7 Tips for a Stress-Free Work Day

5/10/2022 | By Marella Gimenez

The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous stress to everyone around the world. If you are one of the few people working in a remote setup, our mental and physical health would be a toll. It gets more stressful at home, and some don’t know how to handle it.

It’s essential to relieving your stress. But how can you manage it during these times? Read more to find out how to avoid a super stressful workday.

Tips for Managing Stress in the Workplace

To get you started in achieving a stress-free workday, here are some tips on how to manage stress in your workplace.

Plan and Stay Organized

Getting less stressed throughout the day always begins with planning and organizing. Planning your day reduces the amount of stress significantly. You can do so by writing the things you need to do the next day on your to-do list before you head to bed.

Planning also means that you have to be organized with your time. Doing so will lessen your chances of always being in a rut in the morning. It will also lessen the clutter in your workplace and mind.

Create a Work-Life Balance

Stress not only can affect your performance at work, but also other aspects of your personal life and health. The first thing you must prioritize is your well-being. Set boundaries for your free time and your work.

If you are on a work-from-home setup, you can create an office space in your home. That space will solely be dedicated to work-related tasks, and once you are in that area, you have to be focused on finishing your tasks.

Set a time for yourself, especially during the weekends. Try doing some relaxing activities, like going for a walk, reading a book, shopping, and other things that can take your mind off work.

Take Time to Breathe and Practice Mindfulness

We mostly feel anxious whenever we see a pile of deliverables, and their deadlines are cramped up on the same day. While we need to finish these in time to prevent getting penalties from your managers, it can be overwhelming on your end.

Whenever you feel overwhelmed and anxious, step back from your workplace in the meantime and take deep breaths. Practicing mindfulness help calm your mind and brings back your productivity. You can also go outside and get a breath of fresh air or even meditate for 10 to 15 minutes.

Get Moving

Similar to the previous point, relieve stress by moving your body around! You may think you don’t have time to do regular exercise, but you can squeeze in a few reps. Do some 30-minute aerobic exercises or simply jog in place during your break time.

Try stretching for a few minutes to prevent chronic exhaustion and keep your blood flowing throughout your body. Walk around outdoors during your break time as it helps boost your creativity.

Get Enough Sleep and Eat Healthily

Going to work with only two to three hours of sleep may seem normal for some, but it’s creating adverse effects on your body. Lack of sleep can lead to loss of focus and other serious problems. Make sure to sleep for seven to eight hours, as this helps improve your overall performance.

Don’t forget to eat nutritious foods. Having low blood sugar in your body can also trigger anxiety and irritability, and having too much of it can make you lethargic or sluggish. Eat small meals frequently to maintain the normal blood sugar and energy level, to keep you stay focused, and also, to avoid mood swings. There are various brain foods to increase your energy throughout the day, such as nuts and fruits.

Ask for Help

The health of an employee affects the company’s productivity. If things get difficult at work, reach out to your colleagues. It’s always a good start to create camaraderie among your co-workers and even your manager or supervisor.

Being open to them can help you get back on track. Also, talking to your supervisor or manager may give them an idea of the overall situation of their employees’ workplace. You don’t need to complain about every work you do, but instead, you can list all the possible ways to combat stress in the workplace.

But when the situation gets worse and you frequently feel anxious or depressed, maybe it’s high time to consult a mental health professional. Remember that taking care of your mental health has to be the same as taking care of your physical health.

Determine the Signs of Stress

Being overwhelmed at work can lead to various effects. Never ignore the warning signs of stress, as they can worsen over time. Here are some of the common symptoms of excessive stress at work.

• Anxiety, irritability, or depression
• Apathy, loss of interest in work
• Sleep problems
• Fatigue & exhaustion
• Forgetfulness & problems with concentration
• Muscle tension or headache
• Stomach problems
• Social retreat
• Alcoholism or drug use

Some causes of stress in the workplace are listed below:

• Performance pressure to meet expectations
• Work overtime
• Fear of being dismissed from employment
• Being pressured to finish work deliverables all the time
• Poor relationships at work

How Managers Help Reduce Workplace Stress

Truth be told, stress stems from the workplace itself and how managers run their companies. They play a huge factor in maintaining a good relationship between them and their employees. They must also distinguish between an occasional feeling of frustration and feeling constantly worried about a job.

