How to Stop Work Stress Causing Mayhem on Your Health?

It's no secret that stress is a big part of today's work environments. People are more stressed-out than ever before and much of that stress is attributed to their professions. High expectations and countless responsibilities take their toll on employees, which is why they tend to find themselves under a lot of pressure.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed by the employees themselves, either. Instead of working themselves to death, they’re looking for ways to mitigate the stress that they feel from their work environments. Below are some of the ways that they manage to deal with stress.

1. Get some proper shut-eye

People often let their professional lives supersede their own health. Nowhere is this more apparent than with sleeping patterns. If you’ve ever had an important deadline looming over your head, you probably had to skip out on sleep for the night. Even with bags under our eyes, we’ll often disregard our body’s need for snoozing for the greater good of our job. It’s seemingly become a normal part of the lives of dedicated professionals and students alike.

However, this might be even unhealthier than was previously thought. Sleep is a very important function for the rest and relaxation of our bodies. Since our bodies and our minds are intertwined, it’s likely that lack of sleep will significantly interfere with how we feel throughout the day. You can notice this any time you’re particularly tired because of a restless night. You aren’t exactly thrilled to get to work, nor do you want to interact with people. Plus, you feel stressed out from not sleeping enough the night before.

Compensating with additional hours per night on the weekend doesn't work. Sleep isn't like a battery that you charge whenever it's convenient. You need to get a certain number of hours of beauty sleep every night to be ready for the next day. Eight hours is an often-repeated number, but it would be more accurate to say somewhere between seven and a half and nine hours. More importantly, your sleep schedule needs to be consistent. You can't sleep five hours one day and then ten on another. Your body likes having a rhythm and keeping up with this rhythm will keep you feeling relaxed and well-rested.

2. Balance your personal and professional life

In today’s hectic work environments, it’s not uncommon for people to dedicate much of their time to their professions. Some people will work to bring their projects and their work to a near-perfect level just to prove to themselves that they can. Others are pressured by economic factors and trying to provide for their families as much as possible. Either way, there’s a rising trend in more work being done, despite jobs becoming easier due to automation and technological assistance.

This can interfere with people's work-life balance by quite a bit. If you aren't able to get work done by the time you want to relax and do your own thing, continuing from home or staying longer isn't the most ideal solution. People that have a bad work-life balance often find themselves feeling burned out after a very short time. This affects the quality of work and causes them to work even longer hours just to achieve the same results.

Worse yet, mounting stress also affects your health. Constantly being connected to work and answering emails prevents any kind of meaningful rest. Rest is an integral part of being healthy and productive at work, which means this causes negative consequences all around. Without a good work-life balance, you might find yourself in a very bad mental and physical state.

3. Find more security in your work

Employees cite job security as one of the most important parts of their current employment. It’s something that is essential for a proper mentality at work. If you expect to be fired at any given moment, the situation doesn’t motivate you to be as productive and satisfied as you could be. With the current economic climate, suddenly losing your job is not such an unfounded fear.

It’s pretty much implied that the employer doesn’t owe you anything. This often leaves employees feeling like they have no job security whatsoever. Worse yet, employees are expected to hop from job to job to see any kind of progress. It has become part and parcel of building one’s resume. This is a very unhealthy way to look at job security. Not only are employees at the mercy of their employers, but they’re also expected to voluntarily leave their job once a slightly better opportunity presents itself.

Finding any kind of routine or security in this kind of environment seems nearly impossible. This leaves you stressing about what the next day will bring, making it hard to focus and relax. Finding a stable job that provides proper benefits is not an easy task. High-turnover positions are often attractive options that pay the rent, but they might be plagued with the issues previously mentioned. If possible, try to aim for positions that aren’t easily replaceable while also having proper pay. This will give you a breather as you focus on your work and personal life, without having to worry about job security all the time.

4. Destress your body

When you think about it, we spend most of our time doing things that build on our stress and cause anxiety. This is especially true while we’re at work. It’s an especially competitive and stressful environment that people are constantly exposed to. It might be important for one’s professional advancement, but there’s definitely such a thing as too much stress. This excess of stress causes an imbalance in our minds and bodies, which is why we need to compensate for some relaxing activities.

