Five Great Ways To Fight Workload Stress

Work stresses tend most often to come from workload problems, from feeling insecure or ill-equipped, from work politics, or from inadequate delegation. The first stage in laying such demons to rest is to step back and gain some perspective on the issues, in the context of life as a whole, and then start working on practical solutions to the problems – taking them one at a time.

Short time measures will get you out of the crises, but they need to be followed by a longer term review to address the underlying causes of the stress and to make lasting changes.

Following this five-point plan will help you feel that you have taken charge of your life. It will assist in bolstering feelings of self-mastery and self-worth, and these in themselves will help to reduce stress.

• Set your realistic targets, in both the short and the long term. Do not feel that you have to achieve all these targets to retain self esteem. Congratulate yourself on your successes. Do not flagellate yourself for your failures.

• Create within your schedule time for review and reflection - if possible, have review sessions away from the place where schedule pressures are most acute. Do not get bogged down in detail when what is needed is a fresh look at how things are done.

• Make your health your priority. The body requires adequate sleep and nutrition to function effectively. Cultivate methods that encourage quality sleep: a hot bath, a milky drink. Never overlook the fact that physical exercise, as well as family and social life, is vital for emotional and physical well being.

• Relaxation is essential. The conditioned fight-or-flight response can act as an obstacle to reducing stress, because the idea of relaxation appears threatening. But you are not letting your guard down by opting to relax, instead, relaxation is the key to regaining calm.

• Monitor your use of time and ensure that you are getting the balance right between work and play. Do not neglect holidays or regular leisure commitments.