If you are a manager or a supervisor, here are some tips on how managers can help employees reduce their stress in the workplace that you may find helpful.

Make Sure Workloads are Manageable

If an employee is given too much workload, they probably end up working long hours to finish them. Employees try to compensate for the work that was tasked to them, but they just end up feeling drained all the time.

Being overloaded with work with a short timeframe to accomplish them would not produce quality output and make your company suffer. Step in and reorganize workloads and clarify the boundaries of the employee’s job. Everyone must also understand how long it would take to create a quality output, that’s why communication is always key.

Encourage Work-Life Balance

Everyone in the workplace must know that work is not life. However, some employees strive harder to achieve stability, while some prioritize their life outside work. Employees’ priorities are different, but managers must give them time for themselves outside the workplace. Employees are human too.

A simple way to reduce workplace stress is to ensure that your employees are given enough vacation or sick leaves. You can also incorporate flexitime in your workplace so that employees can build a schedule that works for them.

Set Realistic Targets

Employees must know what they’re doing and what they’re trying to achieve in their work. However, managers must realize that the targets must be attainable, and employees can do it.

If employees are unsure of what output they should produce, they will figure out the whole time what they’re trying to do, resulting in stress and burnout. Always communicate with your employees what they should be doing and explain how their success will be measured.

Set Clear Expectations

Employees have different strengths, and a manager should know upon hiring them. When it comes to working, assign them a task that you know they are capable of and explain what you want to see once done. This tip creates a mutual understanding with the employee, and expectations are set.

Provide Stress Management Training

Employees are the driving force of companies, and managers must learn how to take care of them. Provide stress management training to your employees to learn about how to handle stress when things get busy at work. Let mental health professionals or psychologists conduct the training and activities.

Stress management training is an efficient way to help employees get the best version out of them as they already have an idea of how to take care of themselves.

Resolve Workplace Conflicts

Reports show that almost 86% of employees feel angry or frustrated toward their co-workers. Workplace conflicts are common, but they can’t be resolved on their own. If they are left unresolved, it can be a huge source of stress for employees and may compromise the environment of the workplace.

If you notice that there are people causing stress to others by bullying, it’s time for you to step in. As a manager, you need to intervene and listen to what each team member has to say. Ask them what the source of their stress is and what they want to happen.

Practice Positive Culture

Having a positive, healthy, and supportive working environment helps people perform better and be the best version of themselves. The key to having a positive culture is management support.

Management support helps create psychological safety for the employees. According to the Gallup survey in 2018, employees experienced a lesser chance of burnout by 70% because they were supported by their managers.

Some examples of management support are having a platform for employees to express their grievances, a balanced schedule for work and life outside work, enough vacation days, reasonable compensation, and many more.

Establish Employee Assistance Programs

Since most employees are in a work-from-home setup, managers need to check up on their employee’s needs. To help alleviate the employee’s pressure and stress, establish an employee assistance program.

An employee assistance program is a consulting program where employees can share the problems they’re facing at work. In return, experts provide clear-cut solutions. Some of the assistance can be as follows:

• Financial assistance
• Work relationships
• Mental health issues
• Family problems

Employee assistance programs do not only help improve an employee’s mental health, but it also helps them become more engaged toward other people and more motivated to work.

Relieve Stress in the Right Workplace

Working can be challenging, but it shouldn’t be stressful. If you ever feel that work is taking up a toll on you, remember these tips so you can properly manage your stress.
To get the most out of your work from home, you can try working at coworking spaces like KMC. KMC helps with workplace stress management through its modern approach and innovative workplace solutions.

Its coworking spaces are convenient - you can book a slot at any time you want. Aside from these, we have free coffee to get a kick of caffeine to get through work, a designated desk, printing and photocopy services, and 24/7 access to all amenities for a fraction of the price!

KMC has different branches all over the Philippines. If you want to know more about our coworking spaces and private offices, you may contact KMC solutions by calling us at (02) 8779 6540 loc. 1110. You can also message us through this online form on our website.