a result, he or she has to leave the organization and find alternative employment. In certain situation it becomes necessary.
Finding a Personal or Unique Solution: Another thing is everyone can use to cope up with mental stress is through a variety of personal or unique solutions.
Physical Exercise : Regular exercises can be an important and effective individual strategy for reducing job stress.
Personnel Selection and Placement : Managers can pay more attention in the selection and placement process to the fit between job applicants, the job, and the work environment.
Skills Training : Mental stress can be reduced in some cases through better job-related skills training procedures, where employees are instruct how to do their jobs/work more effectively and more productively with less stress and less pressure.
Job Redesign: Managers can change certain features of jobs or the ways people perform these jobs. For maximizing employee satisfaction there is a requirement of job redesign.
Managing common stressful situations at work :
If you are feeling stressed or feeling anxious by a certain issue or workplace stress, you might not be alone in this situation.
Many people’s may face these common stressful and frustrating situations in the workplace. The important thing is to understand how to manage such situations.
Taking Steps to Manage Workplace Stress :
Track your stressors Identify the situations which create the most stress and decide how you respond to them in proper way.
Develop healthy responses – Instead of attempting to struggle mental stress with fast food, junk food or alcohol, do your best to make healthy choices when you feel your tension rise. Do Yoga and Physical exercises. Both are best stress busters. Make time for hobbies and your favourite activities.
Establish boundaries – In today’s digital world, it’s obvious to feel pressure and stress to be available 24 hours a day. Set up some work-life boundaries and barriers for yourself for reducing stress and burnout.
Take time to recharge –To avoid the negative effects of mental stress, depression and frustration, we need time to replenish and return to our pre-stress level of functioning.
Learn how to relax – Do meditation, deep breathing exercises and this can help you melt away stress.
Talk to your manager – Start by having an open conversation with your manager for reducing stress.
Get some support –Accepting help from trusted friends, colleagues and family members can improve your ability to manage stress.
Benefits of preventing stress in the workplace
- Reduced symptoms of weak mental and physical health
- Fewer injuries and less illness
- Increased productivity
- Productive outputs at workplace
- Greater job satisfaction
- Increased work engagement
- Reduced costs to the employer
- Improved employee health and community wellbeing.
Where to get help:
- Your doctor
- Psychologist
- Your manager
- Human resources manager at your workplace
Workplace stress isn’t going away. But we can help protect ourselves from these situations:
There’s no escaping the reality that work is a stressful and hectic place. Yet it’s when that stress becomes continuous presence in our lives that we need to start worrying about it. Too much exposure to mental stress makes us inferior at our works. It puts us at risk of exhaustion. And can even have serious outcomes to our physical health.
But like anything, the more you know what causes you mental stress the more you’ll be able to aggravate its effects. Look for the things in your workplace that cause unreliably, a lack of control, and make you feel like you need to always catch up.
And remember it isn’t just up to you. Mental stress in the workplace is an issue everyone should want to resolve.
