Stress management at work: the 9 best tips

Stress in the workplace is not uncommon. If you think this only affects your mental well-being, you’re wrong. Chronic stress makes people ill. The immune system is weaker, making the body more susceptible to flu-like infections. It also increases the risk of developing heart disease and conditions such as morbid obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. So what to do? Here are the 9 best tips for better stress management at work.

1. Start the day smarter!

For many, stress starts before they even get to the job. Discussions with the children or the partner, time constraints due to traffic jams, and a hasty breakfast characterize the morning routine. Under these assumptions, the stress from home is easily brought to the workplace. Start the morning with calm: This can be achieved with thoughtful planning, for example, by preparing a healthier breakfast. This makes it easier for minor stress factors at work to bounce off you. If you are tired, you are much more susceptible to stress!

2. Understand and manage tasks

Studies reveal that a major stress factor at work is unclear goals and rules from the superiors. Those who don’t know what exactly they are supposed to do, what is expected of them, or whether they are doing their job well, easily feel stressed. That’s why it’s essential to talk to your leaders and openly discuss requirements and expectations. Both parties will benefit from it.

3. Organization shapes a healthy work-life balance

Even very disorganized individuals, with a little forward planning, can relieve stress through an organized daily routine. This takes a little effort but ultimately saves time. Good time management is essential to handle demands in a quality-conscious and reliable manner. But beware: If the workload is really too high, the only thing that will help is a discussion with your supervisor.

4. Do not give power to unnecessary conflicts

There is plenty of potential for conflict in the workplace. The trick is to differentiate between productive conflicts and unnecessary trench warfare. If you can do that, you will reduce your stress levels immensely. Gossiping about others as well as debating politics and religion are real burnout boosters. Even those who don’t do it can still get caught in the conflict trap. Therefore, it is important to distance oneself from people who are not very good team players. If this is not possible, clear conflict strategies should be sought.

5. Minimize multitasking

Doing many things in parallel promises to save time, and we know that good time management reduces stress. For a long time, multitasking was considered a desirable characteristic of employees. But let’s be honest: Is it really possible to prepare the annual financial statements conscientiously while talking to customers on the phone and checking e-mails? No. When multitasking, accuracy, and speed suffer, as does mental health. It is better to concentrate on one task at a time. This reduces errors and thus stress. If you want to increase your work speed, you should look at where processes can be automated or shortened as much as possible. Outsourcing is also an option for minimizing stress and saving time effectively.

6. Ensure your physical well-being

Pain means stress. Unfortunately, many people experience pain in the workplace as a result of inadequate equipment. Back and neck pain are particularly common. They can be the result of an uncomfortable office chair or an incorrectly adjusted desk height. People who are in pain are much more susceptible to stress. That’s why it’s important to create a workplace that promotes well-being by operating small changes. This is often enough to make a big difference!

7. Go for a stress killer walk

A little physical activity relieves a lot of stress. This is especially true for office workers who sit rigidly in front of a computer screen. A walk boosts the metabolism. At the same time, the psyche relaxes. Excess energy and agonizing anger disappear at once. Worries fade into the background and the mood lifts. Scientific studies prove that even a walk of ten to 20 minutes is enough. So why not take a walk during your lunch break? The ideal would be to enjoy a bit of nature. The green and the gentle movements of the leaves on the trees have a stress-reducing effect on the psyche.

8. Perfectionism check

How nice would it be to always do everything perfectly? It makes us thrive by giving us good feelings and making us proud of ourselves, but it is not possible to always deliver everything in perfection. Moreover, perfection is no guarantee for success. A job can still be lost despite the best preparation because other factors play into it. It is excellent and honorable to always want to give your best. But excessive perfectionism means stress. It is also one of the classic burnout factors. So it’s better to take it down a notch, praise yourself for small successes and not always want to be the overperformer.

9. Turn on the music, please!

Music is an ingenious stress killer. Listening to a cheerful song at breakfast gets even snoozers going and puts them in a good mood. On the drive home from work, soothing music helps you switch off. It should not be too melodramatic, but create a sense of well-being. And if you arrive home already more relaxed, you’ll find it easier to sleep.

As you can see, it can be so easy to cope better with work stress!

Your Humanoo Team