You open your eyes in the morning and you’re already thinking about it. You choke down breakfast despite the knots in your stomach. You go through your morning routine in an anxious haze, dreading another stressful day at work.
The mental toll of a nerve-racking job doesn’t stop at the office walls. It impacts your entire life, disrupts your sleep and compromises your relationships with friends and family.
With all these collateral problems, it’s important to diminish the impact of stress. But how? How can you prepare for a tense work environment, so it doesn’t hurt your overall mental state?
Here are five steps you can take to prepare for another stressful day at work:
Exercise Before Work
Working out is a good stress reliever. Why not employ it preemptively?
Even if it’s just a brisk walk or a short yoga routine, getting the blood pumping in the morning can send you to work more relaxed. This leaves you better able to absorb the day’s stresses when they come.
Plan Out Stress-Relief Techniques
You plan your schedule. You plan your social life. Go the extra step and plan your stress prevention.
Block off parts of the day to decompress. Set aside 15 minutes for a walk, or 10 minutes after lunch to play something mindless on your phone. Meanwhile, identify the tension-inducing parts of your day and plot a way to counteract them.
Schedule “No Device” Time at Home
The modern schedule has a way of festering stress. We never unplug from the workplace, forcing ourselves to feel at least low-grade tension all the time.
Prevent this by unplugging during at least part of your off hours. Schedule some section of your day when you can concentrate completely on non-work priorities. This way, when you head back to the office, you’ve had some time to relax and decompress.
Lean on Your Support System
Don’t face stress alone. You have a collection of family and friends to talk you through the situation. Use them as a springboard for ideas, or just blow off steam over a few drinks. Just the act of sharing can disrupt the stress cycles that lead to long-term issues.
Be careful, though. Don’t vent on social media. You might feel better in the moment, but you could stoke all sorts of new problems. Also, be wary about complaining to co-workers. Before unleashing a tirade, think about your audience and make wise decisions.
Look at the Big Picture
Life isn’t all about work. In the moment, all the little wins and losses on the corporate scoreboard feel important … but you might not remember any of the details five years from now.
Keep the long view in mind. Things like family and hobbies are there to bring you joy. And your career is more about sustaining a marathon pace … don’t burn out sweating the small stuff.
Stress becomes easier to deal with when you truly love your job. When you get more out of a position than you put in, the effort and mental toll become worth it. Partnering with a strong recruiting partner, like Qualified Staffing, can help get you into these ideal positions.
Contact Qualified Staffing today to learn more.