Assuming you sleep 8 hours a night and work 40 hours a week, that means you spend 35% of your waking hours working. If you’re overly stressed at work, it’ll greatly reduce your quality of life at and away from the office. There are many sources of stress, from difficult clients and coworkers, to tight deadlines and sales quotas. This list can’t solve the myriad of different stressors you may face on the job, but here are some useful tips to help you deal with them constructively and advice to promote general well-being.
Get Organized
If your office, desk, and PC desktop are a mess, it can be a source of stress. Each piece of clutter pulls at our attention and silently demands to be dealt with (even if we aren’t consciously aware of it). And it can also be a waste of time if you’re never quite sure where you left your stapler or where you saved a certain file. So if you have some downtime, take a moment to organize your workspace and your digital files.
Make Your Commute Relaxing
I’m not a huge classical music fan, but on my way to and from work I like to listen to our local classical station (KNCJ 89.5 FM in Reno). Commuting can get hectic, but classical music has a way of soothing your nerves. Before work, it can put you in a calm state, ready to take on the day, or on your way home, help you de-stress from the day.
Get Comfortable
Have a comfortable chair or a sit/stand desk. When you’re squirming around from discomfort, you will not be happy and productive. If you have a physical job, invest in comfortable and supportive footwear (or insoles). If your feet are taking a beating, it’ll sap your physical energy and cause you undue pain and stress.
Leave Perfectionism Behind
Sometimes we stress about every minor detail rather than focusing on the big picture. Some fields require everything to be perfect, but there are times when you may be making minor tweaks to something when literally only you are going to notice the difference. So assess if the task really requires perfection or if high-quality work is good enough. Read more on this in our Perils of Perfectionism blog.
Music For Focus
If your work allows it, listening to music can block out distracting office noise. (Just make sure you can still hear your phone ringing.) This is one of my favorite tracks to focus my mind. There are endless options, so it’s up to you, but I’d recommend music that doesn’t have vocals as it’s generally less distracting. Or you can play some of your favorites to pick up your mood and energy.
Separate Your Work and Home Life
This may be especially tricky if you work from home. But try not to think about home when you’re at work, and try not to think about work when you’re at home. If you find yourself thinking about all the things you need to at work, just make sure you have a solid to-do list and remind yourself that you’ll be able to tackle your projects when you’re at work. The most important thing you can do when at home is to rest and recharge for the day ahead. If you work from home, you can put a sheet over your workstation to put a physical barrier between you and your job.
Swallow the Toad
Swallow a toad in the morning and you will encounter nothing more disgusting the rest of the day. – Nicolas Chamfort
In the context of work, this can mean, doing the hardest task you’d like to avoid doing first thing in the morning. If you don’t do the task you’ve been dreading doing, then it’s just going to be looming over you and stressing you out all day.
Focus on the Benefits
There’s obviously a reason why you’re working right now and not sitting at home. The most obvious reason is benefits and money to provide for yourself and your family. There are other factors such as social interaction with coworkers and fulfillment from doing your job. I’ve found that being unemployed is fun for about two weeks, and then you start to feel like a piece of trash. Moreover, not everyone who wants a job can get one, so be grateful that you do.
Ease up on the Coffee
This will be a tough sell for many people whom have become reliant on caffeine. I taught 3rd graders for a year, and if I didn’t have caffeine, I didn’t have the energy to keep them engaged and under control. Caffeine boosts adrenaline and dopamine, which is great for your mood in the short term, but after it wears off it can make you feel tired and depressed. Caffeine does affect people differently. It makes me jittery and keeps me up at night, but I have relatives who drink coffee after 10pm and sleep like a baby. Small/moderate amounts of caffeine may give you a mood boost, but try not to be overly reliant on it. Read more about how caffeine impacts your mind and body.
Get Some Vitamin D
Vitamin D is known as the “happiness hormone” and deficiency has been linked to depression. Unfortunately, over 40% of Americans are deficient. To prevent deficiency, you’d need around 20 minutes of sunlight daily, with 40% of your skin exposed. This isn’t always doable for individuals working in offices, so you may look into getting a quality vitamin D3 supplement. On your break, try to get a bit of sun if possible. (sources: NCBI 1 NCBI 2)
Healthier Diet and Supplements
Find a diet that works for you and makes you feel happy and energetic. I believe that every person has different nutritional needs, so you may visit a nutritionist or see what works for you through trial and error. In general, the less “processed” (or changed from its natural state) your food is, the better it is for you. Some supplements may be beneficial for shoring up deficiencies in your diet.
Acceptance
Work is filled with challenges and obstacles. The key is to change/improve what you can and accept what you can’t. If you don’t have the power to change a difficulty at work, it’s better to accept that it’s there and try not to get quite as aggravated when the difficulty arises. You’ll find that the majority of aggravation is coming from your negative reaction to the difficulty, rather than the difficulty itself.
Take 3 Focused Breaths
Meditation is very effective at battling stress, but there isn’t always time to sit down for 5+ minutes. So, you can try taking 3 deep breaths and focus on the air as you inhale, fill your lungs, and slowly exhale. Sometimes that’s all it takes to clear your frazzled mind.
De-stress Over Lunch
Do anything over your lunch break that eases your nerves or puts you in a better mood. Several activities that could be effective are: watch funny videos, exercise, do yoga, meet with a friend or coworker, play games on your phone, nap, or go to a park.
Professional Help
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we can’t resolve our issues alone. Psychiatry can be a great tool to get you back into a healthy mental state.
Find a New Job
Sometimes you reach the end of your rope with an overly demanding position, a negative and toxic work environment, or a job that’s physically dangerous. It can take a lot of courage to face change, and there may be drawbacks to changing positions, so weigh your options carefully. I was a teacher for a few years. It was rewarding, and I loved my students, but ultimately, I found it stressful, and it wasn’t for me. Your happiness and sanity is worth more than a paycheck. You might find that you’d prefer a position that offers more flexibility, vacation time, and benefits versus one with a higher salary.
Insurance is inherently a high-stress field, since we need to be there for clients whom recently had something bad happen in their lives. But in my year and a half here at A and H Insurance, I’ve found people to generally be in good spirits. It’s been great working for a company that truly cares about its employees, and the community. The last three years, we’ve been nominated for NNHRA’s “Best Places to Work” based off of anonymous employee surveys and statistical data. We are a growing company, and we do have openings pop up from time to time on our careers page or on indeed.
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