Supports in periods of increased tension and stress · It acts as an adaptogen, increasing the body's resistance to stress · Reduces ...

1. How to Reduce Stress at Work?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has referred to stress as “the 21st
Century epidemic”. About 33% of adults in the United States have reported
feeling extreme stress and more than 70% stated that this affects them in both
their physical and mental health. Let’s explore how to reduce stress at work.
According to The American Institute of Stress, the job, as well as issues
related to the work environment, are the main causes of stress.
Stress is the body’s physical, mental and emotional reaction to adapt and
respond to changes, whether they are positive or negative. People can
experience stress from what happens day by day in their environment, in their
bodies or even in their thoughts.
This reaction is generated by the autonomic nervous system of the human
body, resulting in psychological changes that allow the person to be attentive,
motivated and avoid danger. Known as “fight-or-flight”, this mechanism is an
emergency physiological response that has the purpose of preparing the body
for physical action (fight) or run away (flight).
However, when a person is constantly facing challenges without rest or the
possibility of relaxing, this can turn negative, generating excessive tension.
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2. Physical and mental consequences
Prolonged activation of the stress response can affect the body in both its
physical and mental health. When it slips out of balance, it can turn into
chronic anxiety and, in the worst case, lead to suicidal thoughts.
Anxiety is a normal emotion that can appear from time to time when facing a
problem, a test, or before having to make an important decision. When the

3. stress level is high, anxiety disorders may appear, which are included in the
group of mental illnesses. They prevent the person from leading a normal life.
Anxiety disorders can be manifested as panic attacks when you feel you are
about to die; social phobia, when you feel overwhelmed by everyday social
situations; other phobias, and generalized anxiety disorder, when the person
has exaggerated worry and tension for no apparent reason.
In addition to the mental effects, the activation of the fight-or-flight mode
involves chemical changes in the body, which can alter the person’s
metabolism. This can cause long-term effects, leading to diseases like
diabetes or high blood pressure. Chronic stress can also cause other
problems such as arthritis and inflammatory diseases.
The WHO has warned of the high levels of concern and unhappiness in
today’s world that are causing an epidemic of stress. Stress has become part
of people’s daily lives, affecting productivity and causing health problems,
which at first may remain silent, but then they get worse.
Signs of stress
If you feel anxiety, fear, sadness, frustration or anger, you could be suffering
from stress, which could also be worsened by physical symptoms. In addition
to emotional changes, stress can manifest itself through changes in your
behavior and body.
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4. When you’re stressed, you behave differently, such as being withdrawn,
uncompromising, aggressive, or more angry than normal. You can experience
sleeping problems, you can be irritable or tearful, and even see your sexual
habits affected. Some people start smoking, consume more alcohol and even
drugs. Stress can also affect the way you interact with your family and friends.
The body also suffers from symptoms such as headaches, nausea, and
indigestion. You can increase the respiratory rate, perspire more than normal,
feel palpitations or different types of aches and pains. If the stress motive
wears off, you will return to normal quickly with no side effects, but if it
persists, you could start having long-term effects.
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5. Stages of stress
If you are suffering from stress, you may be able to identify five stages:
1. Alarm: At this stage, the body prepares itself in the best possible way to
deal with the stress you are going through. You can have wake-up calls like
being about to have an accident or starting to forget tasks or deadlines.
2. Resistance: Here, the body tries to return to its normal state, responding to
some changes that occur in the alarm stage, such as inflammation.
Anti-inflammatory hormones are released to relieve it, but they are usually
temporary responses that do not solve the underlying problem.
3. Recovery: If the cause of stress disappears or you are able to temporarily
pull away from it, your body will begin to recover, returning your systems to
normal levels and starting the stress resilience.
4. Adaptation: If you do not act in time to recover, either by moving away to
rest or solving the problem that is causing you stress, you will enter the
adaptation stage, which involves accepting it as part of your daily life. Stress
becomes chronic and takes control of your health, generating, for example,
sleep problems, lack of energy, changes in your eating habits or difficulty in
dealing with your emotions.
5. Exhaustion: With chronic stress, the body begins to get sick, nutrients are
depleted, and you may require hospitalization, psychiatric assistance, or
dealing with symptoms of depression.

6. Burnout
When you reach the exhaustion stage, it occurs what is commonly called
burnout. You feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained and unable to respond to
any demand. It can lead you to lose interest and motivation, reduce
productivity, and increase feelings like hopelessness, resentment, despair,
and the feeling that you have nothing else to give.

