Common Types of Work Stress You Have to Deal With

A substantial portion of our adult lives is spent at work and no wonder why many people consider work their entire life. The atmosphere we observe at work and the work environment plays a huge role in our lives and molds our personality to a great extent. A positive workplace can make your whole life positive, while an unpleasant work environment may lead to a negative outlook on life.

When it comes to work, stress is unavoidable and there are various types of work stress too. Every employee goes through some stressful events at work, although these events vary from organization to organization. Still there are many common stressors in the workplace, and without identification of those, it is hard to deal with them effectively.

What Are the Common Work-Related Stress Types

Work-related stress does not originate out of nowhere, but there are various leading causes; if unattended, can turn into a stressful situation. The common triggers of stress at work can be categorized in many ways, and some of the basic stressors in the workplace are:

High Expectations

It is one of the common types of work stress. Being optimistic about a person's ability and capability to undertake challenges is a good thing but putting a burden of your expectations on them results in a failure. Think about how psychologists teach parents not to put extra burden on their kids with unrealistic expectations, so why do things have to be different in adult life?

Having too many hopes and demands results in a person being overburdened, overwhelmed, and anxious. An anxious person cannot perform up to their usual capability, let alone manage tasks beyond their ability. This results in frustration and anger, consequently resentment towards the organization.

Workload

Similar to high expectations and unrealistic demands, the workload is one of the most common and major stressors as well as types of work stress at work. The American Institute of stress states in a study that approximately 63% of workers in the USA are willing to quit their job because of stress. And workload remains the major contributor to that.

Heavy workloads can lead to employees being frustrated and not able to perform to their maximum capability. A productive work environment does not let an employee take up an extra workload. If you feel like you are being burdened with too much work, address your feelings nicely to HR or even higher authorities.

Not Being Appreciated

Sometimes you could blunder at work, and that's okay. After all, to err is human, and without a few mistakes here and there, how could you learn? But if your work is being criticized and going unnoticed every now and then, this could be a workplace stressor. Not being appreciated at work is one of the leading causes and common types of work stress as to why employees leave jobs. 

Poor Relationship with Colleagues

Sure, you are not at work to make friends, and it does not matter if you have lunch at your standing desk alone. Having work friends is a perk that makes the stress of work-life easier. But if you don't get along well with your colleagues, you must find common ground to work with them; otherwise, this could lead to stress at the workplace. After all, your main focus should be to get the work done rather than bringing your personal opinions in the way.

Change

The organizational environment plays a major role in defining the situation of the workplace. Too many changes and constant modifications in the workplace can result in restlessness amongst the employees. As per the SCARF model, having too much uncertainty in life can damage the brain and result in losing focus.

Try focusing on the positive aspects of change and learn that change is constant in life, especially in an organization.

Not Getting Help

Everyone comes across a challenge at work once in a while that leaves them confused. It is wise to turn to a higher authority or even colleagues to get some insights into the issue in such cases. If the higher authority is not eager to help and nor does the colleague right beside you is understanding that plea for assistance, then this might be a huge workplace stressor.

To address this issue and this type of work stress, try communicating your needs in a way that sounds convincing and realistic. Tell them the exact issue you are having, and don't let your brain take all the storm alone.

Not Having an Aim

One more work related stress type is no aim. People are not tired because they do what they don't love, but they are tired because they don't do what they love. Not having a plan in life is not the right way to live. You need to set a goal in life to keep yourself pushing forward. If you have a career and life plan, you won't have difficulty adjusting to a new job or won't even mind leaving one that does not serve your purpose.

A career plan also gives you a purpose at work, so you do things for the sake of learning and not just getting them off your shoulders. Set a career vision in your life so that you would know if your job description aligns with your goal or not.

No Way Out

Technology has made our life easier, or maybe it hasn't. That cell phone with a strong internet connection you love may be a chain to your job. Most employees are stressed because they feel they don't get enough space from their work and lose the entire work-life balance. It is the most popular among other types of work stress.

When it comes to technology, try to keep your work life separate from your personal life, and switching off the phone once you are done with your day task and reach home, doesn't sound like a bad idea.

Identifying the Reasons of Workplace Stress

Identifying the common and usual reasons for work stress and work related stress types helps avoid work burnout. Imagine feeling tired at work every single day despite having enough sleep and proper meals. You could be stressed, particularly due to work. People who have work-related stress may seem normal on the outside but fail to perform to their maximum capability.

As working long hours affect both our physical health and mental health, you could experience constant fatigue and tiredness in your muscles and a constant headache or mood swings. While physical stress could be fought with hybrid working or an office ergonomic chair, the cure to mental stresses need to be addressed at the core.