If you search “how do I combat stress at work” or any other permutation you will see a combination of the following suggestions:
- Take regular exercise
- Get 7-9 hours’ sleep each night
- Eat a balanced diet
- Make sure you take your break or lunch hour.
- Don’t’ take work home
- Delegate work
- Speak up when things get too much
- Say no to too much overtime
If you have lived a professional working life that goes the extra mile, does what is necessary to deliver and has created an expectation that this will continue, it’s simply not realistic to think that you can simply adopt these recommendation and change overnight.
This type of advice can work in the short term and give some relief but ultimately, it’s reactive and doesn’t address the cause of the stress. So, what is the answer?
The only way to really achieve a stress-free environment at work is to have a positive, congruent working relationship with those in charge.
In order to reduce stress in the workplace there needs to be:
- Meaningful staff involvement in deliverables
- Engagement with staff on stress risk assessments
- Consultation on changes at work
- Flexibility of hours where possible
- A system of support for work problems to be resolved so no staff member feels isolated and expected to ‘just get on with it’
- Clear policies to deal with friction and other staff interpersonal issues
This starts to tackle the primary reasons for stress at work.
It’s not a difficult concept but we tend to be a nation of always treating the symptoms and never the cause……
