Let’s face it. Many of us have felt the miserable feeling that stress and tension related to our jobs can cause on a daily basis. Aside from feeling bad from a mental perspective there are serious health issues that can develop if you don’t do something and make some changes to reduce your stress levels.
Stress and work are like two peas in a pod. They go together well, and because of this, many people dread waking up every morning. Stress is not something to take lightly. You could say that it’s a fact of life, but having too much stress could lead to some major health problems down the line.
Rather than waking up every morning and feeling the wave of stress and tension flow over you here are 10 easy ways to reduce your stress level that you can start using today.
Just think of how stress affects you in the short term. You may get headaches, or even worse, migraines. You may start to feel anxious, as if you are going to have a panic attack. Maybe you have difficulty breathing, or you could simply feel exhausted.
That’s just the short term. Think of the long term effects that are much more serious. You could get abnormally high blood pressure. Depression may start to become part of your life. You could start to lose or gain large amounts of weight. Or, worst of all, you could have a heart attack. Just seeing all these effects should be enough to tell you that controlling stress is a MUST.
If stress hits you hard in the workplace, you are definitely not alone. In fact, according to the American Institute of Stress, four out of five workers in the United States experience stress on the job. That’s a whopping 80 percent!
So what causes this workplace stress? Many cite unfair or unrealistic workload demands as one of the major causes. This workload often causes a lack of balance between one’s personal life and professional life. Another huge cause of workplace stress is a lack of job security. If you are constantly wondering if you will have a job next week, stress will definitely start to creep in and take over your life. This becomes even truer if you have a family and children that depend on you.
Lastly, many workers cite personality conflicts as a cause of workplace stress. You can’t choose your coworkers, so you are bound to meet others with personalities that clash with your own. This can create animosity in the workplace, and can become even worse if your personality conflicts with that of your superiors.
So, now that you know the effects of stress and some of the causes behind it, what can you do? It may be impossible to eliminate it completely, but how can you at least reduce stress in the workplace? Here are ten tips that you can and should start applying immediately.