Strategies to reduce work-related stress
We define stress as the effect on well-being caused by the feeling that the demands of the environment exceed one’s own resources; surely today, with the rhythm of life we lead, be it for one cause or another, we all, to a greater or lesser degree, suffer it.
Since it is difficult not to have stress in the society in which we live (catching up on new technologies, difficult access to the labour market, overload of work, uncertainty, combination of personal life with professional life…), we need formulas to be able to either eliminate it or reduce to the maximum the effects it produces in our organism.
We will focus on professional stress, that is to say, the stress derived from work, and I will give you ten management strategies. We will start with the most important one:
Establish good relationships with colleagues
This is the determining factor to be able to tolerate more or less stress. The social network, feeling valued by peers, taken into account, supported in difficult moments, feeling understood in the face of difficulties, is the tool with which we humans have more powerful to better tolerate what surpasses us.
If, in addition, we have the possibility of sharing with our environment everything that generates a feeling of lack of control, the strategy is even more powerful. If the institution in which you work has good relations with your colleagues, you are fortunate in this respect and will be more resilient when you feel overwhelmed by the circumstances of the work.
If you lead a team of people, encourage good relationships, look to establish a good working climate between all of them.
Organize and Organize
If you have the feeling that you don’t get to everything but you are not organized, you need to get organized before asking for help. If you carry a team of people, to work well, the tools you use to work must be in good condition, the space must be tidy, things must be in place.
Values such as compliance with deadlines, punctuality, order, etc. are necessary to work well. It is not necessary to go to the extreme but it is difficult to work well if these basic values are not followed.
Your workspace must be operational, not only for you, but also for all those who work with you. Not everyone works well with the same level of order; perhaps you are one of those who works with a table full of papers and works well; or perhaps you need to have everything in place and manage affairs one at a time.
Be that as it may, a good criterion to know if it works well is to know how long it takes you to find information each time you need it. The time dedicated to searching when we don’t find things is a time that warns us of something that could be improved.
Delegate
If you are overloaded with tasks, one option to have a less loaded list is to delegate; but think of the others as well, if they are like you, the only thing you will do is change the person’s problem, but the problem will still exist.
Well-understood delegation – not passing on tasks that you don’t feel like doing – is a tool that contributes to organizational growth, helps maturation and the acquisition of new learning. Keep in mind that you must delegate to someone who is willing to do the proposed work, time, capacity and knowledge.
And when you delegate, assess whether it is necessary to say how to do things; keep in mind that with people with initiative and self-confidence, the best way to turn performance talent is to say what needs to be done, for when it has to be done and leave room to travel. Talent always finds the path of least resistance, and it is the one that passes through the capabilities of each one.
Set limits
Often when you take on tasks that you don’t think you should take on, or when you don’t put words to things that make you uncomfortable, you are left, “bad. Assertiveness is the tool that helps us at an individual level to combat this uncomfortable feeling.
Expressing at the right time, to the right person, in the right context and in a respectful way what has bothered us helps us feel good about ourselves and at the same time tries not to bother our interlocutor. It is also important to be clear that being assertive does not ensure that the other takes what we say well.
By the same rule, we can be aggressive with a person and that he does not live badly; in any case, if we are assertive is more likely that we stay well with ourselves and our interlocutor receives our message better.
An assertive organization will not keep the discomfort, the discomfort; people will express what they feel, although expressing does not automatically imply that the environment listens to us, but it does generate a culture in which things can be expressed in a respectful way.
Breathe consciously
Breathing is necessary to live, but if we breathe better, we will live better. Perhaps you have never paid much attention to how you breathe, people who have been trained in this subject know that if we breathe properly using the diaphragm, we inhale more air and ventilate better.
If we practice this breathing we will have less anxiety, less depression, less fatigue and we will contribute to the cells of our organism oxygenating better. It is true that if we have never paid attention to this aspect, it is not realistic to expect in a few days to breathe always using the diaphragm.
A more realistic proposal is, once you have learned to breathe using the diaphragm, try to do so a few times throughout the day. Maybe in the morning, when you wake up, before starting the rhythm of the day, it may be a good time; maybe before starting a difficult task, maybe when you go to sleep. If, in addition, while practicing the breathing, you get sleep, then perfect.