You work hard and do your part to make the company you work for successful. What you expect in return, is your pay, a little acknowledgement, and to know that the company makes sure that you are healthy and safe at work.
Management takes all sorts of security measures these days to protect their workers, but one area that most experts agree does not get enough attention, is protecting their workers from the dangers of too much stress at work.
Stress is a physical, mental, and productivity killer and it is difficult to spot. But it is an incredibly important issue; insurers now single it out as an important factor in worker illness and loss of productivity. They demand that their company clients take a stand against over-stressing their workers, and the top healthcare policies reward companies for doing so.
For employees, they need to be aware of the signs of too much stress and use strategies to eliminate stress or reduce it greatly. It might be that you need to talk to a medical professional. This is where private health insurance can be incredibly useful, allowing you to make appointments online so you don’t need to risk taking time off work.
Here are some pointers for employees to manage their stress levels better:
Know Your limits
Most people, if they pay attention, can tell when they are reaching or have passed their stress limit. Typical signs include irritability, confusion, a lack of ability to concentrate, forgetfulness and often light-headedness. These are the beginning signs that your body is not working properly because of stress and that you need to back away from it before it causes damage to you.
So you should pay attention to your stress load and when you are near your limit and see symptoms, you alert your manager that you need to take a break. If it stays high, you should take some time off from work to get yourself back to a calm state.
Studies around stress point to it being the gateway for many problems, including high blood pressure, anxiety, heart problems and depression. Insurers today are even warning companies about the need to minimize stress in their workplaces.
In the end, being proactive about stress in the workplace translates into better productivity and happier workers. So if you are having issues about stress tell someone in management about what you are going through. They should take it seriously and get you some assistance.
Don’t Take Your Work Home With You
You should leave your work at your place of work, and never take it home with you unless it is an absolute necessity, and only for a specific short period of time. When you live with your work 24/7 you never get a chance to move away from the stress commonly associated with working. And if you are taking it home with you, there is a good chance that you are doing so because things are very stressful at work and you simply do not have the time to complete all of the tasks you need to get done during work hours.
Bringing work home with you is a bad idea because it robs you of the quality time that you should be spending with your family, resting, exercising, working on your hobbies, seeing friends, or even binge watching Netflix. These activities give you the chance to meet obligations, remind yourself why you work so hard, and to de-stress and decompress. Many of them may seem like only nice things to do, but they contribute greatly to your well-being and contentment which is what motivates you in life.
Managing stress will help you become healthier and make life at and away from work more enjoyable.
