7 Tips for Overcoming Workplace Stress in 2024

Stress is a never-ending struggle for workers all around the world. Deadlines, expectations, and pressure from colleagues can all add up, so it can be difficult to know how to manage it. Fortunately, there are strategies you can use to manage stress and take control of your workday. Here are our recommendations for how to overcome stress in 2022.

Workplace stress, especially if you have a challenging job, is commonplace - but getting stressed out at work doesn't mean it has to take over your life.  Letting it get out of control can lead to a variety of negative effects, such as health problems, decreased productivity and dissatisfied workers.

We've all encountered some stress at work before, whether it's from impending deadlines, clashing with colleagues or even just having an overloaded email inbox. But that doesn't mean that there aren't ways to reduce the amount of stress we have at work.

To combat it and all its negative effects, it's important to learn how to handle it.  Managing stress is easy when following these seven tips and can help you to lead to a happier office life.

1. Reach Out

When you get stressed out at work, one of the first things you can do is reach out to your support team. Sharing your issues with someone close to you is a perfect way to take the weight off of your shoulders. No one can solve your issues for you, but you can help manage your job stress by the act of communicating with them.

2. Focus on Exercise and Healthy Eating

One of the best things you can do to manage your job stress is to make time for daily exercise and cook nutritious meals. When we're not feeling so great and we're trying to make ourselves feel better, we can often reach for comfort foods such as burgers, pizza and other snacks.

These unhealthy meals tend to only make us feel worse. To maintain both your physical and mental health, a healthy diet combined with regular exercise is necessary. If there's not enough time to do this physical movement outside of work then there are other options too. There are many health benefits to merely using standing desks so that your body is active whilst you are working.

3. Sleep more

For a lot of people, sleep just isn't such a priority when we're feeling overwhelmed at work. In order to alleviate this feeling it can be tempting to try to catch up on projects at home or take our minds off of it by staying out late at night. However, a build-up of a lack of sleep will only add to the stress.

People also tend to perform poorly at work when they are working on little sleep, and are more irritable, and generally less satisfied. Next time you feel stressed at work, you will be shocked at how much it can help to get in those extra z's. Check out some sleep meditation tips for ensuring you get a good night's rest.

4. Prioritize your tasks

The culprit for workplace stress is more often than not an overloaded schedule. Take the time to prepare your weekly activities and prioritize those that are most important. You will then be able to make extra time for these activities and stop last-minute work on them. Make sure you take daily breaks while you're at the office and never overcommit yourself to anything that you won't necessarily be able to handle. A significant step in controlling your stress is understanding your boundaries.

5. Get organized

Workers also get stressed at the office when they can't find what they need or misplace a file. When your working space is messy and things aren't properly ordered, you can quite easily misplace an important document or miss a memo for a meeting. To make your life simpler, invest in a high-quality filing cabinet, cable tray and smart desk that has enough space for all of your stuff.   It also helps to tidy up the workspace. Check out some tips for maintaining an organized working station. 

6. Make sure to take time off

Most people who have a lot on their plate are afraid of the effects that taking time off can have. It's easy to assume that when you return, taking time off will just leave you with more work and missed deadlines. Although this can be true, it's easier to relax while on holiday and ensure that you delegate your tasks and take care of everything before you leave. You should never cause your holiday days to go to waste. Make sure to take a step back from work and reflect on the things you love in life, and make sure to use your sick days.  You're running the risk of burnout if you never take a day off.

7. Let things go

With more job duties, there are even more tasks to accomplish. It's important to note that you're just one person and can go a long way with a little support. The greatest mistake workers can make that leads to stress in the workplace is attempting to take on more than they can handle. A simple way to alleviate some of your job stress is to be able to let go of some of your duties and put them in the hands of colleagues you trust.

Final Thoughts

In 2022, we have the right kind of resources and capabilities to make sure we can reduce stress in the workplace. As we take on new challenges and carry out the specific tasks handed to us in our job role, it's important that we remember to check in with ourselves and our own needs.

After the year everyone had in 2020, we proved to ourselves and our employers that we are capable of handling sudden change and new environments. Just make sure that in the midst of all that, you are giving yourself the proper time and energy to handle your own needs too by trying out the things listed above.