7. Burnout can have very negative effects in all areas of your life, including your
home, social life, health, and work. At work it might even cost your position,
lead to being fired, or if you feel that the energy is low and you have nothing
else to give of yourself, it can lead you to quit.
Stress management strategies
To deal with stress, several techniques and strategies may be related to action
(do something to change the situation), emotions (change your perception
over a stressful situation) and acceptance (used when dealing with situations
that you cannot control).
The following strategies summarizes everything that will help you to deal with
stressful situations:
1. Be assertive: You need to communicate clearly what you want, what you
need and explain what is bothering you. If you do it with empathy and respect
but firmly, you will be proactive and start altering what is stressing you.
2. Reduce noise: Slow down by switching off technology, screen time and
stimuli. Try to have quiet moments every day to distinguish the urgent and the
important things. You need time to recharge to avoid stress.
3. Manage your time: Organize your tasks so you are not covered and busy
the whole day. Create a routine that includes enjoying.
4. Creating boundaries: Set rules and establish time for yourself and the
others. Prioritize and do not let the other’s needs be over yours. This will help
to take control and respect yourself.
5. Stop thinking: Avoid doing too much analysis. Distract yourself and relax
your mind.

8. To success with these strategies, you can implement techniques such as
keeping a positive attitude, accepting situations that you cannot change,
practice relaxation techniques like meditation or yoga, do exercise, make time
for hobbies and interests, sleep and have a rest, avoid the use of alcohol or
drugs, take time with your friends and family, look for professional assistance
like a psychologist or a mental health doctors.
How to Reduce Stress at Work
There are several studies that show that work is by far the biggest cause of
stress among American adults and that this has grown a lot in recent
decades. Research published by The American Institute of Stress reveals that
46% of the causes of stress come from work overload,

9. 20% from juggling personal and work life, 6% from lack of job security, and the
remaining 28% comes from other factors such as personal life.
Work-related stress appears as a response to demands and pressures that do
not fit with the employee’s abilities or knowledge, challenging their ability to
respond appropriately. Although it occurs in various situations, it is worse
when they feel a lack of support from their supervisors and colleagues, and
when they feel that they have no control over how to deal with demands or
pressures.
The causes of work stress can be divided into two groups:

10. Work content: It has to do with work itself, and factors such as monotony, low
stimuli or the assignment of insignificant tasks. It also includes the workload,
which may be too much to accomplish in a given time. This is also influenced
by a non-flexible schedule, bad shift design or unpredictability. Lack of control
over work processes, pace, methods and the work environment can also
generate stress.
Work context: It is about career development, status, salary, job insecurity,
lack of promotion opportunities, unclear performance evaluation systems, or
being over or under-skilled for a position in the organization. It also includes
interpersonal relationships, when they are inappropriate or the employee does
not have support, a bad relationship with colleagues, violence or workplace
harassment. Organizational culture, communication, and poor leadership also
appear in this group.
How employees can deal with stress at work
Some symptoms that will tell if you are going through anxiety at workplace are
physical and include pains, head and stomach aches, fatigue, eating and
sleeping disorders. Other signs are cognitive and include for example, a
difficulty to concentrate or make decisions, think or remember things. Finally,
you may suffer from emotional symptoms such as feeling sad, tense or angry.
If you have detected some of the mentioned signs you may be suffering from
work stress. Luckily, there are techniques and actions you can take to reduce
it. The American Psychological Association proposes some:
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11. Track your stressors: Keep a diary where you can identify what situations
causing you stress, what you feel and how you react to them. This can help
you find patterns in the causes and your reactions.
Develop healthy responses: Try to make healthy choices when you feel the
tension grows. Some options are physical activity, time to hobbies, reading,
going to concerts or playing with your family. Achieving good sleep quality
also helps manage stress; try to limit caffeine and minimize stimulating
activities at night.
Establish boundaries: Set schedules to carry out work tasks at home, such
as limiting time for emails or moments to answer the phone.
Time to disconnect: To avoid burnout, it is important that you take rest and
relaxation times to return to your pre-stress functioning levels.

12. Relax: Apply relaxation techniques, such as meditation, deep breathing or
mindfulness.
Talk to your supervisor: If your health is good, you will improve productivity
and therefore the company you work for will benefit from promoting a healthy
work environment. Try to have an open conversation with your supervisor to
find a plan that allows you to manage the stressors that you have identified in
your work and improve your performance. Detail those resources that you
require, what is expected from you and what you need to change to make the
space more comfortable.
Get support: Accept your friends and family support. Your employer may
have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or information to help you too.
If you continue to feel overwhelmed by work stress, consider talking to a
psychologist.

