Tag: stressmanagement

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Learning the Emotional Impacts Of Stress

A new pandemic is unleashing, and with a vengeance – increased stress and emotional problems in the workplace. Or, should I say, from the workplace.

 

Everyday, there are new stories arising that relate to the negative impact that stress is having on workers, which is not industry-specific (although some industries seem to be suffering more, such as healthcare).  According to the American Institute of Stress, 80% of workers are experiencing on-the-job stress, some more severely than others.

 

Stress impacts every aspect of our lives, from physical health to emotional health. More than anything, stress negatively impacts our emotional health. It can cause you to be depressed, emotionally spent and exhausted, and a whole slew of other negative things.

 

In this article, we’re going to help you identify the emotional impact of your stress and what you can do about it.

 

Personality changes that may be caused by stress

The first way for you to identify if your stress is impacting your emotional health is by observing a few personality changes. It’s important to note that by personality changes, we mean long-term. Everyone experiences mood shifts, good days and bad days, etc. We’re talking about noticing these personality changes taking effect for days and weeks at a time, or longer.

 

The following are noticeable personality changes that could be caused by stress:

 

  • Irritability
  • Anger
  • Frustration
  • Hostility
  • Decreased interest in appearance
  • Aggressive feelings or behavior
  • Depression
  • Decreased concern in punctuality
  • Lack of motivation
  • The Reduced work efficiency or productivity
  • Obsessive/compulsive behaviors
  • Excessive auspiciousness or defensiveness
  • Lying or making excuses to cover up poor work or behavior
  • Communication difficulties
  • Isolation
  • Social withdraw
  • Impulsivity

 

If you notice any of the following changes taking hold on your life and emotional health, try to limit your stress and maybe seek additional help.

 

Anxiety disorders

Stress can cause certain anxiety disorders to creep up, come back, or flare up. Stress and anxiety are bed mates and rarely exist without each other. If you’re overworked and over-stressed and do nothing about it, anxiety can start to take hold.

 

If you notice that most everything causes you to feel anxious or even to panic, this could be a problem for you. If you’re unfamiliar with the feelings of anxiety, here are some common signs of panic:

 

  • Heart racing
  • Tightness in the chest making it difficult to breath
  • Stomach pain or feelings of butterflies in the stomach
  • Acid reflux
  • Shaking
  • Flushed
  • Hot flashes or chills
  • Numbness in your hands or other parts of the body
  • Feeling dizzy or light-headed

 

It’s important to note that anxiety and panic affect everyone differently. Each person has a different tell for their anxiety attacks; the best advice we can give you is to pay attention and note your signs.

 

Depression

Stress can also impact your emotional health by causing or worsening depression. It’s very important to address depression if it’s starting to take hold in your life, as it can worsen very quickly with little to no warning. If you’ve noticed any of the following symptoms creep up and not seem to go away, consider talking to a friend, loved one, or mental health professional for assistance:

 

  • Decreased interest in favorite things or activities
  • Social withdraw or isolation
  • Decreased interest in appearance
  • Interest in doing little other than laying around
  • Decreased interest in hygiene
  • Fatigue
  • Sense of hopelessness

 

What to do about it

If you’ve noticed that stress is impacting your emotional health, there are a few things you can do to help it:

 

Eliminate unnecessary stressors

Are you taking on more responsibilities than you need to? Do you stress about little things that you should probably just let go? Sit down and take a hard look at your life and what’s causing you stress. See what you can eliminate or work on not taking so hard or letting go of.

 

Keep to a schedule

Sometimes, what’s stressing us out the most is a lack of control. Scheduling your time and sticking to it can help to eliminate some of that excess stress that’s impacting your emotional health. Making lists each day will help you to keep focused on your tasks – you won’t have to think or worry about what to do – and helps with managing your time.

 

Take time for you

We’re all busy, but it’s important for us to work in some time for ourselves. Self-care is an important part of our emotional and mental health. If you’re having trouble with too much stress in your life, carving some time out for yourself may be just what you need to revive yourself and feel rejuvenated.

