Everyone who has held a job has felt the pressure of work-related stress at some point. Any job position may have stressful elements, even if you love what you do. You may experience the stress and tension to fulfill a challenging obligation or to meet a deadline. But when work-related stress becomes chronic, it can be overwhelming and start to interfere with your productivity and performance and can harm both your physical and emotional health. This could even mean the difference between the success and failure of the job. Unfortunately, such long-term stress is all too common.

Ways to Reduce Stress at the Workplace by Emma Dau at Unsplash

You can’t always avoid the tense situations that occur on the job, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. Let us first check the warning signs of stress at the workplace. Then, you can go through the steps to manage work-related stress and protect yourself from its damaging effects and improve your job satisfaction.

Warning Signs of Stress at Workplace

Stress at the workplace includes when you lose confidence, feel overwhelmed at work, and may become irritable, angry, or withdrawn.

Other signs and symptoms of excessive stress at work include:

• Apathy, loss of interest in work
• Feeling anxious, irritable, or depressed
• Fatigue
• Problems sleeping
• Muscle tension or headaches
• Trouble concentrating
• Social withdrawal
• Stomach problems
• Using alcohol or drugs to cope
• Loss of sex drive

Here’s presenting 25 simple ways to lower your stress at the workplace.

1. Breathe: Stop and breathe deeply every half-hour. Close your eyes while breathing and concentrate on your breath by following the air into your lungs and throughout your body.
2. Sip Water: Always keep a bottle of water close to you and drink from it more often than you think you need to. Get into the habit of staying hydrated!
3. Shift Focus: Turn away from your To-Do list and work at intervals that make sense for you. Get out of your mental routine and focus on something completely different to wake up your mind.
4. Stretch: Stretch your muscles to get your blood flowing as often as you can!
5. Stand Up: When you’ve been stuck at your desk for too long, get up and shake your arms and legs.
6. Walk: Get up and walk whenever you can- go see a co-worker on another floor of your building instead of sending an email message.
7. Muse: Turn off your face from your computer screen or spreadsheet and think about something more ephemeral- whatever it pleases you to think about. Reflect on your future life or picture yourself enjoying an awesome vacation. Do this in a few moments. Daydreaming and musing inform our daily lives and futures more than we care to admit!
8. Sift: Set your priorities for the day so that you devote yourself to the busy-beaver mode, plowing ahead without re-shuffling your work. However, this can get you to waste your time and energy on tasks that aren’t as crucial now as they were when they landed on your Must-Do list. Hence, re-sift and prioritize your work several times per day. This will keep you alert and help you to connect the dots between people, processes, and projects.
9. Enjoy: Walk outside to feel the breeze and see the sky. Doing an indoor job doesn’t mean you must block out all awareness of the natural world.
10. Chat: Stop by workstation of your colleagues to chat with them about whatever you like. After all, being human at work is a great way to reduce your stress and theirs too!
11. Acknowledge: Thank someone you work with every day- be it a customer, vendor, or co-work. Your gratitude can change their mood in a heartbeat.
12. Suspend: At any given time, most of us have something unpleasant on our minds- a vexing problem, a nagging concern, or a person whose presence makes us grumpy. Suspend these negative thoughts; instead, take a minute to bask in the fact that we are, at least, alive right now.
13. Give thanks: Whoever you feel is in charge of our activities here on earth- the Almighty, Mother Nature, or the laws of physics by telling them you’re grateful they made all this possible for you. Even when things aren’t going well, give simple thanks in your mind. For things could always be worse than it is at present!
14. Set intention: When you shuffle from one activity to another at work, be it while walking into a meeting, diving into a project or, getting on the phone with a customer- set an intention for each of the tasks. Affirm in your mind, “This meeting will be smooth, easy and light-hearted,” and you will help to make it so.
15. Journal: People journal at home, but there are many good reasons to keep a work journal, too. Utilize your own secret code to write in your diary if you can’t lock it up. Take notes on your daily work, and this will help you to capture your ideas, impressions, concerns, and brilliant insights the most precious gifts you do not want to squander!
16. Reflect: You collect compelling Dragon-Slaying Stories almost every day at work, but most of us hardly ever think of our careers in terms of live stories. Now is a great time to start! Think about the half-day workshop you’ve just completed. What are you most proud of? There is a lot to be satisfied and happy about at work, so why not celebrate those triumphs, moments, and flashes of inspiration?
17. Doodle: Doodling is a great stress reliever. If you’re a doodler, bring your favorite drawing pad and your favorite pens to every meeting. Don’t let anybody tell you doodling are less than professional since it’s your vital connection to the source of your genius and creativity!
18. Pace yourself: Know that you won’t be done with your To-Do list no matter how hard you try because as soon as you check off the last item, you’ll remember another 15 things you need to do. The work would never end! Pause to pat yourself on the back whenever you get a chunky item out of the way since you are making progress even when you can’t see it.
19. Commune: Building a community is a beautiful way to invest your time and energy at work. Whenever you get the chance, meet someone new in your workplace, and don’t forget to introduce people you know to one another!
20. Snack: Do not neglect your food intake at work to show yourself and the world how tough you are. When your body says, feed me, treat yourself to a healthy snack.
21. Set limits: Do not let other people contribute to your growing stress levels by pushing you at the workplace. Find your voice a little more every day by learning to say “No” in polite ways. You may say “Let’s schedule a time when I can teach you that procedure, however, it’ll be nice for you when you can do it yourself and don’t need to wait for me” or “I would love to help you with that, but this week, it’s impossible.”
22. Divert yourself: Read an article on a non-business website or listen to your favorite song to clear your head several times a day, if possible. Don’t let this be a distraction from your “real work” since it’s the energizing pause which will allow you to continue doing your “real work” diligently.
23. Organize your workspace: Our surroundings at work influence our mood and stress level. Take a moment to organize your workstation whenever the clutter is bothering you. It will give you peace, and hence it’s worth the time investment.
24. Speak your truth: An excellent way to lower your stress is whenever you have the chance- speak your truth. This will get easier every time you do it, and you will empower other people. Each time you find your voice too, and this will make your vocal cords stronger.
25. Pamper yourself: Keep with you a simple self-care kit at work and grab your favorite mints, tea bag hand lotion, or another self-care item whenever you need it. Doing your job takes a lot out of you, and hence it is vital to take care of yourself.