Causes For Job Stress and How to Manage It
Causes for job stress and how to manage it. Everyone today seems stressed out when it comes to work. Especially with the pandemic and the market. We are fearful for our jobs, unsure if cuts will happen, etc. It is not uncommon for many people to experience stress while at their job.
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and the impact that stress has on your emotional and mental state can be worrisome. In 2022 we know enough about stress and anxiety and how it can have devastating effects on your body. Living in constant stress makes your body stay in the fight or flight mode pumping high levels of cortisone into your body.
Take a look at some of the most common sources of job-related stress and how to manage them successfully.
Bad Management
Bad management includes managers who are unprofessional (aka “micro-managers”), managers who don’t offer constructive feedback, and those who don’t seem to value their employees at all. It can also include management personnel who offer little to no support to their team members.
A bad management team can make you feel unheard and restricted as an employee. And as a result, it creates tension amongst employees and can ultimately affect their contributions and employee morale.
Not Enough Time To Complete Workload
Things such as distractions, a lack of project planning, and insufficient resources can make employees feel overworked and overwhelmed with their daily tasks. Distractions can be particularly frustrating when you’re trying to meet a deadline. Things such as unnecessary meetings, constant emails, and random office drop-ins can make you fall behind in your day and increase your stress levels.
Glass Ceilings and Low Pay
Working a job that barely pays your bills will always be stressful. If a low-paying job is coupled with a lack of advancement, it can even lead to depression and resentment towards the organization. An employee may begin to think, why am I still working here?
Causes for Job Stress and How To Manage It
Finding productive ways to deal with high work-related stress can make your workdays much more bearable. Here are a few ways to help reduce work-related stress.
Become An Expert At Time Management
Being able to mark off every item on your to-do list can be a very rewarding experience. First, it’s important to make sure that the list is practical. If you know that you have four different tasks to finish in a day and that each task usually takes at least half a day to complete than maybe you should move some to the next days.
Learn to prioritize your projects, consider the scope of them, and then break them down into manageable deliverables that are reasonable. By doing this you can set yourself up for success by delivering your projects on time and without errors.
Set Up Some Rules
In today’s busy culture, it’s commonplace to perform work-related activities even after you’ve left the office. Taking calls while you are on the way home, calling vendors to double-check service requests after the offices are closed, and checking your emails before you turn in at night are all signs that you lack boundaries with your work life.
For a week straight, try to leave work at work. When you leave the office for the day, focus your energy on your personal and home life until you return the following morning. Can you now notice that you’re way more mentally refreshed now that you’ve given yourself time to truly unwind.
Try Meditation
Meditation can provide you with a “mental silence” which can help you relax during the most stressful times. A certain level of mental focus is required, which can sometimes be challenging, but it’s definitely worth it. Meditation has profound benefits related to stress.
Start by finding a quiet spot to go to where you can sit or lie down comfortably, and close your eyes and just breathe in and out for 10-30 minutes. You may find that a few moments of mental stillness is all you need.
Work stress isn’t always unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not manageable. Recognizing your biggest stressors and then finding ways to mitigate them can be the key to a more relaxed workday.