Constantly being stressed out causes an increase in the production of cortisol, the stress hormone. It acts as an immuno-suppressant, weakening our immune system. When you're constantly under a lot of pressure and stress, you're much more likely to get sick very often. Not to mention, it also slows down the healing process.

Your body requires an occasional break from this kind of stress to remain healthy. Participating in some healthy activities that relax your body and keep your thoughts clear would go a long way towards helping reduce this stress. Meditation is one such activity that a lot of professionals have taken a liking to. It might not seem like a particularly interesting activity, but meditation comes with some health benefits for your body and mind. It's one way to destress from time to time, and you don't need anything but your mind and some peace and quiet to meditate.

5. Aim for full time, consistent employment

While being at work too long might be one of the many causes of stress in the workplace, the opposite rings true as well. Many employees find themselves working fewer hours than they're supposed to, which has some very negative consequences. Working part-time in a professional setting has numerous drawbacks.

Employees that don’t work full time don’t get any of the mandated benefits that come with their profession. This is why many employers simply refuse to give full hours to employees, as it costs them a lot more in terms of benefits and insurance. Not only does this devalue the work of these employees, but it also creates a very stressful schedule for them as well.

Part-time employment often brings with itself hectic schedules which are hard to manage. Employees find it difficult to adapt to a second job or their own day-to-day activities. Not to mention, many employers will also demand employees work overtime long into the night without pay. This is a recipe for stressful and unfulfilling work. If possible, avoid part-time employment and managers that refuse to pay you overtime for work that you've done.

6. Get physically active

Mental and physical stress are two halves of the same coin and you need to treat them as such. It’s absolutely essential that you find balance in both aspects of your life to prevent negative consequences. For many employed individuals, work is one aspect of life where both physical and mental stress accumulate. When you’re sitting at your desk for eight hours per day, it can take its toll on your body. Back and neck issues can only cause you further stress, making it even harder to focus on the work at hand. To keep this from happening, you need to balance it out with some physical activity.

Exercising has long been known as a great way to destress. This is why a lot of people choose to go to the gym after their workday has ended. The type of exercise you choose to partake in is very important. Some types of exercise are more engaging than others. You could hit the gym a couple of times per week, but it might not provide you with the ideal exercise experience. Why not shave some time off of your commute while also getting a little bit of fresh air?

Cycling is considered one of the healthiest physical activities you can partake in. Not only do you get a good cardio workout out of it, but you also spare your joints from taking any damage like you would with running. Riding a bike is simple, cheap, and great for de-stressing. There’s nothing quite as relaxing as clearing your head while riding with the wind in your hair.

All you need to start cycling is a bike to ride. Finding one shouldn’t be too difficult. You could find your preferred bike type on any online bicycle shop and get it in the color you want to boot. If you plan on going long distances on your bike, you might need some safety gear to go along with it. A helmet and knee pads are the most often recommended kind of safety gear. As long as you have those, you should be safe from any major injuries while on your commute.

7. Improve your diet

After a long day at work, there are very few things that can rejuvenate you quite like a nice home-cooked meal. For many, this isn’t something that they can feasibly organise after work. The problem is that long hours and a stressful line of work don’t translate well when you come home. Instead of cooking yourself a meal, you’re more likely to want to have a nice rest and relax with some light entertainment. At best, you might order food or make yourself some snacks.

These aren’t exactly the healthiest options out there. Diets are linked to how we feel and improving them is the best way to also improve our state of mind. A stressful work environment normally fosters bad eating habits, but this doesn’t have to be the case. There are home-cooked meals that don’t take a lot of effort to make. These can act as a stepping stone to some more complex meals. Moving on from unhealthy food and snacks can help you better get rid of stress and obtain the nutrients that your body needs.

Conclusion

Work stress can affect your life in many ways. Not only does it affect your mental health, but it can also influence your physical health as well. It's important that you take some necessary steps to prevent it from causing further damage. Whether you do it by improving your current employment situation or easing your day-to-day activities, you’re sure to see positive results.