Tips on Office Stress Relief.
The work life balance.
Life at the office can be demanding, tiring and just all a bit too much like hard work, when your work load seems never ending and your in-tray always seems to out way your out-tray, life at work can feel pretty uninspiring. Long hours can seem to stretch ahead of you, colleagues can often begin to irritate you and your career seems to at times, engulf your entire existence. We all have to earn a wage, make our way in the world and put the hours in, but does that mean it has to be so stressful?
Although your job is probably never going to be considered a walk in the park and somethings you will be unable to change no matter what you do, because they will simply be forever beyond your control. There are thankfully, some very basic yet effective things that you can do, to make the whole situation a bit easier to manage every day. I have listed a few of the most effective and easiest to apply here, I hope you find them beneficial.
Make friends and delegate.
If your workload is consistently overflowing and you seem to have a habit of biting off more then you can chew, ask for help. This is by no means a weakness and this does not mean that you are less capable then any one else in the office, it just means that you need to lighten the load.
When people hear the word delegation, they often associate it with meaning that your palming your work off to other people, or being lazy because you don't want to do it yourself. This is not the case, it is true that some people can take delegation to a whole new level, and in fact you may well know of someone in your company who is renowned for getting away with doing very little, because they seem to be-able to get everyone else to do their work for them. However this does not mean that you need to take the same approach, everyone has their own special talents and abilities, the job that you dread doing and seems to take hours, would maybe be better suited to someone that gains more pleasure from it and can do it far more efficiently.
Helping each other out in the workplace benefits everyone and it works both ways, you will end up doing more of the jobs that you enjoy doing and in tern be helping someone else out in return.
Avoid the office gossips.
We all know them, they spend more time talking about trivial issues about topics outside of the office then they do actually working in the office. They have a strange and almost hypnotic way of drawing you into these useless discussions. Precious time can be hemorrhaged away by these people, but just because you have to spend your time in the same building as them, does not mean that you have to entertain their conversational whims.
Unfortunately I am aware that some of these people are not content with catching people off guard on the way back from the photocopier or mail room. They like to ambush you at your desk too and linger around like a bad smell, distracting you from your work and generally making your life more difficult. If this is the case and you have tried dropping subtle (or not so subtle) hints that you have more important things to do with your time at work then listen to them twittering on, you may actually have to do the unthinkable and politely tell them to leave you alone. This will probably not go down to well, because these people seem to have the misguided perception that they are the center of the universe and that everyone has a great interest in what they have to say, but this is only because most people have been too polite to say otherwise. Don't put up with it just because you're afraid of offending anyone, just tell them you will talk to them later if you have the time, it's just that right now you have some pretty important work to do and before you know it they will soon find some other poor unfortunate soul to go and bother.
Leave your work where it belongs, at work.
Don't bring the stresses of the office, home with you it's no good for you and it's no fun for anyone that has the pleasure of living with you either. Issues at work are best left there, you will do yourself no favours losing sleep over problems that you can do nothing about until your back at work. Lack of sleep will make you snappy, you will lose focus and concentration and you will end up taking it out on your family, weather you intend to or not. You need to be at your optimum best to resolve any issues that you may have and sleep is a major contributor to this. If your mind is constantly concentrated on your career, you can not enjoy the time that you spend doing other things, because your mind is else where.
Forget about your colleagues and what they may or may not be saying about you, forget about that massive project that you can't seem to get on top of and stop worrying about what your boss thinks about you. If your doing the best job you can possibly do, no amount of worrying is going to make you do your job better and it certainly won't change anything that is happening in the work place.
All you can do is your best at work, nothing more. There really is no point in contemplating what could have been because whats done is done and unless you have a fully functional time machine, it's beyond your control. Deal with any problems afresh and after a well deserved break.
Consider your work environment.
When you look at your desk or work station, is it a haven of peace calm and efficiency? Or does it look like someone dropped a bomb on it and everything looks like the result of an explosion? If its the later, then this is where a lot of your stress probably lies. I know that when you look at it you probably don't know where to start or how you can possibly bring any order to the chaos, but believe me the better you can manage the items that surround you the easier your job will be. If you don't already have a plant close by, it's probably worth investing in one. The air you breath within the space you work is probably fairly polluted or at the least surrounded by artificial substances or maybe even toxins. This can lead to irritation of the eyes, throat and headaches. Are you warm enough in the space you sit everyday? Maybe you're too hot, these things too will have an impact on how comfortable you are at work and the amount of stress you put on yourself.
Does your environment suit you? Does it reflect what you are about? Does your work space suit your needs? These are the sort of questions it's worth asking yourself, because if the answer is no to any of these questions, then you need to consider making some changes. So that you can be happier, where you work.
Get noticed.
One of the main contributors of stress at the office is feeling under valued and being taken for granted. If you have been passed over for promotion or haven't received a raise for a number of years, it maybe worth giving your position some thought. Do you just slog away in the back ground and hope that someone at some time will notice all the hard work your doing? Some of us are better at selling ourselves then others and it can feel like it's not always the best person that gets the job, Maybe you often put in overtime, but the boss doesn't realize, let them know. Maybe you have been hoping to move up the career ladder for quite some time, yet the people you work with maybe under the impression that you are happy where you are. It's worth speaking out and letting the people who can help you get ahead know what your goals and ambitions are. If your feeling brave you could talk to your boss and ask what extra duties you could perform to be eligible for promotion, chances are you already qualify for elevation within the organisation and they or you just didn't realise. Seek out opportunities, ask around and make your achievements known. The people that get ahead are those who are not afraid to be seen and blow their own trumpet (a little bit) take a leaf out of their book and you will soon notice that people will begin to treat you differently and you will start to feel more rewarded for your work.
Find a way that works for you.
If your career seems all encompassing and your entire life is revolved around your life at the office, you need to give yourself a break. It maybe that you need to find yourself a hobby or plan some time to be together with your family, give yourself things to look forward to. You could try some breathing techniques or getting some fresh air on your lunch brake. (If you get one.) You could invest in some stress relieving toys that you can bring to the office. Your entitled to fully paid time off work, by means of your annual leave, use it. Even if you only stay at home or go camping, you are entitled to that, it's yours, you earned it. Don't be afraid to ask for it and don't feel guilty for taking it. Remember all work and no play, leads to a very dull existence.
And if you really can't face another day at work even when you have applied all these principles, then you are probably in the wrong job. Your employment should be at the very least bearable and ideally something that you enjoy. If you don't take at least some enjoyment from it on some level, you need to think about finding an alternative form of employment.
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