Go-to Strategies for Managing Stress in the Workplace
Whether you face a mountain of endless tasks, work too many hours, or deal with some difficult humans; work is stressful.
Should you throw up your hands and go through a (maybe even more stressful) interview process? It might be worth trying to make the best of what you have first.
Unfortunately, you can’t control your work environment. Accept that and try to change the factors you can control. Here are some ways to get organized, fix your mindset, and start feeling happier at work.
1. Work on projects that you enjoy
Your favorite projects might not be a company priority, but you should still carve time to work on them. If you’re looking for a future job that involves data analytics, work data analytics into your week. Now is the time to gain experience.
When you start to sharpen your skills with tasks you enjoy, you’ll think of your days as working towards your future. Otherwise, you’ll feel trapped in a hole of undesirable tasks.
You might not have the luxury of working on your projects during the workday, but as long as you can find a small amount of time to improve your skills, you will find peace in knowing you’re helping yourself move forward.
2. Separate requests from work
Have you ever been deep into a project when someone taps you on the shoulder with a new request? Now your mind is spinning.
“Can’t they respect my time? My focus is ruined. I’m so annoyed that they bothered me. I can’t think about anything else.”
One of the most stressful parts of work is feeling an influx of requests, and the best way to manage the shoulder tapping is to create a process.
Try this:
Create a format for requests and circulate to your team as a process. It could involve them creating a task in your project management system, or completing a request form.
Now that you have a process set up, break your day into sections.
Set time aside to plan your day or week. In this time period, you’ll be reading through requests and prioritizing them.
Set time aside to work through tasks. Now that you have a prioritized list, it’s less overwhelming to complete the work itself. You can give your full attention to completing the tasks.
Set time aside to respond to people. Here, you might be attending meetings or responding to emails. Understanding your tasks requires some back and forth and collaboration.
You don’t have to divide your day into three time blocks, just be sure you are only working on one bullet point at a time. The idea is to stop being available to take requests at all hours of the day.
Bottom line: you should not have to worry about prioritizing and understanding tasks while completing them. And if you are, you are self-sabotaging.
3. Delay and schedule requests
As we just covered — one of the worst things you can do is stop your work to take a new request. You’ll waste time switching tasks, and you’ll probably start building resentment.
The respond and delay tactic is another simple way to stay organized. When someone asks you to do something, immediately respond with, “Great, I’ll put that on my schedule for ___ and get back to you.”
That way they feel acknowledged, but also understand that you have a busy schedule and cannot take the request at the drop of a hat. Furthermore, you now have a list of tasks to complete for the next day/week, so you don’t have to stop and think about where to start.
4. Set reasonable boundaries
Setting boundaries at work prevents excessive expectations. But you do have to be mindful of your job description. For example, an accountant going through a busy season cannot set boundaries in their schedule. Working overtime is simply part of the job.
Choose some deal breakers that seem fair and realistic for your profession. For example:
“I will only work past 5:30 for a high-priority project with a tight deadline.”
“I will push back on unrealistic due dates and express the extra hours they require.”
“If I hit a breaking point; I will offer to reprioritize work, but not take on more.”
“I will respond to emails within 24 hours.”
“If I pick up someone’s slack that is unrelated to my job, I expect to be compensated.”
Let me explain to you the most unfair reality of the workplace:
No one cares if you are working yourself into the ground. But they will get upset if your quality of output decreases.
That means, you cannot use working late as an excuse to produce lower quality work. You cannot use “putting up with difficult people” as an excuse either.
A lot of the time, no one cares that you’re pouring your heart and soul into your projects. In fact, it probably makes them uncomfortable if they aren’t doing the same.
Setting boundaries prevents things from getting out of hand so you can continue producing and focusing on what matters.
5. Reduce external stressors
It’s inevitable — stress in your daily life bleeds into work. Reducing external stressors, like lack of sleep or letting the cleaning and laundry pile up, can help you be more present and focused during work. And the more focused you are during the work day, the faster you’ll complete your tasks.
A general rule of thumb is making sure you set yourself up for the work week on Sunday. That includes prepping meals (or planning to order them), having clean clothes ready to wear, and knocking out all of the errands you can.
While you may be dealing with larger stressors out of your control, the little things can be a game changer! Don’t ignore them.
6. Stop using work as personal validation
Do you feel like you’re always seeking the approval of your boss or peers? Do you feel under-recognized?
Just remember that people are often focused on their own jobs, and they aren’t going to give you a round of applause for every accomplishment.
Assuming you’re achieving your goals, you should expect positive feedback during performance reviews. Any other time? It might not happen.
Consider taking a look at your work-life balance. Are you focusing too much on your job? Are you relying on your job for praise and validation? If that’s the case, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
Remember that you are so much more than your job! You deserve to take some time to develop hobbies and interests.
What happens if nothing changes?
It’s easy! You have done everything in your power to be happier in your job, and it’s not working. You might be dealing with a toxic work environment where your boundaries will never be respected.
You can leave this job with full confidence that it is a terrible fit. And now you have a better idea of what to look for in your next position.
