Stress is a silent killer! Continuous studies have shown that it can promote adverse health conditions which could lead to symptoms like increased blood pressure, chest pain, sleeping problem and even upset the stomach.
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These alone are not all it accounts for as it can also lead to even more dangerous mood disorders like anxiety and depression. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, stress has been deemed as a “hazard of the workplace.
Health care estimates show that the cost of stress in annual health care bills amounts to at $190 billion a year. In addition to this, a joint team of Harvard and Stanford researchers found out that stressful jobs might actually lead to lower life expectancy. This data was gotten from the General Social Survey and the American Community Survey.
The essence of this guide is to provide you with simple but effective ways to reduce stress and progressively overcome it at the workplace.
Form Positive Relationships friendships at work
The process of making friends at work can often be quite difficult. A recent sociology study even shows that people need to spend up to at least 200 hours together before they can consider themselves as being “close friends”. The hours people spend at work is quite sufficient to build strong healthy friends. However, a better way of doing this is to dedicate quality time in team building as this often tends to speed up the bonding process.
As you spend more time with other workers at the office doing something involving team work like playing a game or puzzle, one can organically form string friendship ties. This team-building attitude also helps foster progress in work as you become comfortable working with other fellow co-workers. Other ways one can progressively build strong ties with fellow co-workers is by paying attention to the needs and challenges of co-workers, as empathy is a good way to connect with people especially in very dire times. In addition, instead of burying your head in your smartphone in Ana Instagram or twitter feed during breaks, spend that time at the desk of fellow co-workers, engaging them in fun and healthy conversations.
Also, try as much as possible to encourage vulnerability amongst your selves. This can be done by often sharing something personal with them as this encourages them connect with you on a deeper, more emotional level. This could be an experience from childhood or something meaningful from your past experience. Overtime, these relationships formed at vulnerable moments like this becomes the basis for some of deepest and long-lasting relationships at work.
Indulge as much as often in Physical Activity
Stressful conditions are known to increase the stress hormones in the body such as adrenaline and cortisol. These “fight or flight” hormones hardwired into our brains by evolution are designed to protect us from immediate harm to our body when we find ourselves in threatening situations However in modern age, stress can rarely be ameliorated by a response to flight or fight and as such requires physical activity like physical exercise, acting as a surrogate to help normalize and stabilize the stress hormones and eventually restore order, calmness and relaxation to our body.
So it is best that whenever one feels stressed from work, to go for a brisk walk for fresh air, as this helps reduce tension levels. In addition, try as often as possible to engage in other physical activity like jogging and other forms of exercise in your daily routine, on a regular basis. This can be done either before e or after work or at lunchtime. It is also worthy of mention that regular physical activity has been known to help improve the quality of sleep one gets.
Avoid Caffeine, Alcohol, and Nicotine intake
The consumption of nicotine, caffeine or alcohol containing drinks has been known to increase stress levels according to studies. This is because these stimulants work on the body hormones to increase levels of stress rather than help reduce it. So it is best to avoid or at least reduce the consumption of drinks containing these stimulants.
In addition, alcohol when taken in large quantities acts as a depressant but when taken in smaller quantities, it becomes a stimulant and as such is not an ultimate way to reduce stress progressively. It is often best to take water instead of caffeine containing drinks. Herbal teas and diluted fruit juices are also a good option to consider. These help to keep one hydrated and invariably help the body cope better with stress.
It is also worthy of note to avoid or drastically reduce the intake of refined sugars, as found in many manufactured foods like salad dressings and even bread. These have been known to cause energy crashes and can make one feel irritable and tired. It is best to eat healthy, nutritious balanced diet.
Find Someone to talk to
Talking with someone is also a relatively great way to ease off the burdens of stress. This can be really helpful, especially when one gets to connect with such a person at a deep emotional level. The good thing about talking is that it works to distract stressful thoughts and also eases off the build-up of tensions caused by stress.
In addition, stress has often been known to cloud one’s judgement and prevent one from seeing thing in a clear way. However, talking with a friend, colleague or a trained counsellor can help find ways to the stress and drastically reduce it in the process.
Try to get more sleep
Studies have shown that a lack of sleep is one of the significant causes of stress. However, it can be quite difficult to get sleep during stressful situations as the stressful thoughts keep swirling through our heads, interrupting our sleep in the process and stopping us from relaxing.
This can be effectively check-mated by making the most of your relaxation periods before going to sleep. This also requires that you avoid doing any mentally demanding work several hours prior to your going to bed. This helps the brain calm down sufficiently enough to help make one fall asleep. Also reading an interesting book or listening to calm tranquil music can also help relax the body, so it is ready enough to fall asleep.
Conclusion
Although dealing with stress can be quite tactical and challenging, especially at the workplace, it is quite possible to reduce its impact on the body. Do well to follow these simple but effective ways to overcome workplace stress as they will help you experience breakthroughs in reducing stress drastically. They will also help you bring your health range to a more stable condition.
