Both the stress we take with us when we go to work and the stress that awaits us on the job can sometime create a never ending battle in our heads! While some stress is a normal part of life, excessive stress interferes with your productivity and reduces your physical and emotional health, so it’s important to find ways to keep it under control. Fortunately, there are a few little tips we can offer that will help you to manage and reduce your stress at work:
- Get moving
Aerobic exercise – perspiring – is an effective anti-anxiety treatment lifting mood, increasing energy, sharpening focus and relaxing mind and body. For maximum stress relief, try to get at least 30 minutes of heart pounding activity on most days. Finding your 30 might come easier with the help of this website – www.your30.qld.gov.au
- Make food choices that keep you going and make you feel good
Eating small but frequent meals throughout the day maintains an even level of blood sugar in your body. Low blood sugar makes you feel anxious and irritable. On the other hand, eating too much can make you lethargic.
- Drink alcohol in moderation and avoid nicotine
Alcohol temporarily reduces anxiety and worry, but too much can cause anxiety as it wears off. Drinking to relieve job stress can also start you on a path to alcohol abuse and dependence. Similarly, smoking when you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed may seem calming, but nicotine is a powerful stimulant – leading to higher, not lower, levels of anxiety.
- Get enough sleep
Stress and worry can cause insomnia. But lack of sleep also leaves you vulnerable to stress. When you’re sleep deprived, your ability to handle stress is compromised. When you’re well-rested, it’s much easier to keep your emotional balance, a key factor in coping with job and workplace stress.
Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., Laura Horwitz, Ellen Jaffe-Gill, M.A., Melinda Smith, M.A., and Robert Segal, M.A., contributed to this article