13. Are your best employees leaving?
Employers can often feel that their best employees are continually leaving
them, and that may be related to your organization. HR experts have spotted
some reasons why good employees quit their jobs.
Among them, the lack of confidence and autonomy, lack of appreciation or
recognition, lack of respect, few or no opportunities for growth and
development, feeling underutilized, having a bad manager who discharges
frustrations and resentment over the team, poor
management, poor communication, excessive workload, lack of support, not
finding a balance between work and personal life, lack of inspiration or
unhealthy environment, seeing that the other good employees leave, lack of
coincidence with the values ​
​
of the company, and changes in their personal
life.
Thus, feeling undervalued is among the main reasons for leaving jobs. You
spend many hours at work, sharing time with your colleagues and of course,
you want to feel comfortable. Nobody enjoys spending eight or ten hours a
day in a place that makes them feel unhappy. When you work hard and
nobody notices it, or your ideas are not even considered, frustration and
unhappiness levels increase.
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14. You might feel lost on how to revert this situation without quitting, but some
useful strategies will help you in this task. First, remember to talk to your boss
or supervisor. You must prepare a plan to address the situation, so you have
clear what to say. Never discuss when you are upset, but wait until you are
quiet and think very well what you need to say.
Also, evaluate your efforts and have clear how you give value to the
organization. Ask yourself if you work fast, or you have high standards, or if
you are always ready to provide support. Maybe, you are doing everything
expected but you need more feedback. Sometimes it is just not in the culture
to provide feedback to employees with good results. If that is the case, try to
practice self-validation, or try to look for another position that requires higher
engagement. In the same way, ask yourself if you are complimenting others
and engaging enough with your coworkers.

15. How to Reduce Stress at Work for Employers?
Having understood the causes and consequences, How can employers
reduce stress at the workplace? You can take some actions, starting with
assuming positive leadership and staying calm in stressful situations.
It is important that you consult your employees about what factors can be
stressful at work, and that you talk to them to reduce the uncertainty of their
futures. Listening to them and having face-to-face meetings will make them
feel heard and valued. Give them the opportunity to participate in the
decisions that affect their work, make them feel involved.
You must deal with conflict by respecting the dignity of each employee and
establishing zero tolerance for harassment and violence. Avoid unrealistic
deadlines and make sure the tasks are right for each employee based on their
abilities and resources. Make your expectations clear, define roles,

16. responsibilities, and goals for each other. Above all, make sure that
management’s actions are aligned with the values that you proclaim.
Offering awards and incentives, recognizing achievements and planning
potentially stressful work periods are also actions that help reduce stress, as
well as promote social interaction between employees.
Another key: Motivation
Motivation will make your employees feel more like working and see that their
effort makes sense, both for the company and for their personal and
professional growth. It is your responsibility to create the right space for your
team that makes them feel comfortable and motivated to continue working.
For this, some effective ways to motivate your team are proposing games and
incentives, offering rewards for meeting goals, letting them know that you trust
them and that your level of trust depends on them, their work and attitude.
Employ personal incentives, not just for teams.
Setting weekly short goals is another way to maintain enthusiasm and
motivation, rather than generating long-term objectives that may lead to the
loss of interest. It is also important that you give them a purpose within the
organization and a role in fulfilling that purpose.
Radiate positivity to spread enthusiasm and be transparent with your
employees to avoid surprises, allowing everyone to ask and know what is
happening, as well as give their feedback. Let different team members lead
the meetings; That will make them feel connected and focused.

17. When addressing your team, there are some things that you can always say
to motivate them. The first one is “Thank you”, as a way to show gratitude and
make them feel that each of them is important. Remember to thank them
regularly, or after finishing a big project. It can be very meaningful.
Also, ask for their opinion. You as the boss or manager can rely on your team
opinion and that makes them feel valued. This will not only motivate them, but
also will help to expand your knowledge and perspective.
When someone shares a good idea, remember to recognize it. “That is
great!!” may sound careless to you, but your team members can feel satisfied,
positive and willing to think of more great ideas. It is also contagious and the
rest of the team may feel like participating too. In the same line, you need to
cheer them up and encourage them, filling them with confidence to face
further challenges.
Do not forget to offer help. You want to be a leader more than a boss. Giving
support and providing resources will make them feel that they are not alone
and they do not have to deal with everything on their own. They can trust you.

18. Replace the “we” for the “I” to make them feel that this is a team and everyone
works together. You are the leader and member of the group.
Self-motivation
As a manager, it is very hard to motivate your team if you are not motivated
yourself. But not always the organizations have what programs or incentives
to do it. If you are dealing with this kind of issue, there are some strategies
that you can follow for self-motivation.
First, you need to know that not every day is going to be excellent, or even
good. It is ok to have a bad day and you do not have to be frustrated by that.
Don’t be rude with yourself, but accept your feelings and think that tomorrow
will be better. Try to look for support from your family and friends.
Avoid telling yourself what you cannot do, and all kinds of negative thoughts. If
you are telling yourself bad things, your brain will believe it. Trust yourself.
Also, when you have problems, try to switch the way you look at them.
Always, you can find an opportunity within a problem, but you have to be open
to see it.

19. Don’t spend time criticizing others such as colleagues, politicians or the
context itself. It is better to keep positive and think how you would like to be or
what you wish would happen. Another tip is to get help when you need it. Find
someone who has different skills than you do, so you can address the task in
another way.
Set short deadlines and short term goals, so you can reach the objectives and
feel that you are going on. Finally make your own SWOT analysis. Think on
your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, and try to define
where you are standing now.
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