Let’s talk about stress, baby!

Stress awareness month has been held in April since 1992 so this month we are talking about stress in the workplace and dealing with stress.

Stress can place immense demands on employees’ physical and mental health and affect their behaviour, performance, and relationships with colleagues.

Some of the factors that commonly cause work-related stress include:

  • Long hours
  • Heavy workload
  • Changes within the organisation
  • Tight deadlines
  • Changes to duties
  • Job insecurity
  • Lack of autonomy
  • Lack of development
  • Harassment
  • Work-life balance
  • Boring work

The reality is that we have all felt stressed at some point or another in our lives and that needs to change. Millions around the UK are experiencing high levels of stress in the workplace, and it is damaging our health, especially with gas bills rising, the cost of fuel, and even the cost of living on a whole.

Stress is one of the great public health challenges of our time, so it is more important than ever to take a step back and put our health first, especially whilst at work.

The biggest difficulty with stress is that people experience stress in different ways and as such act differently when feeling stressed. So, it actually is potentially wrong to over generalise when giving advice on how to identify stress in others. However, what we can say is that because stress has negative effects, it will usually manifest itself one way or another.

Take a look at our 10 Step Stress Solution based on ways in which our employees like to de-stress:

  1. Prioritise your health: if you are getting stressed remove yourself from the situation and get some fresh air
  2. Get enough ‘good’ sleep: nothing sets you up for the day like a good night’s rest
  3. Socialise: don’t lock yourself indoors alone. Friends are a great stress reliever! (Just make sure you stick with the rules of your tier).
  4. Reflect: look at all you have achieved rather than what you haven’t
  5. Eat for wellbeing: try some new flavours and recipes to look forward to
  6. Get moving to combat stress: a run or a form of exercise is a great stress reliever
  7. Adopt a positive mindset: you are only human, don’t put too much pressure on yourself
  8. Master your time: an organised mind tends to be a more relaxed mind
  9. Don’t be a slave to tech: unless there is a deadline make sure you don’t burn out
  10. Learn to say no: put yourself first rather than always pleasing others

If you are feeling stressed due to work, and or balancing other demands, then talk to a professional. Validium provides clinical expertise and their flexible approach means they can deliver a quality service that will increase the value of a workforce.

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