Since 1992, April has been designated as Stress Awareness Month. Throughout the month, health practitioners are committed to promoting healthy ways to prevent, recognize and mitigate stress and its affects on our mental and physical well-being.
The WebMD website offers 10 Relaxation Techniques That Zap Stress Fast. You can click here for the full article, but my favorite is #3: Be present (or, as I would say, be fully present!)
We cause so much of our own stress by hanging on to events of the past or worrying about the future. The past is done. It cannot be changed in any way. Wasting today’s energy on yesterday makes no sense!
Tomorrow is not here, yet. While reasonable planning makes good sense, overly worrying about what “might” happen tomorrow lifts the joy right out of today. Be fully present to the here and now; enjoy the people around you, really feel the textures you touch, inhale the delicious smells, relish a good meal, sip a good wine, pick fresh flowers, do good work, be kind, be thankful and smile!
Stress in the workplace:
Work is the leading cause of stress in America. Center for Disease Control report on stress. While everyone reacts differently, some of the key factors in work stress include:
- General dissatisfaction with the work environment or work assignments
- Having too much work and/or too much responsibility
- Regularly working long hours
- Dangerous working conditions
- Workplace harassment and/or discrimination
- Presentations to peers and/or higher level leadership
- Poor communication from leadership:
- unclear expectations or direction
- having no say in decisions that affect their work
- lack of clarity around advancement opportunities
- no recognition of work well done
- public criticism of work products
Talk to your team members about what their stress triggers are. Ask how they manage stress. If there are environmental causes of stress in the workplace (i.e., sound, light, space), partner with leadership to address, if possible. As you assign work or face major projects, deadlines or changes, help your people manage their stress. The best thing you can do? Communicate, communicate, communicate. Listen, watch and share information.
For a little help in identifying and managing stress, click here to take WebMD’s quick assessment: How Well Do You Handle Your Stress? And, always, seek professional help if your stress is standing in the way of living your life to the the fullest.
