How to manage time and overcome stress

No matter how much you love your job, sometimes you cannot escape the different kinds of pressure that come with it. You have to navigate through a series of meetings, meet deadlines, and respond to unending emails while continuing to perform your primary job assignment without fault.

Overwhelming pressures from work should not distract you from your personal life. If left unattended to, work pressures might present you with double-faced problems which might leave you burnt out and unhappy.

Before introducing some ways to overcome work stress, you need to know that there is a difference between working hard and overworking. Both instances are often confused, and understanding what you are dealing with is the first step to solving it.

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What is Work Stress and what are Its Warning Signs?

Being stressed at work is inevitable. It comes with the territory of trying to perform optimally in your designated role.

However, when stress begins to affect your performance at work and hurt your personal life, these are indications that you might be experiencing chronic work stress.

Some signs to look out for include:

• Inability to stay focused on tasks long enough to get any work done;
• Being overly irritable and snapping at coworkers for no good reason;
• Inability to switch off from work – you are always thinking about work;
• A drastic change in attitude and mood swings;
• Insomnia;
• Lack of motivation and self-confidence;
• Responding emotionally to minor issues;
• Constant headaches.

If you are experiencing more than one of these symptoms, you may be going through work stress. The good thing is that there are easy techniques to overcome work stress and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Some of them are highlighted below.

1. Identify Your Stress Triggers

Some activities and situations can increase your tension levels, making you start experiencing some stress symptoms. Identifying these situations is the first step to addressing your stress issue.

The best way to go about it is by getting a journal to record these situations daily. Be sure to include the activities, who was involved in them, and how they made you feel. Record how you reacted to the situations and the effects of your reaction.

This information will enable you to realize situations you should avoid and empower you to handle unavoidable situations properly.

2. Work on Your Responses

How do you respond to stressful situations in the workplace? Do you lash out at colleagues or drown yourself with food or alcohol? All of these are unhealthy ways to respond to stress.

There are many responsible ways to react when you feel the tension rising. Some great ways to explore include yoga, reading, or playing games. Generally, any physical activity will help. It will help if you include more exercises in your routine and find opportunities to walk.

It would be best if you also made time to indulge in your hobbies. It will help reduce your stress levels drastically.

3. Have Boundaries

Work-life balance is very important, and in today’s world, it is easy to lose this balance. There should be a definite line that determines when work starts and ends.

The inability to set boundaries and differentiate work time from personal time is a major reason people experience high work stress levels. In a bid to impress superiors or keep up with deadlines, many people will spend overtime at work or take work projects home.

This habit will only interfere with your personal life, and eventually, you may neglect crucial aspects of your life like your health, family, and friends. Create clear boundaries for yourself, starting from determining a time to drop all work-related issues and focus on yourself.

4. Be Organized

How you start your morning greatly impacts how the rest of your day goes. Being organized will help you control the activities and outcome of your day. Even if you are generally disorganized, there are ways to get ahead and plan the day in your favor.

Start by having a to-do list. Technology has made this easier with the number of daily organization apps available. You can create a daily schedule that helps you know when to do what and keeps you reminded with notifications.

After organizing your day, please stick to the plan. Do not let activities coincide, and do not postpone any exercise. Include time to relax in your calendar. It will help you become more efficient.

5. Minimize Multitasking

Multitasking can either be useful to you or completely overwhelm you. It is crucial to know that some tasks cannot be done simultaneously. 

Multitasking will sometimes mean splitting your effort and attention, affecting your speed and overall productivity. When you stress your brain trying to complete more than one complex task at once, you may experience extreme exhaustion and be unable to complete every task or deliver great results.

It is best to attend to one task at a time. This way, you can give your best to every project.

6. Take Time to Relax and Recharge

Most times, the cause of your stress is overworking. You spend up to ninety percent of your day either working or thinking about work, and with time, stress starts to kick in.

Stop postponing your vacation days, take some time off, and let go of some tasks. You will return refreshed and renewed with energy to give your best to your work.

Relaxing and recharging can be done daily by simply adding activities like yoga and meditation to your routine. Please do not underestimate the importance of sleep. It is not something you should trade for work.

According to HR specialists from SEO Brothers, relaxation is a powerful stress reducer. It can help regulate your mood, improve your concentration, enhance your problem-solving ability, and increase your performance level.

7. Learn Some Time Management Techniques

One of the ways to overcome stress at work is by learning how to manage your time properly. It may sound challenging, but if you do not manage your time properly, some aspects of your life may suffer, leading to more stress.

Learn to plan, set daily work and personal goals, and complete them accordingly. Try to prioritize your tasks and block distractions when working on them.

Time management will help you stay organized and on top of your game at work and in your personal life.

Key Takeaways

1. Feeling stress while working is inevitable, but there are proven ways to reduce it.
2. Identifying stress symptoms will tell you when you are stressed and remind you to take action.
3. Knowing what triggers your stress is the first step to reducing stress.
4. Time management will help give you the perfect work-life balance.

Conclusion

After trying all of the above steps on how to overcome work stress, ensure that you speak to somebody about how you feel. Get some support from friends, family, or your employer. If the issue has become chronic, it might be time to seek help from a psychologist.