April is Stress Awareness Month, and the Orthus Health Coaches have put together a list of tips to help create a stress-free environment in the home and workplace.
According to the Mayo Clinic, stress symptoms can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings, and your behavior. Being able to recognize common stress symptoms can help you manage them. Stress that's left unchecked can contribute to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. See below these common symptoms of stress:
The workplace is likely a source of stress, especially now with all the changes due to the Covid pandemic. Learning ways to cope with your stress can benefit you not only at work but also at home. A good first step is to determine what your triggers are for feeling stressed. Look at each of them individually and evaluate whether there is anything you can do to improve the situation or whether you have no control over it at all. Let go of those things you cannot control and focus on those that you can change. Find a way to tackle each of these, resolving them one at a time.
Mayo Clinic recommends looking at your time management skills and sharpening these. Here are a few tips to help:
Set realistic goals. Work with colleagues and leaders to set realistic expectations and deadlines. Have regular progress reviews and adjust your goals as needed.
Make a priority list. Prepare a list of tasks and rank them in order of priority. Throughout the day, scan your master list and work on tasks in priority order.
Protect your time. For an especially important or difficult project, block time to work on it without interruption. Also, break large projects into smaller steps.
There are a number of stress management techniques you can try to help you manage your stress and several free stress management apps that you may have access to that include things like breathing techniques, meditation or visualization. Check them out and choose one to use that is right for you.
Remember to always keep an open dialogue with your doctor about how you are feeling. Your doctor can recommend medication or counseling that may be right for you. You may also have access to services through your employer’s Employee Assistance Program. Evaluate what resources are available to you and reach out for support.