De Stressing At Work

Stress management in the workplace and workplace stress relief are hot topics these days.

As an industrial-organizational psychologist (a fancy name for shrinks who help businesses and the people in them to thrive), Dr. Pastor sees the need for teaching clients how to de-stress. Workplace stress is real. Learning how to manage stress at work requires some unique stress management techniques.

3 ways to manage stress in the workplace

1. First, identify your most successful stress management techniques outside the workplace.

All the things you can do in other settings can work at work, and some techniques take time and lots of practice. For example, we all know that exercise and stress are a match made in heaven for those who want to feel better and reduce anxiety. But did you know that using certain imaging techniques and practicing them first outside of work gives you a great deal more self-control when it all gets to you at work as well? Learn more about imaging techniques in the anxiety and anger management sections of Dr. Pastor’s clinical therapy site, The Healthy Brain and Body Centre of Beverly Hills.

2. Along the same lines, invest in a good stress-management workshop.

Take several of them, as each teacher will have his or her own slant and you can learn a lot over time, finding those stress reducers that work for you.

3. Stress relief games.

You may want to learn little games to help manage the daily irritations of job stress. For example, if you are stressed out because of deadlines, try to turn the stress into something fun. Are you a competitive person? If so, set a timer and tell yourself—better yet, tell another person—what exactly you will accomplish between now and the moment that timer goes off. Even if you don’t accomplish it all, you will have done a lot, and for many individuals this creates a type of positive stress called eu-stress.

Make sure you reward yourself for your accomplishment—especially the accomplishment of making boring or unpleasant work a little more fun. Always give yourself at least a verbal reward for that. If you are miserable just in this job, or just under this new boss (when it was hunky dory before), or only because of new job responsibilities you have taken on and don’t enjoy, think about a change.

Yep, consider changing jobs, even consider changing companies. If you don’t do this often, or if you are considering a big change, do yourself a huge favor. Make sure to go to a qualified and licensed business psychologist for vocational and personal profile testing. Even if your job is fine but you find you no longer are fine in it, that may mean it is time for a change. Congratulations, you’ve grown! But promise me you will look at vocational and related testing first. It is not that expensive, and it can save you a ton of time, money, and STRESS while giving you much needed support at the same time.

Relieve stress at work!

Make the most of workday breaks. Even 10 minutes of personal time will refresh your mental outlook.

Take a brief walk, chat with a co-worker about a non-job topic, or simply sit quietly with your eyes closed and breathe.

If you feel angry, walk away.

Mentally regroup by counting to 10, then look at the situation again. Walking and other physical activities will also help you work off steam.

Set reasonable standards for yourself and others.

Don’t expect perfection.