GUEST BLOG: Stress in the workplace

By James Corneille, founder of Positivity Pack

Stress can affect your life in negative ways to every part of your life; the number one cause is your work. It’s been called the ‘silent killer’ and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Those who work longer hours (a 12-hour day) increase their risk of injury and illness by 37% over those who work fewer hours. Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, liver cirrhosis and suicide.

Those statistics should be enough for you to take the first steps in tackling stress head on, before it causes a negative impact on your life.

A certain amount of stress is normal, and can indeed be healthy to help with motivating you to do better in your workplace or in the moment, but when it becomes a serious negative factor in your life is when you need to step back and start cutting it down.

Thinking it’s unimportant and will just go away is a common misconception and I believe employers should raise awareness of that and also make an effort to make their workplace a more friendly environment, with less stress.

Getting rid of stress isn’t as difficult as one might think, so it’s definitely worth taking care of, before it causes serious health issues.

BETER SAFE THAN SORRY

Typical warning signs of excessive stress in the workplace may include:

• Constant anxiety and social withdrawal
• Lack of concentration and interest in work
• Muscle tension, and chest pain
• Loss of sex drive
• Use of alcohol or drugs to cope
• Depression
• Hair loss

If you relate to any of these then you should definitely read on, and learn how to feel better as a whole and make yourself healthier, by cutting down stress in your workplace.

So now we know the symptoms of stress, why it’s a health risk, and why it should be handled straight away, let’s get on to how to decrease it – which is easier than you might think.

A certain amount of stress is normal … but when it becomes a serious negative factor in your life is when you need to step back and start cutting it down

1. Laughter and relaxing

Laughter is nature’s natural medicine. Relaxing and treating yourself a bit, can have massive positive impacts. Have a laugh with friends, or look at some cat videos online! Stressed watching a cat play with a dog? I think not.

Relax a bit. If you’re all work, you should especially take a few breaks during the day to have a bit of ‘you’ time. You deserve it!

2. Chewing gum and eating right

Chewing gum eases, not only the jaw, but stress as well. Ancient Mayans and Greeks chomped on resin gum; stress sure had been around a long time. According to a large study, workers who chew gum report less stress than their gum-free work colleagues.

Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress, so be mindful of what you eat. Staying clear from sugar and caffeine, and anything that gives an energy crash is a good idea, but sometimes there can be exceptions. Such as chocolate, which can definitely take the stress off, but not to be abused as it contains a lot of sugar.

3. Deep breaths and stress balls

A lot of people under value the significance breathing can have on your body (besides keeping you alive!). Deep breaths have been scientifically proven to combat stress very effectively. Who can argue with science?

Stress balls take your focus off the stress, and calm your muscles down. There’s a reason a lot of people use them, they must work. Also, that smiley face would improve anyone’s mood!

4. Sleeping well and exercise

If you’re feeling tired and unfit, that can only help stress in its battle against you. You need to be well rested and work out regularly in order to feel better internally, and to combat stress.

Going through your workday with little sleep is not desirable either, so tackling stress is another reason to sleep well.

5. Buy a Positivity Pack

Positivity Pack is the perfect chill-out kit after those horrible, rainy, hair-pulling, frustrating and unfortunate days.

If there’s someone in your life right now that you think needs a bit of cheering up (maybe because of work), you can do so right now by surprising them with a Positivity Pack, or even get one for yourself.

It’s like sharing that Friday, good vibe feeling which will tackle stress! Starting at €8, you can find more out at positivitypack.com.

I hope this article helps people take the first steps to reducing stress in their life. Take initiative and think about it for yourself. Maybe something at work in particular affects your stress, find a way to stop or decrease that. You can do it!

Photo (above): Amy McTigue