Stress and anxiety comes at us unflinchingly from all different places. Meetings, coworkers, phone calls and that presentation you’ve been dreading, can all weigh you down with stress.
Here are three things you can do to help you manage your stress at home and at work:
1. Taking care of yourself:
You’ve heard it all before, but how true it is that exercise can release built-up stress. This doesn’t mean you have to start pumping iron in the gym, but maybe taking a walk in the park after work or playing with your kids in the backyard.
Getting up and moving around can help release your feelings of anxiousness and stress. Most employers probably wouldn’t mind you taking a short breather during work. Ask your boss beforehand if he or she would mind you taking a quick 10-minute walk around the building to refresh. This can help you to collect your thoughts and come back to your projects and assignments ready to work.
2. Improving your communication skills:
This may seem like something else to add to your stressful list of to-do items, but the truth is improving your communication skills can help eliminate a lot of stress. You can’t improve something if you don’t acknowledge that there is a problem. Everyone can better their ways of communication and admitting to your own shortfalls can help you change them.
Make a list of things that you can work on and consciously try to change them. For example, maybe there are some people that you need to sit down with and diplomatically talk things out with. Being passive about situations and holding grudges won’t get you anywhere. Own up to your own flaws and try to change them. You will be surprised at how much stress you will be able to relieve.
3. Getting organized:
There’s nothing that can bring on stress quicker than frantically searching through your desk for that paperwork, phone number or sticky note you wrote yourself this morning. Making the time to organize yourself is a key factor in eliminating stress.
Create a schedule to organize your time and invest in some office supplies to help you organize your desk. This can help bring down the cloud of stress that is hanging over you through out the workday.
With a few minor adjustments on your end, you will be able to alleviate stress and help make yourself a more relaxed and happy person.
