While some workplace stress is normal, excessive stress can interfere with your productivity and performance, impact your physical and emotional health, and affect your relationships and home life. You can’t control everything in your work environment, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless
You can’t always avoid the tensions that occur on the job. Yet you can take steps to manage work-related stress.
1.Take A Deep Breath
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or are coming out of a tense meeting and need to clear your head, a few minutes of deep breathing will restore balance.
2.Eliminate Interruptions or control your response
“Most of us are bombarded during the day,” says Melnick. Emails, phone calls, pop ins, instant messages and sudden, urgent deadlines make you feel stressful. While you may not have control over the interrupters, you can control your response. You can delay your response or you can also train those around you by answering these questions.
3.Request a transfer
If your workplace is large enough, you might be able to escape a toxic environment by transferring to another department.
4.Schedule Your Day For Energy And Focus
Most of us go through the day using a “push, push, push” approach, thinking if we work the full eight to 10 hours, we’ll get more done. Instead, productivity goes down, stress levels go up and you have very little energy left over for your family, Melnick says. She advises scheduling breaks throughout the day to walk, stretch at your desk or do a breathing exercise.
5.Don’t try to control the uncontrollable
Many things at work are beyond our control—particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems.
6.Eat Right And Sleep Well
“Eating badly will stress your system,” says Melnick, who advises eating a low-sugar, high-protein diet. “And when you’re not sleeping well, you’re not getting the rejuvenating effects.”
7.Cool Down Quickly
“When you feel frustrated or angry, it’s a heated feeling in your body that can cause you to react,” says Melnick. Instead of immediately reacting—and likely overreacting—she suggests trying a “cooling breath” technique: Breathe in through your mouth as if you are sipping through a straw, and then breathe out normally through your nose. Done right, you’ll feel a cooling, drying sensation over the top of your tongue.
8.Flip your negative thinking
If you focus on the downside of every situation and interaction, you’ll find yourself drained of energy and motivation. Try to think positively about your work, avoid negative-thinking co-workers, and pat yourself on the back about small accomplishments, even if no one else does.
9.Building your own self-confidence
“Learn to stop self imposing stress by building your own self-confidence rather than seeking other’s approval,” says Melnick. If you’re too caught up in others’ perceptions of you, which you can’t control, you become stressed out.
10.Prioritize Your Priorities
With competing deadlines and fast-changing priorities, it’s critical to define what’s truly important and why. You should focus on projects that will have the most impact , so you should do them first.
11.Break projects into small steps
If a large project seems overwhelming, focus on one manageable step at a time, rather than taking on everything at once.
12.Talk to your supervisor
Healthy employees are typically more productive, so your boss has an incentive to create a work environment that promotes employee well-being. Start by having an open conversation with your supervisor.
13.Clarify your job description
You may ask your supervisor for an updated description of your job duties and responsibilities. You may then be able to point out that some of the things you are expected to do are not part of your job description.
14.Get some support
Accepting help from trusted friends and family members can improve your ability to manage stress. You can discuss with them, so it is part to reduce stress.
15.Delegate responsibility
You don’t have to do it all yourself. Let go of the desire to control every little step. You’ll be letting go of unnecessary stress in the process.
16.Create a balanced schedule
All work and no play is a recipe for burnout. Try to find a balance between work and family life, social activities and solitary pursuits, daily responsibilities and downtime.
17.Make time for regular exercise
Aerobic exercise—activity that raises your heart rate and makes you sweat—is a hugely effective way to lift your mood, increase energy, sharpen focus, and relax both the mind and body. Rhythmic movement—such as walking, running, dancing, drumming, etc.—is especially soothing for the nervous system.