The No-Nonsense Guide to Handling Workplace Stress
Despite countless companies investing more heavily in strategies to improve work/life balance and employee well-being, stress in the workplace is still a major issue.
In 2024, around one in nine UK employees said they were dealing with anxiety every day. Another one in four people said that they feel stressed most of the time at work.
Similar issues are common worldwide. Stress isn’t just causing mental and physical health issues for employees; it’s making it harder for them to achieve their career goals, driving burnout and disengagement.
While avoiding stress can seem impossible, particularly when teams face higher levels of demand thanks to evolving customer expectations and technology, that doesn’t mean you can’t manage your stress levels more effectively.
With the right mindset and strategies, you can stay calm in the chaos, reclaim your energy, and build resilience in workplace pressure.
Understanding Modern Workplace Stress
Workplace stress has steadily increased since the pandemic, even with the rise of remote and flexible working options. Levels of disengagement in the workplace are rising, and disengaged employees are more likely to experience stress and more likely to suffer burnout.
The trouble is that employees are facing a significant number of common stress triggers. Workloads are higher than ever as companies strive to stay one step ahead of the competition and adapt to changing customer priorities. Remote work, while offering more opportunities for work/life balance, is creating issues with social isolation and blurred boundaries between work and personal life.
Digital overwhelm is becoming a serious issue too, particularly as employees rely on more online tools, from AI and automation apps to collaboration platforms, to stay productive. Even regular online meetings can cause anxiety and mental fatigue.
On top of all that, employees have to deal with the mental strain caused by the requirement to live up to significant expectations or risk losing the stability offered by their roles.
Recognising Stress Response Patterns
The biggest issue with stress in the workplace is that it negatively impacts multiple parts of a person’s career and life.
From a well-being perspective, stress can manifest in physical side effects – from serious headaches to muscle tension, fatigue, and sleep disturbance. Some studies even suggest that consistent stress can increase the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
The mental repercussions are huge, too. Stress makes it harder for people to concentrate, make confident decisions, retain memories, and stay positive. All of this leads to serious mood problems and declines in cognitive performance.
This can mean employees miss out on opportunities and promotions simply because they can’t focus, or their stress levels cause higher levels of absenteeism.
All the while, relationships, both with colleagues and managers, and loved ones suffer due to increased stress. This strain can lead to eroded support networks, which just further exacerbate feelings of stress, anxiety, depression, and isolation.
Managing the Chaos: Practical Coping Strategies
While sources of stress are everywhere, there are ways to make handling them much easier. Implementing practical coping strategies gives you the toolkit to mitigate workplace stress and improve job satisfaction.
Effective strategies include:
Setting Clear Boundaries
Establishing clear boundaries between work and personal life is crucial now that remote and hybrid work are becoming more common.
This makes it almost impossible to switch off, relax, and recuperate after working hours. The best way to tackle this is to create a clear schedule. Designate specific hours for work and your personal life and stick to your boundaries.
Know when to switch off email alerts and messages and take plenty of breaks throughout your workday. Take advantage of your paid time off, your weekends, and your moments outside the office.
Invest in Digital Wellness
.png?created=25-05-06-16-29-15)
The chances are that you’ll rely on many different digital tools in your role. You can do a few things to avoid the stress caused by technology overload. First, learn how to use your tools effectively. Find ways to optimise your use of technology to save time by automating tasks or simplifying workflows.
Next, find ways to reduce your exposure to unnecessary technology. For instance, rather than leaving your email alerts and Microsoft Teams notifications on “all the time,” dedicate periods of time in your schedule to checking in and responding to messages. Take regular breaks from technology when you can, too—even if that just means walking outside for a breath of fresh air.
Protect Your Physical Health
Maintaining good physical health is crucial to stress management. It’s much easier to handle periods of anxiety or being overwhelmed if you feel fit and energetic. Set aside some time in your week for regular exercise – you could even try walking to work (if it’s not too far) instead of driving. Or do some basic office exercises, like crunches, at your desk.
Spend time outdoors to soak up some extra vitamin D, and make sure you’re eating a well-balanced diet with plenty of valuable vitamins and minerals. Most importantly, make sure you’re getting enough sleep. The brain and body can’t function properly if you’re exhausted, so set a sleep schedule and stick to it (even on weekends).
Build Mental Resilience
The industry today is unpredictable. New challenges and hurdles are emerging constantly, and you need to be ready to adapt quickly. Developing mental resilience will help you cope with stress and changes more effectively. Consider spending some time on mindfulness meditation to restructure your thought processes.
Adopt a growth mindset and start seeing every failure as an opportunity to grow and improve rather than dwelling on your mistakes. Find ways to ensure you feel “prepared” for each change in your industry, like taking online courses or working with a mentor.
Implementation and Measurement Strategies
Deciding to invest in “overcoming stress” is just the first step. You need to actively implement the above strategies and measure their impact on your health and career to ensure you’re constantly moving in the right direction.
Here are key implementation ideas and measurement strategies for your career.
Commit to Effective Routine Design
Routine is fantastic at tackling stress, whether you’re working in the office or remotely. Structuring your day so it aligns with your natural energy levels can boost productivity and reduce anxiety. So, pay attention to the periods in the day when you feel more alert and schedule high-priority tasks during these times.
Then, allocate less demanding activities to times when energy levels dip. Incorporating regular breaks is crucial, too. Research indicates that short, frequent breaks can improve focus and prevent burnout. Adapt your routine as necessary as you learn more about your energy levels and how they change throughout the day.
Track Your Physical and Mental Health
Keep a close eye on both your physical and mental health. Use work-life balance metrics to evaluate how well you manage professional and personal commitments.
Monitoring health markers, such as sleep quality, exercise frequency, and stress levels, can provide insights into your overall well-being. Tools like the Well-Being Index, developed by Mayo Clinic researchers, are great if you’re looking for a brief self-assessment to gauge various dimensions of distress and well-being.
You could consider investing in a health app to help you track physical and mental stress indicators. By watching your well-being, you can adapt your strategy more proactively based on what works for you.
Monitor the “Return on Investment” from Your Strategies
Investing in overcoming stress in the workplace will improve your mental and physical health and make you more effective, productive, and efficient in your role. Pay attention to how your levels of career satisfaction change over time as you implement new strategies.
Look at your productivity and performance levels, monitoring task completion rates and how often you make errors. Pay attention to the new opportunities that come your way after you get a handle on your stress levels – like the opportunity to take on new projects.
Sustaining Success Through Stress Management
Ultimately, workplace stress is inevitable, but it’s how you manage it that matters. Prioritising your well-being isn’t about being selfish; it’s about investing in your health so you can excel in everything you do.
If you’re following all the strategies above and still feel overwhelmed by stress every time, you’re in the office, that might be a sign that it’s time to consider a new role. In that case, consider speaking to a recruitment company to find a position that aligns with your needs regarding work- life balance and overall job satisfaction.
Don’t make your wellness an afterthought. Your career shouldn’t drain your energy but ignite your passion and drive you towards success.