HANDLING JOB STRESS AND BALANCING LIFE.

I am tempted to think it is normal to experience job stress in an office environment or from home (remote work), but how we handle it is vital to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

But wait, a positive work environment where there is cooperation, trust, respectful behaviours, accountability, good and quality communication, appreciation and celebration of success could distract you from feeling any stress.
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Yeah, you won't feel it, most importantly, you will enjoy your job and feel at peace. But, a negative work environment will give you the opposite.

I know and understand that workload is not the only cause of job stress so identifying the causes will help manage it better.

I had the opportunity to work in an office and work from home, from experience, I would say working from home seems more flexible compared to working from an office environment.

In this blog post, I shared how job stress can be handled both in the office and from home and how I handled mine and I believe it will help you too, but first, let's examine a few causes of job stress because once we identify them, we can find a solution.

Identifying The Causes of Job Stress

• Excessive workload: There is a limit to what can be done in a day at work but at times, some employers would want to overwork their employees.

  I worked as a customer service representative in an office and some days I would be overwhelmed by the amount of work I had at hand either on a day or night shift.

• Being under pressure: Considering the amount of work to be done with tight deadlines and an expectation of perfection, can cause one to be under pressure which could take away peace of mind.

  The same goes for having personal and family problems which may negatively affect your work if not controlled or handled properly.

• Poor communication: In a work environment, communication is key and when there is unclear communication, feedback and proper work report through the right channels, there would be poor job performance.

  Anyone who is not careful and doesn't ask the right questions would risk falling into the trap and taking the blame for not acting responsibly.

• Lack of breaks: Spending so much time sitting and focused on the job can affect one's overall health and should be managed accordingly to prevent poor mental, physical and emotional health.

  Also, prolonged screen use can negatively affect the eyes (causing blurred vision), head (causing prolonged headaches), mental and emotional health which may lead to burnout,... Oh, yeah, burnout is real..., decreased productivity and creativity, social isolation and finally losing some hours of sleep.

• Job threat: The fear of losing your job and source of livelihood creeps in when your job is threatened directly by your boss, restructuring of the company, competition from other candidates and other possible factors.

You can see that all these causes are connected leading to stress. Well, that's just a few.

Handling Stress In The Office

• Taking breaks: Taking short breaks at intervals takes the eyes and mind off work, improves focus and productivity and reduces stress and burnout.

  One of the things I did when I worked in an office environment was to walk around my office to stretch my legs and body, greet some colleagues (the ones I saw around) or make a quick call to speak to a family member or friend.

  Walking around and stretching the legs helps reduce tension, improves circulation reduces the numbness in the feet.

• Promoting good communication: Leading by example is a good start, encouraging teammates to communicate clearly, being detailed in giving feedback and reports, resolving any conflict or misunderstanding and building good relationships with colleagues can promote good communication.

  Taking it a step further will be signing up workers for a communication training session which will be helpful.

  Whenever I resumed my shift at work, I didn't rely on the handover report, I asked further questions in case there was information that was not updated or recorded which I always updated before resuming my shift.

• Meditation and mindful practices: This can be practised during short breaks, a few minutes of deep breathing exercises and listening to some soothing music help to reduce stress and calm the mind.

  This has helped me a lot.

• Build confidence: Politely refusing to do a job not recorded in your offer letter won't be rude or bad. It will help you plan, focus more on the work assigned to you and deliver before the deadline.

• Eating healthy: This should not be skipped. This is one thing I didn't miss. I took healthy foods and fruits to work and on night shifts I mostly ate fruit salad I prepared or had a sizeable bunch of bananas which I ate throughout the night. (Don't worry, it wasn't big 😋).

• Facing your fears and building a positive mindset: Gaining the confidence and the mind to work in a negative work environment where your job is threatened keeps you alert to learn more skills and become more versatile and also have a side gig or side hustle.
  

Handling Stress From Home

All that I mentioned about handling job stress in the office is also applicable to handling job stress from home, but the difference here is, there is more comfort and flexibility.

Whether you are working remotely for a company or you are an entrepreneur, this will be helpful.

A few additions to handling job stress from home will be:

• Taking a nap when necessary while listening to relaxing music in a more relaxed state can help calm the mind, relax the body and make you active again to stay more focused and productive.

• Putting notifications to sleep to avoid distractions.

• Also, one thing I love to do is to go out to admire and listen to the singing birds, and whispering trees and take some good selfies and photos of the sky.

• I reflect on my little achievements and I feel grateful for them.

There are likely more causes of job stress, feel free to add them along with the ways to handle them. I'm looking forward to them in the comment section. 😊

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog. It is highly appreciated.

Love from @winanda 🧡

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<sub>Thumbnail created by me on Canva.

Images are mine.</sub>

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SEE YOU SOON IN MY NEXT BLOG.

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About Winanda

	Winanda (Ikwuoma Winifred Diala) holds a Bachelor's degree in Petroleum Engineering. She embraced her passion and became a baker, recipe developer, creative writer, and food content creator. Composing songs, listening to music, and seeing movies, are a few of her hobbies.

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