Managing Stress in the Workplace

How exactly does one separate overbearing stress in the workplace from normal everyday anxiety that arises at different points throughout the day? Job stress deals with workers not necessarily having the right physical or emotional resources to complete a task. Their body's natural reaction to being overtaxed is to release chemicals in the brain, which leads to a stressed or panicked feeling.

Normally, when presented with a new task at work, people feel invigorated by the fact that they get to apply their skills to an assignment that takes them out of their comfort zone. This new undertaking allows them to learn new abilities and task-management skills that will help them in future comparable situations. But where stress becomes a problem is when a person feels overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed and perform well at a particular duty.

What are the signs that the stress you are feeling at work is an issue that needs to be addressed? A conglomeration of the following symptoms might provide an indication that stress management techniques need to be employed. These symptoms include: upset stomach, difficulty concentrating on particular tasks, unpleasant feelings towards work, headaches and a feeling of low morale with fellow workers.

There are a couple of ways to go about dealing with and overcoming stress in the workplace. The first way is to find personal techniques that allow you to control your own stress. The first step is to identify the situations that raise your stress to unhealthy levels. In particular, are certain situations more stressful than others, or is it a day-long feeling of anxiety that won't go away? You will want to document these situations for further analysis. 

Do your own thoughts only create more pressure on yourself to succeed? Are you setting yourself up for failure by using phrases like, "I'll never be able to do this right," or "I'm not smart enough to get this done." These are negative thoughts that apply undo pressure to your situation.

Alleviating yourself from this type of thinking is the first way to go about changing your stress levels at work. Replace the above statements with phrases like, "I can do this correctly. I just need to slow down and take it one step at a time," or "I am more than capable of doing this job. Just take a deep breath and the answers will come.

The other means of relieving stress in the workplace deals with communicating with a supervisor about problems that you are experiencing. This can be a potentially daunting task for many people because you don't want your boss thinking that you are incapable of doing your job. But other workers might be suffering from job stress themselves and just don't want to make light of it.

In order to manage stress at work, you need to implement the above techniques to help you relieve yourself of unwanted anxiety. Making a "to-do" list, organizing your time while you're at work, and sharing problems with a coworker or manager are all great ways to get yourself started down a path that leads to a healthier mind and body.

This post is brought to you by Argosy University. Drawing upon our more than 30-year history of granting degrees in professional psychology, Argosy University has developed a curriculum that focuses on interpersonal skills and practical experience alongside academic learning. Because getting a degree is one thing. Succeeding, quite another.