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Managing work stress is becoming increasingly important as United States workers experience record levels of workplace pressure. The American Institute of Stress (AIS) outlines the impact on workers’ wellness in a recent ComPsych survey. The outlook isn’t good — 62% of workers cited tensions due to a lack of autonomy or extreme tiredness.
Moreover, work priorities are taking over citizens’ lives, with the sources of anxiety stemming from workload, coworkers, and performance improvements. One would think that, at least, all this hard work leads to better productivity, but they might be wrong.
The study also shows how stress-related issues cost the American economy up to $300 billion annually. The good news is we can prep ourselves for the daily grind and let the chaos of our working lives dissipate like water off a duck’s back. Here are some surefire methods for lowering work-related stress levels.
1. Establish the Source of Your Anxieties
It may sound obvious — and it is — but assessing why your heart rate spikes when you clock in for the day is crucial. We must identify when we feel at our worst; is it the constant, boring meetings? Is it the music playing on the company speakers? Or is it that you only slept six hours the night before?
One solution to gauge why you might be approaching hypertension is to wear a heart monitor smart clip or wristwatch. If it has a review function, you can look back at the times of day your levels spiked, then retrace your schedule to see what you were doing.
2. Sleep Better
The first step anyone can take to innoculate themselves from employment strains is to get their body’s required sleep. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs tells us that children must first be well-fed, healthy, and well-rested before true, undisrupted learning can begin—this principle applies to adults, too.
The worst habits we can fall into are sitting all day, not exercising, and eating poorly. These will invariably lead to poor-quality sleep and lowered mental wellness. Daily resistance training, jogging, or walking will all assist in getting more sound sleep.
3. Stay Fit
The next obvious way to keep happy (and improve one’s sleep patterns) is to invest in a gym membership, weights bench, or bicycle. Depending on our career choices, we may spend the majority of our day sitting, which we all know is bad for a multitude of adverse outcomes, namely bad mental health.
If your workplace has a gym, you are very fortunate; if it doesn’t, there are multiple options for improving fitness. Unless there are major or incessant physical injuries in the way, taking the stairs, walking a few blocks instead of riding an Uber, or even getting up once every hour for five minutes of walking and stretching is reasonable.
4. Set Work and Life Boundaries
In many European countries and elsewhere, it is now illegal for employers to contact their staff outside of contracted working hours. These “right to disconnect” laws stipulate that companies must establish contracted working hours and respectful technology use expectations to prevent employee burnout.
Sadly, such laws are not yet in corporate America, though some regions have at least begun the discussion. Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with protecting oneself from exploitation by establishing ground rules for one’s sanity when joining a company.
5. Eat Light
We’ve all been there, and some of us continue to visit daily — the post-lunchtime drift, where keeping one’s eyes open becomes difficult between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Although there are natural circadian patterns at play here, there are ways to mitigate what WebMD calls the “afternoon slump.”
Being Spanish will help: In Spain (where I live), most workers get two to three hours for their lunch break, allowing them time to nap and recharge. Failing this life arrangement, going for a brisk stroll after eating to get blood flowing can help keep eyes open after lunchtime.
6. Embrace Your Coworkers
Everyone knows that one office colleague that few people know personally — they contribute the bare minimum to meetings, keep coworkers’ personal lives at arm’s length, and live for their post-work pastimes. Let’s be honest: sometimes, that person is you.
However, studies show that positive team-building experiences can boost a workforce’s mental health, according to specialists at Corporate Wellness Magazine. While we may struggle to get along with everybody, nothing beats good-natured office banter to help the day flow.
7. Time Management
One of my most challenging tasks is time management, even though I am fully aware of the stress caused by not observing it. It can be grating when distractions keep setting back your working day’s progress — especially if you are self-employed.
A result is a stress-inviting work creep that can steal your downtime. Making simple tweaks to your working week can help save precious minutes. For example, leaving smartphones well away from the workstation will help.
8. Take Breaks
It’s hard to leave the desk or workshop when we are in full flow; the minutes are ticking by, and we are closer to clocking out. Staying occupied is a seemingly natural state of mind for most workers, but it could damage our health.
