Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It is the body’s reaction to challenges, demands or change around the individual. These reactions being Physical, Mental and Emotional.
Stress is unavoidable in our daily lives. It gives us a sense of control, most people refer to this as “Good Stress”, they believe this outburst of energy improves the heart functions and makes the body resistant to infection. Stress becomes a problem when it begins to take control over us, and one major place where stress is dominant is the workplace.
Workplace Stress occurs when there’s a difficulty in meeting the demands of the workplace and the ability of the employee to cope due to work pressure. Pressure is unavoidable in the workplace because of changing demands of the work environment, however when the pressure becomes excessive it leads to stress.
Causes of Workplace Stress
Here are some common causes of workplace stress:
- Low salaries: working on a job, that is demanding and challenging is very stressful but working on demanding and challenging jobs with a low pay really breaks the straw.
- Conflicting demands of the workplace (unclear performance demands): conflict is often unavoidable at the workplace, ranging from role conflict to unclear performance demands, this can be very stressful.
- No or limited control over work related activities: When co-workers or supervisors make and control decisions for you; being underrated at your workplace can be very frustrating and leads to stress.
- Working overtime: when the workload becomes too much to complete within the given time, the most appealing way to get around that for most workers is to work overtime. This is a major stress causer because long hours lead to tiredness and lack of concentration.
- Boring or challenging work: working at a place where your job is either beyond your capabilities or unchallenging can be really stressful.
Signs and symptoms of work stress
Naturally our body has ways of dealing with stress, but when it lingers for long some of these body mechanisms malfunction and Physical and Emotional signs begin to show.
These are some signs and symptoms which shows that stress is getting out of control:
- Fatigue: feeling overtired, unmotivated or weak.
- Headaches: painful sensation in any part of the head, could be sharp pains or dull pains.
- Short temper: easily irritated or quick to get angry.
- Muscular tension: a stiffness in your muscles; one of the most common signs.
- Sleeping difficulties: having trouble sleeping at night.
Health problems
When stress becomes unbearable, it may lead to health problems such as:
- Depression: a common mental health problem, which usually involves feeling sad, moody or loss of interest in activities.
- Anxiety: intense, excessive feeling of worry or fear.
- Heart palpitations: a sensation that the heart is racing or pounding.
- Insomnia: a sleep disorder that makes it hard to fall asleep or hard to stay asleep.
- Decrease in libido: a reduction in sex drive or lack of interest in sexual activities.
TIPS TO MANAGE AND REDUCE STRESS AT THE WORKPLACE
The following are some tips to help reduce stress at the workplace:
1. Get quality sleep
A comfortable 8-hour sleep at night would get you refreshed in the morning, but if that is too much to ask for, try to get enough sleep every night before you go to work the next day. Taking short cat-naps also helps; you can have short naps for about 10 – 20 minutes during breaks. It is better to take regular short naps than to avoid sleeping all-together. Lack of sleep negatively affects our mood, makes us irritable and also makes it difficult for the body to cope with even normal amounts of stress.
2. Health and Exercise
Regular exercise is a natural stress reducer, Studies has shown that regular aerobic exercise positively affects our mood. On days when you feel you don’t have enough time on your side, you can at least set aside 10 – 20 minutes a day just for a refreshing walk, this little amount of regular exercise can get your mind off stressful thoughts whiles reducing your chances of getting stroke due to long hours of sitting in one position.
3. Create a balanced schedule
Plan your day, know the things that trigger your stress levels and tackle them one at a time. Complete paperwork’s with deadlines on time, Organizing and prioritizing your day gives you control over your activities thus improving concentration and reducing stress levels.
4. Ask for support from Co-workers
When you are faced with something you find challenging at your workplace, it is advisable to go to a fellow co-worker for help rather than to try and figure it out by yourself. Without enough challenging topics on our minds, we are free to tackle other situations, stress free.
5. Establish healthy relations
Having friends whom you can turn to for support and advice is very helpful when dealing with stress. Interact during lunchtime or break periods; instead of burying yourself in your smartphone, break periods can be great times for catching up with friends at the workplace, a laugh or two during those 15 – 30 minutes can brighten your mood throughout the day.
