At its best, work can be a place of purpose and fulfillment. A place to express your passion and to be a part of something bigger than oneself. At it’s worst, work can feel like drain your soul and make it hard to get out of bed in the morning. Stress at work is often a great contributor to the later. Identifying the cause of stress and taking action is vital in shifting from surviving to thriving at work.
It is easy to identify that you are stressed at work, but the first step to making it better is to take an honest, hard look at the cause. Is the stress from something you have control over? For instance, if you are stressed because you are not meeting deadlines or fulfilling your duties, then by owning and fixing it, you may eliminate a lot of the stress. Is your stress from a strained relationship or misunderstanding with a co-worker? You cannot control how the other person feels or responds, but starting an open conversation or offering an apology is in your control and could go a long way to easing the relational stress.
There are many things are not in your control. Your job may shift requiring you to work longer hours or it forces a longer commute time. You may be required to manage others when you never wanted to be a supervisor. Someone may call in sick or quit forcing you to cover for them. The product line you are working on may get scrapped requiring that you start over. Deadlines may be changed. The possibilities are endless. When faced with difficult situations that are outside your control, it is easy to feel trapped. Take a step back and consider your options. Can you adjust? Do you have the financial resources to be okay if you quit? Do you need to ask for a raise? Are their boundaries you can put in place to protect yourself? Is the short-term pain worth it for the long-term pay off? Or are you just ready to be done? Weigh your options and make the best decision you can. Whether you decide to make a change or not, simply knowing that you can choose can be empowering.
Another important consideration when addressing workplace stress is the deeper issue of worth and value. You have great worth and value. Period. As a human being, no matter what you do or how much you make, you have great worth and value. When you believe that, it often results in subtle yet profound shifts inside of you. You will be less reactive when you realize that your worth does not come from your paycheck, your title, the prestige (or lack thereof), or whether your coworkers gossip about you are not. You will be able to take pride in yourself for how you handled the day no matter the outcome. The greatest remedy to workplace stress is to know that no matter what, you are significant. When you are solid in yourself, the drama at work or the need to prove yourself to others will fade. It does not mean that every problem will go away, but there will be more peace and clarity on the journey.
If you are interested in talking with someone about how to handle your stress at work or in life, give us a call at 720.465.6180.
