Five Ways of Coping with Stress at Work

Stress is ‘the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures and demands placed on them’, according to the HSE.

Stress symptoms can include:

• A pounding heart of palpitations
• A dry mouth
• Headaches
• Odd aches and pains
• Loss of appetite

What causes work stress?

• Work pressure
• Lack of support from managers
• Work-related violence and bullying

What you can do to help manage work stress

Good stress management in the workplace is critical to your overall health. Here are five steps that you can do to help minimise the symptoms.

1. Recognising the signs and understanding the causes

The first step to combating stress in the workplace is understanding the signs, which can often be subtle. Anything from changes in appetite, sleep problems, headaches, right through to irritability and mood swings.

If left to fester, these can grow and ultimately prolonged periods of stress can lead workers to taking time off, a weakened immune system with greater susceptibility to minor ailments, and sadly could lead to longer-term physical and mental issues.

As well as spotting the signs it is important to understand the causes, so you can help minimise stressful elements within the workplace where possible. If you do spot any of these signs, having a quiet, confidential chat with your employer to let them know how you are feeling would be beneficial.

Harding Evans has invested in training for our employees, so that they are able to identify their own stress triggers. The training also provides useful tips for managing their well-being and stressful situations at work. I believe knowledge and understanding is key to improve your own, and staff’s well-being, and the continued development of skills in this area will result in better support offered to employees when required.

2. Connect with people

Developing and nurturing workplace relationships is an important way to combat stress. Many people will keep any feelings of stress under wraps for fear of negative reactions. A good support network of colleagues, friends, and family can ease your work troubles and help you see things in a different way.

At Harding Evans, our back to office strategy was based on ensuring all our colleagues have a chance to reconnect face to face and rekindle work relationships after 2 years of working from home.

3. Take a break

Here in the UK, we work the longest hours in Europe, meaning we don’t often spend enough time doing things we really enjoy. But we all need to take some time for socialisation, relaxation, or exercise. Set aside a few nights a week for some ‘me time’ away from work.

Lots of people also work through their lunch break, but this can be counterproductive. Take at least 30 minutes away from your desk, which can help you be more effective in the afternoon. It also helps you to break up your work into more manageable chunks by having a midday break.

At Harding Evans, the team has been in discussion about implementing a ‘Take a break’ scheme has as part of our well-being strategy to implement different activities during lunch hour for employees to get together and collaborate.

4. Work smarter, not harder

Working smarter means prioritising your work, concentrating on the tasks that will make a real difference. To do this, try making a list. To-do lists are a good way to stay organised and help you work out your priorities and timings. The aim is to learn how to reduce the number of urgent and important tasks, as having to deal with too many urgent tasks can be stressful.

5. Breathing exercises

There are a lot of breathing exercises you can do to relieve stress and relax your body and mind. Over time, these exercises can become something you do automatically, whenever you feel tense or stressed. This can help you become more relaxed in general.

How We Can Help

Here at Harding Evans, we understand the impact that stress can have on your health, daily life, your family, and finances.

Our team of experienced solicitors are on hand to solve any employment issues you might be experiencing. Get in touch today.