Coping with Workplace Stress

Even if you love your job, there are going to be days where you are going to experience stress.  Many people allow stress to get the best of them, but you don't have to.  You can learn to cope with workplace stress so you can use the stress to move you forward instead of hold you back.

A Look At Workplace Stress
When you are stressed out about your work, you may feel like you are on an island all by yourself.  Of course, it isn't the case at all.  Did you know that as many as a quarter of the people you work with right now feel as though the workplace is the biggest stressor in their life?  It is also thought that three quarters of employees feel as though they have more on-the-job stress than their parents ever did.  

On-the-job stress is not something unique to you - everyone experiences it! Sometimes just knowing this is enough to help you get through to the other side so you can start feeling happy and healthy again.

Thankfully, there is something you can do to reduce workplace stress in your life. 

Workplace Stress Solutions
Some solutions to workplace stress include:

• Letting the little things go, it probably doesn't matter anyway
• Proactively balancing work and family life
• Creating a support network of friends and family, or even co-workers

Letting Things Go
The fact is, when you allow yourself to take a more relaxed and positive outlook on the world, it will suddenly become a lot more relaxed and positive.  When you choose to have a positive approach in life, you'll likely find that the things that would have stressed you out before will now roll off your back.  It's not that you won't feel stress; it's just that you will have a more positive way of interpreting things so that stress is not necessarily such a bad thing.

Finding Work-Life Balance​
When work takes over our lives, that's usually when we become stressed out at work and when we cannot cope well.  You should make sure that you engage in daily activities that do not involve work, even if this is simply reading a chapter of your favorite book or picking up the phone to call a friend.  When you allow your work life to consume you, stress will consume you too. In turn, you'll become less efficient and effective at your job

Relieve Work Stress with Quality Family Time
Make sure you spend time with your friends, family, or even your co-workers outside of work.  We often allow our home to become an office away from the office. That's no good! Make sure you have a support network of friends and family members who will remind you that there are plenty of things to do that aren't related to your work in any way. 

​It's also helpful to have this support network so that when you are stressed out, you'll have someone to turn to. Oftentimes a support system helps keep us grounded when we would otherwise be tightly wound with work-related stress.

It's true that stress is a part of life, but that doesn't mean it needs to consume us. Stress will come and go, but coping is something that needs to be ongoing so you can live a great life inside and outside of your professional life.