How Do You Go About Managing Work Related Stress?
Regrettably, in far too many companies we still find poor management giving people useless goals and then setting unrealistic deadlines by which to achieve them. This is one of the main causes of workplace stress.
So just how do you go about stress management in the workplace so that you can reduce job stress and make your life better?
First of all there are many simple stress-relieving exercises that can help ease your symptoms in the short-term while you work on a longer-term cure. Stress produces several well known physiological effects such as shallow breathing and muscle tension and you can take action to reduce these.
Start by taking a few slow deep breaths. You do not have to go into some form of meditative state, but simply expand your chest and relieve tension around the center of your body. Stretch out your arms and shoulders, gently move your head from side to side and stretch your legs.
Then spend a few minutes working on your mental processes. Stress will often stop you from focusing or concentrating effectively and also affects your memory because it shifts your focus away from what you are doing and onto the fact that you are angry.
While continuing to breath deeply, close your eyes and let go of the external world for a couple of minutes. Do not focus on your anger or the stress you are feeling, but focus your attention on an internal image in your mind's eye of something pleasant such as your children, the family dog, catching a big trout or anything else which works for you.
Having tackled the symptoms of workplace stress and dealt with your immediate personal health problems you will be feeling a little more relaxed and ready to move on and tackle the root of the problem.
Since this is principally a problem related to your job one way to solve the problem might be to start your own businesses and, while this may seem somewhat drastic, more and more people are choosing this option today. Starting your own business and working for yourself is certainly challenging, but is also brings with it the benefit of having the freedom to meet these challenges. In the beginning you will certainly find yourself working long hours with little external reward or recognition, but the internal rewards can be immense. There is nothing to match the feeling of satisfaction which you get from being your own boss.
For the majority of people however the solution lies in working towards positive change within their present company organization. Efforts in this direction are not always entirely successful but, even when they meet with only partially successful, you can gain considerable satisfaction from knowing that you are doing something and not merely sitting back and accepting your fate.
You can of course apply to transfer to another job within you company or organization, or wait for the day when your poor manager is moved on. In most modern companies after all very few things stay the same for more than a matter of months.
If you do decide to take this particular route then, while you are waiting for things to improve, focus more on results rather than on process. Adopt a realistic attitude about what is and what is not within your control and try not to let those things which you cannot control become too important. Find individuals within your company or organization who are co-operative and do not worry about trying to change the others.
Finally, if you feel like doing so then by all means let off some steam to family and friends away from work but, while you are at work, simply focus on the task at hand.
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