Did you know that approximately three out of every four people who deal with high levels of stress or anxiety in their lives say that it interferes with their everyday lives? The workplace is no exception. Anxiety in the workplace can significantly affect your quality of life and cause you to feel distressed more regularly past work hours. If you often find yourself counting down the minutes to five o’clock, it’s likely time that you faced your work stressors.
Anxiety can affect your productivity at work, the standard of your work output, your relationships with colleagues, and your overall mental health. Between dealing with conflicting deadlines, difficult coworkers, and noisy open-office concepts, there are a myriad of factors that come into play when it comes to assessing your workplace stressors.
The first step in managing your work anxiety is building an individual wellness plan that seamlessly fits into your lifestyle and schedule. This means planning out ways to achieve adequate sleep, a healthy diet, regular exercise, and meaningful social activity outside of work. In this post, we’ll dish out our best tips on how to get started in managing your work stress and anxiety.
Tip #1: Get Enough Sleep
It’s common thought that sleep is an absolute necessity, but it’s not often regarded as a priority when it comes to addressing stress. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults require between 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night to get enough rest and relaxation to enjoy the full benefits of restorative deep sleep.
Sleep plays an influential role in the state of your physical and mental health. Without enough sleep, you can become cranky, irritable, and fatigued during work— all of which can contribute to heightened levels of stress that make your workday miserable.
To ensure that you’re able to squeeze in enough sleep to keep your mood balanced and energy levels regulated, make sure you create and adhere to a prescribed sleep schedule. This often comes in the form of going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. Doing this can help you get the expert-recommended amount of sleep for your age and activity level.
If you have trouble catching z’s, consider using CBD vape juice infused e-cigarette or taking melatonin before bed to help your mind and body doze off into dreamland.
Tip #2: Maintain a Healthy Diet
Your favorite foods make you feel good, happy, and satisfied whereas yucky foods make you feel sad, disgusted, and unsatisfied. The same logic can be applied to how your diet affects your daily disposition. If you’re filling up on heavy foods that just sit in your tummy, you’ll likely feel bloated and groggy—the opposite of what you’d hope to feel during a long day at work.
By switching up your diet to include more complex carbs (i.e. breakfast cereals, bread, pasta, oatmeal), dark leafy greens, citrus fruits, fatty fish, and nuts, you can rebalance your immune system and feel lighter and better nourished.
Tip #3: Cultivate a Regular Exercise Schedule
There’s a reason why experts recommend you get at least 30 minutes to exercise every day. Not only can regular physical activity improve your muscle, joint, and cardiovascular strength, but it can also provide a venue to unleash your stress in a healthy way. When you’re less focused on work deadlines and demands, you’re more able to stay in tune with your mind and body.
Tip #4: Get Social
What better way to take a load off than by stashing away your work woes and welcoming a few friendly faces into the picture. Hanging out with friends or family is an instant remedy for stress. A little socialization goes a long way when you find yourself too overwhelmed with your 9-5 grind.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has made socializing quite the feat, there are a number of social-distanced outdoor activities your friends can organize to get some fresh air and catch up. Be it going to the beach for a sunset picnic or a bike ride along the coastline, unplugging from your work worries is made easy with company by your side.
Managing anxiety and stress is no easy venture, but with these four tips, you’ll be able to tackle those negative feelings in a positive way.
frustrated businessman -DepositPhotos
