6 Quickfire Work Stress Tips!

Hi there! Today we'll be looking at six quick tips for reducing any possible stress and work anxiety that might arise from anything work-related. Whether it's a school or university project, a task for a job, or anything else similar, I hope these tips can be helpful in optimising the way you do the task for minimal stress! Just a note, that these tips are for concrete actions to reduce the source of stress, rather than mindfulness techniques to alleviate it temporarily!

Transcript

So,

Hi there,

Welcome to the session today.

So,

Today we're going to be looking at six quick fire work stress tips.

So that is six quick tips on how to deal with stress and anxiety that arises from anything to do with work.

Okay,

So whether that's a stressful project,

A stressful task,

Could be anything.

So,

Before we get into anything else,

I did just want to mention that these tips won't focus so much on mindfulness techniques specifically.

As they will concrete actions you can take to reduce stress for yourself.

This is because stress and anxiety tend to come from concrete things like a stressful job or task.

And so they can only really be fully solved by making those concrete changes.

Mindfulness techniques can help you through periods of stress and periods of anxiety.

They can help you to alleviate that stress and anxiety.

But only concrete changes can actually get rid of them altogether.

So with that out of the way,

Let's get straight into the tips today.

So,

Our first tip today is schedule time not to work.

So,

What does this look like exactly?

It's a little bit sort of unusual perhaps.

So my favourite way to do it is simply to schedule a period of time in which you can do anything you like except work.

Chores and other things by the way,

Things that you sort of need to do as it were,

Are included in that work category.

This is so that you are better able to keep everything in perspective and you can compartmentalise the task much more effectively.

It also means you will be better rested for when you do come to work again.

But most importantly,

It's a much more enjoyable experience than just slaving away over something you don't really enjoy until it's done.

So this period of not working could be spent,

Like I say,

In any way you like.

Maybe doing a hobby,

Maybe relaxing with a book or watching clouds,

Anything you like.

But in banning work for that period you are able to properly relax and let go of as much as possible the stress of the task at hand.

It means you can chill out a bit without having to have it looming over you all the time because you've forbidden yourself from doing it for that period of time anyway.

So you don't get that guilt of I should be doing something else right now.

And by the way,

We look at this first because you need to know to do this right from the outset.

By scheduling time not to work you are,

Like I said already,

Able to compartmentalise much more effectively and because of that you can reduce your risk of becoming overwhelmed.

Added to that,

As you start to learn these other tips than any others you might be learning as well,

It's important to keep everything in perspective in this way so you can learn the tips more effectively with that lower risk of being overwhelmed while you do so.

So the second tip today is quite a nice sort of compliment to the first,

Just slightly more general,

And that is keep it in perspective.

Remember what you are working on now that's giving you stress is important I'm sure,

But you and your wellbeing are always more important.

Added to that,

Remember that something not working out,

Whatever it is,

Is not the end of the world.

In all cases just remember to keep things in perspective,

So you need an assignment or a work project or whatever it is,

So don't give it any more time,

Energy or thought than it really needs to be done well.

That said,

Make sure you do do it well of course,

Just remember to keep it in perspective and it won't need to take over your life.

So tip number three is approach the task pragmatically.

So start by thinking about what's reasonable to approach first and what can be left till a bit later.

There's no point running through yourself in the deep end if there's no need for it from the task,

And likewise you may sometimes have to go slightly slower or do less than feels right in order to find that sweet spot.

Circumstances change,

Differ and vary in themselves and so different tactics and approaches could be needed in different instances.

But if you always approach a task pragmatically,

Step by step,

Thinking it over,

You'll be able to much more easily keep a cool head and adapt to those changes and differences when you need to.

By the way,

It also saves you from getting tripped up by slightly unhelpful instincts as well,

Such as I should be working really hard,

When actually there's really no actual need for that.

It's also useful to note that looking at everything you've got to do for that task at once can be very overwhelming and indeed probably will,

So taking it in bits and trying not to look at the entire picture all at once,

Any more than you really need to,

Will help to keep you secure and unpanicked in that regard during the task.

So moving on to tip number 4,

Leave yourself plenty of time to do it.

