Stress is one of the most popular disorders of our century. It is not a disease but if you do not manage stress properly and in time, it can be the secret cause for many health problems.

This article talks about the major causes of stress in our work environment and gives 21 ways on how to manage stress at work but also in our everyday life.

Some facts about the consequences of stress at work:

More than 40 million people in the European Union (EU), or nearly one in three European workers say they feel stress in the workplace.

The stress at work is the second in frequency problem (after back pain), affecting 28% of workers in the EU

According to an official European survey conducted some years ago, stress is the cause of the loss of millions of working days each year (more than 1 / 4 absences of at least 2 weeks for health reasons from work), thus costing Member States at least 20 billion annually.

What is stress and what are the major causes of stress at work?

As already stated above: stress is not a disease.

Stress occurs when the pressure and demands of work are in a constant and intense degree and beyond the ability we can handle and deal with the situation.

What are the major causes of stress at work?

The work under very tight conditions

The uncertainty about the tasks

Low or lack of control of labour

Excessive demands

Poor management of change

Poor planning

Psychological abuse like a threat to use violence

Verbal abuse from customers

Bullying from colleagues

Physical Distractions in the area of work e.g. noise, poor ventilation, etc.

The above causes of stress also create the following symptoms: mental and physical health problems such as depression, anxiety, nervousness, weakness of focusing on a topic for a long time, fatigue and heart disease.

If any of the symptoms above is familiar to you, then it is an indication that something is not working for you as it should have. You need to find a different way to handle everyday activities and stress in the area of your work but also in your life in general.

12 Tips to help you efficiently manage stress at work:

1.Plan your activities

What, why, how, when, and who will do the job. It is important to schedule obligations and your actions both long-term (weeks or months before), and on a daily basis.

2.Organize your time efficiently on a daily basis.

Make a list of issues for the next day.

Give priority to the most important or the most pressing issues.

At the end of each day check what completed.

Try to be flexible in your planning and program.

Make changes where needed, when needed

See also 9 Ways to Manage Your Time at Work and 16 Tips for Better Time Management

3.Refer to your records.

Certainly in the past you have faced problems and difficulties at work. Try to remember what you did to overcome the difficult moments. It may be something that you find it useful now.

4.Contribute to the creation of ” a good” climate in your work environment

Be open for discussions and have a good communication with others.

5.Make sure that your understand your tasks and responsibilities.

6.Do not hesitate to ask

Ask a question when you need more clarifications for a task you have to complete.

7.Make regular breaks

Break a few minutes in the middle of the day. Relax, and do NOTHING for a few minutes. Take a deep breathing.

8.Promote team spirit between the members of your team

9.Each Person is different

Keep in mind individual differences, for example some people perform better under pressure, others need more time to organise their work.

10.Be updated for changes in the work environment

Be updated and inform the team with changes in the structure of the company. In this way you limit any concerns and insecurities among the team.

11.Delegation

Delegate responsibility when necessary, and check the result.

12.Working Conditions

Provide good working conditions. Minimize natural distractions (noise, ventilation, lighting, temperature, etc.)

Remember that anyone in any area, any company in any position is not unaffected by stress!

Besides stress at work and techniques on how to overcome and manage stress at our work environment, our everyday life and activities generate stress for a number of reasons.

The list below gives you 9 tips and techniques on how to manage stress in your life:

13.Massage

Massage is excellent for relaxation and the alleviation of tension.

Massage has proved that improves the quality of sleep. This contributes to less fatigue during the day while allegedly gives the person a sense of completion. Research has showed that people who take massage can appreciate the importance of meditation and the importance of ‘cleaning’ our minds from negative thoughts.

14.Exercise

The exercise is vital to combat stress, as it mobilises the muscles, blood flows faster and opens the lungs for us to take more oxygen. It is necessary to have an active lifestyle to avoid excess weight and to enjoy the benefits of exercise, such as better sleep and better health. See also Benefits of Exercise

The explosion of energy that we experience after a good work out is not a coincidence, our body produces more hormones that make us feel happy.

15.Hobbies

When someone feels irritation, a good way to remove stress is to find a hobby. Better are the hobbies that include social activity as they contribute to a healthy social lifestyle. Participation in a charitable organization, for example, gives a positive perspective in your life, because of the sense of integration accompanying the action.

But any relaxing hobby has beneficial properties including removing from your mind what causes stress.

16.Hydration

While one could assume that what removes stress is a glass of wine or whiskey, in reality what can remove stress is actually a glass of water. Surely one or two glasses of wine help us relax but research suggests that as soon as the influence from alcohol is weaken stress is likely to wake up in middle of the night.

Moreover the consumption of water helps our body from dehydrating because dehydration causes fatigue which in turn hampers the management of stress situations.

17.Meditation

Doctors say that the most powerful tool for treating stress is meditation. Specifically meditation clears the mind and helps us to concentrate better. It has been proven that fifteen minutes meditation can rest our body and mind as if we had an hour of sleep. Even the start of the day with two minutes meditation can be beneficial. Sit with your spine vertical and simply stop thinking. It may help you focus on a single word. The meditation helps one to forget thoughts and concerns contributing to stress.

18.Balanced Diet

When someone is stressed, it is a natural reaction to look for junk food. But carbohydrates located predominantly in snacks also increase insulin which can make your body tired leaving you with a feeling of exhaustion or a bad mood.

Having a balanced diet and regular meals is a good way to fight stress and balanced the levels of sugar in the body. If you spend 4-5 hours without a meal it is very likely to turn to the junk food.

19.Sex

Sex is a good cure for almost everything. Sex can also assist in the removal of stress. Doctors say it is a fantastic way to unlock anger or bad energy and stress. If accompanied by a relationship of love then it will be more beneficial, as it gives the feeling of satisfaction and completeness.

20.Sleep

When someone feels tired, it is not easy to deal with stress situations. Not having a good sleep is affecting every aspect of our day and can make any problem seem worse than it really is. If you have trouble sleeping, it may be directly related with stress. Try to get a power nap during the day in conjunction with exercise and healthy eating.

21.Get professional treatment

A visit to a psychologist or psychiatrist can help someone identify the problems that create stress. The therapy sessions are also beneficial because it will allow you to express any negative thinking. A specialist can give advice for relaxation and stress freethinking as well as a positive guidance to address problems.

Remember everyone is affected by stress in one-way or another. Managing stress is not as difficult as it sounds. It is a matter of how we think for different situations we are engaged and also it is a matter of following some simple tips and techniques on how to manage stress.

Feel free to add to the list above your own comments, tips and techniques of managing stress at work and everyday life.