Why holding in your work stress does more harm than good

10 January 2022

How you cope with your work stress may save you from aggravation

Work stress hits us more than we would like to admit. We all deal with it and we all try our best to ignore it. No one wants to have that work stress eat away at them at the beginning of the work or really anytime during the week. You could have the most comfortable job out there and you can still experience work stress.

Work stress can hit us all differently. It could be an aggravation that causes us to have a stress headache, or maybe just emotionally drain you by the time you are done with your workday. The sad thing is that it doesn’t just go away when you clock out from your job. That stress can follow you home and even affect your home life. Many people who hold onto this stress end up lashing out to their family members or friends due to the high-strung feeling they get from a demanding job.

working from home

The last thing we want to do as kind and loving creatures is to make anyone important in our lives feel bad or even think less of us. The reason why these people are in our lives is that they make it better. They make us want to continue to work hard for the better life we want to share with us. Most people feel there are 2 different versions of themselves. There is the work them and then the non-work them. We can be quite naïve when we think that those environments won’t blend but no matter what we do it will sometimes. This is even more true with many of us working from home.

Working from home is hard to keep those environments away from each other. Most people don’t realize this but the space you use from your office is easily your work sanctuary but also a place that you can walk away from and no longer think about when you are done working. This is a huge reason why many people will find a spare room away from their common relaxation areas like the living room or even a family room. Doing so will help you prevent your subconscious from unintentionally mixing together.

So how can you keep that work stress at bay whether you are working from home or working at your office building? This is a question that many of us have asked ourselves from time to time. Work stress can be kept at bay but also even defeated with the right tools in your arsenal. One of the biggest things that can keep your work stress low is your breaks. Work breaks are our way of unwinding from the weight of a workday. Your breaks are a great way to shut off your brain, enjoy some form of bliss and keep your mind off work.

watch funny YouTube

Sure, sometimes it can be hard to immediately turn off the work stress when your schedule reminds you to take a break. When you get ready to take a break, you should take a deep breath and exhale out the stress so that your mind is clear. This will help you get ready to enjoy your break and whatever you want to do to find some entertainment or relaxation. Many people will watch funny YouTube or listen to some music to jazz themselves up to take on the second part of the day.

Another way that you can conquer your work stress other than your breaks would be to find something enjoyable to listen to while you work. Some people feel that audiobooks are a great way to relax while others feel that listening to fun or inquisitive podcast is a better option. Sure not all of us can do this at every moment while we work because we are on phone calls or in meetings, but if you have the average desk job or even a job that keeps you on your feet all day, there might be a time you can squeeze in to enjoy either one of these.

One final suggestion for you to block away the work stress is to take a moment to walk away from your desk. Sure, you can do this by going on your break but sometimes you just need a minute or two to walk away and collect your thoughts. Being in an environment that can be toxic or negative can continue to affect you the more you are in it. Taking a few moments for yourself to walk away and collect your thoughts is something we all should do, no matter if we are working from home or working in an office building.

work stress

No one can be buckled to a desk 8 hours a day without some time to expel the negativity that can come with a demanding work environment. Sometimes the work stress isn’t just the job itself, but possibly someone you are working with. Office bullying and even people who are not very friendly will be around no matter what you do. Some of them are lashing out because maybe their own work stress has gotten to them, while others are just terrible people no matter what. We didn’t want to deal with that type of person in our schoolyard days let alone as an adult while trying to make an honest living.

A stressful work environment is going to be with any of us no matter what we do but if we have ways to show that we are stronger than that stress, it will stop chipping away at our calm minds. You can be triumphant against the work stress one day at a time. Some of these suggestions may even inspire you to create your own ways of combating work stress. We are all capable of being happy at work no matter how hard the days can be. Remember to remind yourself that when the workday gets hard, you can easily make that stress go away but standing up and walking away for a couple of minutes to relax.