This is sort of an extension of the last tip,

But I feel it's useful and important enough to be a tip by itself as well.

It's also a pretty simple one,

But if you can manage to push yourself over the first hurdle of getting the task started while you still have plenty of time,

It'll save you from any unnecessary stress later on that could have been avoided by just starting earlier.

It's just a nice little extra stress saver in that respect.

Also,

Getting the task started in itself,

In whatever way you can and however big or little that might be,

Will already overcome that barrier between you and the task.

Getting over the first hurdle really is the hardest part,

So breaking through that straight away and with plenty of time to spare will already get you into the task and will make it just so much easier to carry on with it from that point on.

So tip number 5 then,

If you have a crash,

Have a break.

We all have that moment where everything just becomes too much and we toss it all in the air and storm out.

For some people it's at the beginning,

Like for me,

For some people it's at the end,

But whenever it happens for you,

Remember to keep things in perspective like we said in tip number 2 and take a break.

Trying to come back to something immediately after you got angry with it won't help anything.

You'll be much less efficient and first and foremost,

Much less happy when you don't need to be.

Go outside,

Take a breather,

Maybe go for a walk,

Play some video games,

Something like that.

Allow yourself to procrastinate for at least a few hours or as long as it takes,

As long as you're comfortable,

Then come back to it later when your mind is nice and clear and refreshed.

This is a much more constructive approach,

Whereas returning straight away will only be destructive,

However obvious or not that might be at the time.

A little side note on this as well,

I wouldn't advise trying to use this time for the no working period we talked about in tip 1.

To get the most out of tip 1 you should really do it by itself and for its own sake rather than trying to do it in the wake of a crash.

That would only compromise the respite effect and so dull the overall effect.

So that's tip number 5 done.

So finally bringing a few of these tips together and extending them we have tip number 6 and that is try to make and keep a to do list.

If you're working on a project or a task that's causing you stress,

Trying to keep your entire to do list for that task in your head will just increase the stress the task is causing.

Instead by actively writing down everything you need to do with regards to the task at hand or anything else beside it too,

You can easily remove a lot of that stress and extra work and make the process a lot more comfortable.

Added to that,

You can also boost your motivation and closure on the task,

Which helps with the compartmentalising we mentioned in tip 1,

By allowing you to actively tick off everything as you do it,

Dismissing it in your head at the same time as well as having a sort of record afterwards of what you've achieved.

In this respect,

Making and keeping a to do list can help to remove some of that stress associated with the task and managing the task,

While also helping you to compartmentalise and feel good about yourself in the process.

Otherwise it's very easy to neglect accomplishment as something neutral and beside the point,

When in fact it's really rather the whole point isn't it?

Now I'd like to just add another little side note here at the end and that is this.

While these techniques are designed to help you with general work stress and,

In my experience,

They will usually work,

None of them will work if you are over stressed.

If you've got just too much,

Just way more than you can actually physically handle,

These techniques will not work to alleviate that.

In that scenario,

The aim should always be to try to reduce the workload to a manageable amount if you can,

Like I said at the start,

Make a concrete change.

You should never be having to overburden yourself quite that way because of the detrimental mental effects it will have on you and your mental and perhaps even physical wellbeing.

So while these techniques should,

As I say,

Help you in alleviating work stress normally,

Something else,

Something concrete has to be done to alleviate the workload if you are over stressed.

And finally,

There might be times when you feel there's a little too much on your plate,

But you're not actually over stressed exactly.

In these cases,

The techniques should still work.

They'll just be slightly less effective than with a manageable workload.

It's only when you're over stressed that they'll become significantly less effective because you're overloading yourself in what you can physically and mentally cope with.

So to recap the tips so you can have them fresh in your mind after our session today.

So tip number one was schedule time not to work.

Tip number two,

Keep it in perspective.

Tip number three was approach the task pragmatically.

Tip number four,

Leave yourself plenty of time to do the task.

And tip number five,

If you have a crash,

Have a break.

And then finally,

Tip number six,

Make a to do list for the task and anything else that needs doing beside it.

So I hope these help and thanks for listening.

Thanks for coming along.

Bye bye.