We all know that if you work, there is stress associated with it.  Trying to balance your professional and personal life causes stress.  It’s impossible to satisfy all the masters in our lives.

Combine this with looming deadlines, expectations about instant communication through text and more, dealing with other human beings and heavy workloads it’s no wonder more and more employees complain about workplace stress.  

We come to work often feeling tension or pressure from our personal lives.  We are bombarded at work with constant interruptions and more to do than is possible and feel pressure from work.  Then we leave the office to face the challenges of managing our personal lives.

It’s a recipe for overload, and when we are in overload we aren’t at our best personally or as productive and creative at work.

Don’t quit reading now thinking you might as well throw in the towel and accept workplace stress as just part of your life, and there is nothing you can do about it.  There are strategies you can use even when situations at work get more chaotic and amped to reduce your stress and stay calm during these times

Strategy #1: Ignore the voice in your head. 

You know the one I mean.  The one that says “you should be more productive or you’re a failure or successful people get it all done”…the voice that says something negative about you.  All that voice does is stress you out more. You’re not only overloaded and perhaps overwhelmed, now you are listening to this voice that says “you’re a loser and won’t be able to get it done and make others happy anyhow.”  Don’t just turn the volume down, though that’s a good step, turn it off.

Strategy #2: Not everything has the same priority. 

I sat down today to write this article and was starting to feel anxious, stressed.  All I could think about was how much I had to do and it really truly did need to be done this week. 

Writing an article takes me time, and time I felt I didn’t have.

I took a deep breath (really I did) and wrote a list of everything that positively, absolutely has to be done this week.  It’s not everything that is on my weekly plan, but it is the high priority items. If all I do are those items (which is still a lot to do) and my clients I will be satisfied. You have to drop something off the plate or hand something off.  There are no other options.

Strategy #3: Keep your emotions in check. 

When we feel anxious or stressed, it’s easy to see everything as dark, wrong and frustrating.  We will focus on what’s not yet done, how far we have to go, what isn’t working and all the problems instead of what is working, how far we have come and solutions that are found. 

It becomes a vicious cycle of worry, stress, and problem-focused further increasing your stress.

Strategy #4: Breathe or meditate.

I confess I am not that good at meditating.  I try to meditate regularly and truly believe in the benefits of meditation but I struggle with stillness. 

If you can meditation has huge physical and emotional benefits. Deep breathing exercises really help.

Sometimes I will do breathing exercises with a client before we start working because they are jacked up when they get to our meeting, 

There are resources on Google or if you want to send me your email and name I’ll send you what I use with clients.

Strategy #5: Setting boundaries is critical. 

Over the last few months, I’ve written a number of articles on this topic.  You can go to www.incedogroup.com/blog and find them.  Bottom line is that you have to learn to say no, negotiate deadlines, options and more and put boundaries on your time availability. 

Strategy #6: Accept your limitations. 

This is more than ignoring the voice in your head.  And it’s not about giving yourself excuses.

It is openly and honestly assessing what needs to be done, your available time, what is currently on your schedule and determining if it is a requirement or can be adjusted. 

This week I have about 20 hours of project work (writing etc.) that needs to be fit around client appointments. 

Right now I have about 15 hours of open time in my calendar.  My options are to push off something, delegate something (though that isn’t an option I actually have), come in earlier to find the extra hours I need OR accept that I can’t actually do what’s on my plan.  If I accept the limitations I have that are factual, then I decide how I want to proceed 

You can’t change the crazy stuff that happens at work or the crazy people you work with.  It exists in every company. You can change your response to the chaos and crazy though, which will help reduce your stress.