How to Deal with Overwhelming Work Stress
From tight deadlines to challenging bosses and coworkers, it is not uncommon for many adults to deal with stress in their professional lives. However, with proper stress management techniques, many individuals are able to balance their work life and home life for a better quality of living. Handling stress, however, is not everyone’s forte, and working with a therapist or counselor at Real Talk Counseling of Charlotte, North Carolina, is a great way to work out common stressors and management techniques to lower stress and improve overall health and happiness. If you are looking for ways to deal with work stress, let’s move forward with a few tips and recommendations from our Real Talk Counseling team!
What can cause work stress?
There are several factors that might contribute to work stress, including:
High workloads beyond your capacity and abilities
Lack of control and feeling powerless during decisions
Unclear expectations that can lead to anxiety and fear
Conflicts and poor relationships with coworkers and supervisors
How can I identify my work stressors?
Taking the first step to identify specific factors that contribute to your work stress is the first step in learning how to manage it without feeling overwhelmed. Reflect on your daily tasks and your interactions with others during a work day, and keep a journal for several weeks to write down times in which you feel high levels of work stress and how they made you feel. This allows our counselors at Real Talk Counseling to better assess what is causing your stress and then develop a plan to address it.
What can I do about my work stress?
Below are a few recommendations our therapists may suggest to help lower and reduce stress as much as possible in your daily work environment:
Prioritize and organize tasks. Feeling overwhelmed because of an unmanageable workload is common, but by prioritizing tasks and organizing your workload according to deadlines can make it easier to plan the week and still manage all tasks in a timely manner.
Set realistic goals. Managing work-related stress often starts by setting realistic goals and understanding what can be done in a certain period of time without adding further stress. Learn to say no to certain projects you are not obligated to take on and communicate with your supervisors and managers if you feel their goals are too challenging to meet.
Practice mindfulness techniques. Finding ways to relax through deep breathing, yoga, or meditation once or several times a day can help you to manage work stress that might be giving you feelings of being overwhelmed.
Foster healthier relationships at work. Positive relationships with colleagues and supervisors can significantly reduce stress when you find ways to bond with them and collaborate with them effectively in times when stress is high. Delegation and sharing of tasks can occur when there is a positive relationship amongst the others working on your same team.
Seek professional help if needed. If you still struggle with managing work stress even after attempting the above recommendations, do not feel ashamed to seek professional guidance from our team at Real Talk Counseling to help you grasp the levels of stress you are working under and find solutions to help you take back a great quality of life in and out of the workplace.
Who can I talk to in and around the Charlotte, North Carolina, area regarding work stressors?
If you live in the community of Charlotte, North Carolina, or the surrounding communities and are ready to work with a therapist to learn more about managing work stress, we invite you to call our office or complete this form to schedule a visit at our clinic, conveniently located at 2128 McClintock Road.
