We all get stressed at work once in a while. But if you find the anxiety is taking a toll on your well-being, it is time to tackle the problem head-on.
A recent poll conducted by Monster showed workloads and job security, office politics and deadlines are key stress factors for Singaporeans.
Here are five tips to help you achieve the peace of mind you seek:
Workload and being overworked – Define your priorities
Most life coaches will agree that it is always better dealing with the root of the problem than not dealing with it. Being overworked is a very common cause for stress, as 24% of the people that took part in the poll stated.
While you might not be able to reject work, there is another way of solving the problem. The fact that you are overworked might not even be apparent to your superior, so talking directly to your manager can help solve the problem in two ways. Firstly, your manager might give you less work. Secondly, you can define your goals and priorities at work together with your manager, which will help you to define a better positioning in your company.
Sense of job security – Define your needs
Weak economies and budget cuts mean even the best workers have to deal with low job security. 12% of the respondents in Singapore said they feared for their jobs.
When it comes to job security, we might not always be able to control our situation, but we can define what we value most. What is it that you really want from your job? The lack of job security can help you to reflect upon your current situation. If job security is one of your greatest needs, you should consider making a change in your working life. Redefine your values and go for it.
Navigating office politics – Define common goals
Power plays in the office can have many reasons, ranging from stressed superiors to an overly competitive environment. A surprising 39% have indicated that navigating office politics is their greatest source of stress at work. Although you can’t stop other people from engaging in politics, there are other ways to deal with these issues.
More often than not, office politics are the result of someone’s tunnel vision. ‘Understanding before being understood’ is a good attitude to have in this situation. Once you find out what the motivations and goals of other people are, you can find synergies. Creating a win-win situation often will help to circumnavigate office politics altogether.
Meeting deadlines – Define your timeline
Having to deal with deadlines is, unfortunately, a necessary part of most people’s job. While you might be able to stretch them on occasions, it won’t always be possible. 13% of Singaporeans polled indicated meeting deadlines as their greatest challenge and source of stress.
Whether you hate deadlines on thrive on them, there are several effective strategies to ensure it doesn’t overwhelm you. Getting stressed about deadlines is usually the result of not having a sufficient overview. Organise your deadlines visually and according to priority. Knowing your schedule and having a visual overview won’t make the deadlines go away, but it will make you feel less stressed.
Getting work done within existing budgets – Define your focus
Even Fortune 500 companies have budget restrictions. Actually, it is the reason why they got to be where they are now. 10% of the polled workers stated that getting work done within existing budgets is highly stressful for them. But restrictions can help you define your focus.
Regardless of the budget, the work needs to be done. However, not everything can be done at the same time. Limited budgets can actually be very useful when it comes to defining priorities. Pick one of your projects and allocate your available budgets there. Once you nail it, you can move on to other projects.
There is no need to get overly stressed at work, especially if you love what you do. Be honest with yourself and define your source of stress. Once you know what it is, you can work on resolving it.
