Let’s Talk About Stress Management

According to a European agency for the study of safety and quality of working conditions, every third person working is affected by stress, regardless of the professional field, the nature of the work, or the hierarchical level.

Work-related stress is the second leading cause of health problems in Europe. 50% of absenteeism is related to this cause, and the company's losses amount to billions of euros annually.

According to US research, 40% of the US working population considers work to be "very or extremely stressful", and 25% of them consider it the most stressful factor in life.

The most common cause of stress at work is overload, lack of control over the situation, and lack of safety. Stress due to work can have consequences: depression, anxiety, nervousness, fatigue, heart disease, and ultimately leads to a critical condition from a professional and personal point of view.

Mental states such as apathy, negativity, embarrassment, boredom, dissatisfaction, fatigue, alienation, anger, or irritability, as well as physiological problems such as headaches and stomach pains, are the most common symptoms of stress.

Although stress prevention must be done at the organizational level, it is important that everyone learns to manage stress in order to ensure their long-term professional success and to maintain their physical and mental health.

1. Change your perspective. If the employer is asking too much of you, try to understand where the problem is: how you organize yourself, or how that department works. A career counselor can help you look at the current situation from a different perspective and make an action plan.

2. Learn to end the situation. If you feel tension or stress increase, take a break. Five minutes outside the workspace, away from the routine of work, contributes to a significant reduction in stress.

3. Appreciate your personal life. Thanks to mobile phones and the internet we are available to everyone at any time. Do not allow the boundaries between work and personal time to disappear. Respect the time you set aside to dedicate to your family or yourself. It is important to leave work at the office, even when your office is a room in your own home.

4. Fight the chaos. Find time to organize where you work, sort out tasks, make a list, and tick what you've reserved. Feeling we have 'Run out of gas' emotionally and lose control of our situation is stressful.

5. Share with others. The best way to reduce stress is to share your feelings with someone close to you. The existence of support, a person to listen to you, helps to relax and reduce stress.

6. Make sure you have help. Just the thought of having a colleague to help you in overcrowded situations will lessen the tension. Remember that you are at the disposal of that person in a similar situation.

7. Look at the situation with humor. When you or the people around you start taking things too seriously, find a way to reduce the tension by laughing. Share a joke or tell a joke to others. Laughter is an excellent therapy against occupational stress.

8. Be realistic in your expectations. Expectations that are far too high and unrealistic about what you might accomplish in a day, week, or month will cause you negative feelings. High-stress levels affect motivation and negatively influence professional results.

9. No one is perfect. If you are the kind of person who is concerned with the idea of ​​constantly checking every detail, even though everything is "as it should be", give up this harmful behavior. Try to do your job as best you can, but give up the idea of ​​perfection. No one is omnipotent. Don't live your failures dramatically, look positive and learn from your mistakes.

10. Maintain a positive spirit, avoid people with a negative spirit because they can "contaminate" you with their moods. Negativism destroys energy and motivation, so avoid this attitude as much as possible. Create a positive atmosphere around the people you interact with and the environment in which you work. Learn to rejoice in your accomplishments even when no one else is.