Mental health in the workplace: 5 ways to manage stress

Stress caused by work can have one of the biggest impacts on our mental health. That’s why, for Mental Health Awareness Week, we have compiled five ways to manage your workplace stress.

Personal development

Working on our personal development is an ongoing learning process which enables us to understand ourselves, our values and beliefs, and how we relate to others. This might be through working with a Life Coach, attending workshops and trainings, or reading personal development books, it all helps us to feel more in control of our lives and to be more resilient to stress.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is about being present in the moment and focusing awareness on thoughts, feelings and physical sensations. By achieving this calm and focused mental state we can feel more in control of our reactions and responses to situations, and are able to make positive and more useful choices than when we react from a place of stress or anxiety. Mindfulness can become a daily practice for emotional and physical wellbeing, or can just be used as a tool to help manage stress when it occurs.

Communication

Nobody needs to suffer alone. If you are feeling overwhelmed or close to burnout it is important to reach out to someone who can help you. Whether this is through venting to a loved one or therapist about your stressors or speaking directly to a manager about removing some of the factors causing your stress, communication is key.

Gratitude

Daily gratitude practices can help to keep things in perspective. You could either make a daily list of things for which you are grateful today, or write a gratitude journal, or incorporate gratitude into daily meditation.

Mind your language

Become more aware of the language you use and the way you speak about yourself and situations. Using negative language can become a habit and your mind will absorb those messages on a subconscious level. Practice noticing the language that you use and make the effort to use more positive language whenever you can.

Check out our eBook, Employee Well-being and Stress-Management for daily tips and tricks you can use to decrease your personal stress as well as the stress of your employees.