In his self-help book Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours, Robert Pozen says we should strive for between 75 and 90 minutes of work before we take a break. “We know that because we have studied professional musicians, who are most productive when they practice for this amount of time,” writes the author. “It’s also the amount of time of most college classes.”
9. Avoid Multitasking
Avery Hunt, writing in Discover magazine, uncovers the dangers of multitasking and argues that it defeats the object. A great example of multitasking gone awry is glancing at your Google Chrome tabs and realizing you have 25 open.
We are more prone to making errors or using poor judgment when distracted, and nothing is more distracting (other than having young kids) than spinning figurative plates. Overextending one’s abilities may harm our working memory and overall mental conditioning. Thankfully, some of us suck at multitasking — ask us again why we are so relaxed.
10. Achieve Mindfulness
Do you hit the hay on a Sunday with that feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach? It turns out you are not alone — a LinkedIn survey found that an average 80% of employed individuals experience the “Sunday Scaries.”
Unsurprisingly, the ratio of people experiencing this strain in Gen Z is highest, while boomers have the least — albeit still at 69% of the demographic. Daily breathing techniques, mindfulness, and meditation will all help mitigate those Monday morning blues.
11. Seek Guidance
Studies show that people working in highly cognitive jobs experience far more motivation through autonomy than money. However, the opposite is true for those working in physical labor tasks, and the carrot-and-stick approach works.
To an extent, we all fake it before we make it at a new job, but it’s important to hit the “make it” part, lest you get stuck in a rut. Seeking advice from your employer, supervisor, or colleague makes sense and clears the mind of anxiety.
12. Do Your Best Work
Japan has a remarkable ethos regarding work quality. On the one hand, the country’s societal norms mean every service offered, part manufactured, or piece created is close to perfect; on the other hand, Japan’s hierarchical structure puts intense strain on people’s happiness.
Westerners have far less pressure to achieve perfection, though that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. If anything, finding motivation to keep improving can only boost one’s confidence and show one’s best light. The great thing about the free world is that we can be our best without caring what others think.
13. Upgrade Your Surroundings
Although we all know those who live for being out or in a work environment, humans generally feel happiest when they are at home. Speaking in U.S. News, Graham Rowles, a gerontology professor at the University of Kentucky, argues that evidence shows we are happiest in our home environment.
Therefore, if remote work isn’t feasible, why not bring a piece of home to the office? Whether it’s photographs, ornaments, or your favorite cushion, a little piece of home can bring comfort in a chaotic setting.
14. Look for Flexi-Time Jobs
For some workers, “Sunday Scaries” are the consequence of thinking too far ahead. Visualizing that your next break comes after a grueling 50-hour week isn’t the best way to prepare. Imagine a job where you don’t have to get up early on a Monday.
Some careers allow flexible work scheduling — freelance careers, for example. Moreover, increasing evidence shows that some people are genetically inclined to thrive at later hours than morning lovers. Therefore, choosing the right working hours may affect your serotonin levels.
15. Foster a Positive Environment
Much like bringing home comforts to improve our settings, surrounding ourselves with positive people is another step we can take toward work-day enlightenment. Are you associating with the right colleagues? Do they only talk about work problems, or do they like discussing what makes them happy outside the office?
There is a workplace vortex where many dreams die—it comes in the form of gossiping, judgmental, and closed-minded coworkers who have given up on striving for more. Being among growth-mindset professionals will do wonders for anyone’s career.
16. Don’t Neglect Vacations
Forbes discusses several norms in America regarding paid time off (PTO) among the average working person. Sadly, not all Americans take advantage of PTO, with some citing too much workflow, forgetfulness, or even believing using it is not allowed.
Any employer that guilts workers into not taking PTO may be the kind of boss who lives in the office, forgets their own kids’ names, and hasn’t left the country in a decade. Tragically, the Forbes report claims that 31% of Americans don’t have PTO access. If you have them, take them. You will never look back on your life and think, “I sure clocked in well that day.”
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