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Question: How to handle stress at work?

Answer: When you experience stress, you should try to remain calm. This is because, when you are calm you will able to find the cause of the problem and also to find alternative solutions. In some cases, talk to someone to express the feeling can help to alleviate stress incurred.

Stress should be treated properly as persistent stress and not controlled will lead to a detrimental effect in terms of health and work performance.

We should learn to control stress caused by work. There are a variety of ways or tips that can be practiced to help reduce stress in the workplace. There are some tips that can be practiced to minimize stress in the workplace:

Tip1: Identify signs and symptoms of stress in the workplace.

This is the most important and many of us have overlooked about it.

Realize when you’re stressed, recognize your particular stress response, and become familiar with sensual cues that can rapidly calm and energize you. If signs of stress are ignored, it will result the worse effects on physical health, emotional and so interfere with job performance and outcome.

When we think too much about work, it can cause us to become irritable and avoiding people and cause us to be less confident in the ability of self. This will eventually lead us to less productivity in work and makes us feel less satisfied with the work.

Tip 2: Reduce stress in a healthy way

a. Exercise
Do exercise at least 30 minutes a day to get the maximum effect for relieving stress. Exercise is an effective way to restore mood, increase energy and relax the body and mind.

b. Choosing to eat right
Low blood sugar can cause an individual to become anxious and irritable. However, overeating is also not good because it can cause people to feel tired. Eat the right amount in moderation will help maintain the level of sugar in the blood and can avoid these swings in mood.

c. Avoid alcohol or nicotine as a method to relief stress
Drinking to relieve job stress may also eventually lead to alcohol abuse and dependence. Smoking when you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed also does not help because nicotine is a powerful stimulant that causes anxiety worse.

d. Get enough sleep
Not only stress and worry can cause insomnia, but a lack of sleep can leave you vulnerable to even more stress. When we are adequately rested, it’s much easier to keep your emotional balance, a key factor in coping with job and workplace stress.

Tip 3: Reduce job stress by prioritizing and organizing

We should learn to choose priorities in the work to avoid the stress that we feel be due to too much work.

There are some suggestions for reducing job stress by prioritizing and organizing your responsibilities:

- Create a balanced schedule.
- Prioritize tasks and do checklist.
- Break projects into small steps therefore easy to manage.
- Delegate responsibility to others.
- Be willing to compromise and negotiable.
- Don’t over-commit yourself and know your limits.
- Try to leave earlier in the morning therefore no need to be rushes.
- Plan regular breaks or vacation.

Tip 4: Reduce stress by improving communication

As a manager, we should try to maintain a minimum stress environment to maintain productivity. Communication is a basic skill that is particularly important in an organization. There are some tips to improve communication at the workplace:

- Make communication friendly and efficient.
- Provide opportunities for social interaction among employees.
- Share information with employees to reduce uncertainty about their jobs and futures because this can help to reduce the miscommunication.
- Discuss with employees about scheduling and work rules. This can minimize miscommunication.
- Give workers opportunities to participate in decisions that affect their jobs and they will feel like they are part of the team.
- Recognize and effectively use the nonverbal cues such as eye contact, facial expression, voice tone, posture, gesture and touch. In many cases, what we say is less important than how we express it through nonverbal signals.

Tip 5: Appreciation and support

Appreciation and support of employers, directly or indirectly, can helps to increase productivity. This can be done by:

- Show that individual workers are valued and make them feel appreciated.
- Offer rewards and incentives to encourage them to be more productive.
- Praise good work performance, both verbally and officially, through schemes such as Employee of the Month.
- Provide opportunities and support for career development.
- Developing friendships and support with some of your co-workers can help buffer you from the negative effects of stress.

Tip 6: Talking Therapy

Ventilation or sharing your thoughts and feelings with someone you trust can help reduce stress. Talking over a problem with someone who is both supportive and empathetic can be a great way to let off steam and relieve stress.

Tip 7: Take time out

There were times when stress can escalate at work. When this happens we should:

- Try to take a quick break and move away from the stressful situation.
- Take a little time to breathe the air outside the workplace.
- Spend a few minutes meditating in the break room.
- Physical movement or stretching can quickly reduce muscle tension and stress.
- Talk it over with someone to ventilate and to relief the pressure.

Tip 8: Practice appropriate therapies regularly.

Examples of other therapies that can be chosen are:

- Breathing exercise
- Music Therapy
- Aroma Therapy
- Massage Therapy
- Hydro Therapy e.g. swimming
- Colour Therapy
- Spiritual Therapy
- Therapy Sauna/ steam

(Source: Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia , 02 Dec 2020)

Source Link: http://www.myhealth.gov.my/en/stress-at-work/