 

The most important step is to be aware of when you first start experiencing any of the symptoms listed, and not wait, as this will only lead to problems down the road. It is much easier to cope with them at the start, not waiting until they spiral out of control. Keep a journal or mood chart to capture these, including the time of day, what you were doing, etc. This will help you to be more aware and take control of your emotional health at all times.

 

 

 

If you, ore your team, wants to learn more about how to manage emotional wellness in the workplace, reach out for info on our programs and trainings. Awareness is key. We do work with individuals, both in-person and remote.

 

 

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Got Stress? 5 Ways to Feel Calmer Quickly

5 Way to Feel Calmer Quickly

Feeling panicked and over-worked? Stressed out all the time and struggling to focus? You just described pretty much the majority of the population.

Unfortunately, being stressed and burned-out is rapidly becoming the ‘new normal’ in a world where we have too much to do and not enough time to do it in. The good news is that with the ubiquity of this issue, there is also a large array of options when it comes to treating and solving it. Here are five ways you can feel better almost instantly:

Breathe

One of the best ways to feel calmer is to breathe – deep breathing, or belly breathing – as this calms the mind and body quickly. When under stress, we often will take in short breaths which stops air flow and leads to panting and more stress. Also, cortisol is released which increases anxious feelings. Taking your breath in, using the 4-7-8 method (in slowly for a count of 4, hold for 7, then out slowly for 8) becomes an instant calmer; the more you practice, the more automatic this becomes.

Organize

You can go Marie Kondo on your home, or you can just do a little spring clean. Whichever you choose, you’ll find that having a more organized space can instantly help you to feel better about your current predicament.

It’s been said that when our space is messy or disorganized, it can lead to anxious feelings so clearing out can help you feel more in control and relaxed. If you only have five minutes, then just clear your immediate area. It’s often enough.

Eat

If you’re feeling very anxious, it might well be because you have allowed your blood sugar to drop. Something as simply as eating a meal can help to boost it back up and significantly improve your mood again. Our moods are tied extremely closely to what we eat, due to the link between our blood sugar and the release of cortisol and serotonin (the stress and feel good hormones respectively!).

There are some foods that help to regulate blood sugars and help our brain, such as fish, fruits and vegetables, turkey, and sweet potatoes. Just watch on using food as a coping skill.

Go for Walk

Walking helps to engage the ‘default mode network’ – the network of brain regions that spring into action whenever we’re not doing something highly active. The result is that your mind wanders and you feel calm and creative. Fresh air and scenic views will do the rest. A five minute spin around the block is all it takes. If you can, walk in areas with trees as they give off oxygen, which helps as a relaxer.

Meditate

Just five minutes of meditation can be more than enough to help boost your mood and help you to feel better. The aim of meditation is to calm your brain by focusing on something other than the negative thoughts you’re currently experiencing – even if that ‘something else’ happens to be nothing at all!

Meditation is not to take the thoughts away but it is geared so you don’t have to do anything about them. Just set a timer for five minutes, and make an effort to focus on the ins and outs of your breathing. It’s that easy!

Exercise

Another way that you can overcome stress and anxiety is to exercise. This stimulates the release of serotonin, not to mention being extremely good for distracting yourself!

Again, five minutes might well be enough. Just take a moment – do leg lifts in your chair, dance, push-ups, arm curls with light weights, march in place; these are all great ways to get the blood circulating and feeling better in no time.

When you start to feel stress creeping up on you, use these five methods to relax and feel better quickly; the more you keep doing them, the more mastery and good habits you will create to take back control and be able to handle those stressful days.

 

“It’s not stress that kills us, it’s our reaction to it.” (Hans Selye)

 

 

If you’re ready to get your stress under control, reach out to take back the control. We also work with leaders and teams, and do training on stress management and well-being so call today to get started (before it’s too late).

 

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Understand Work Stress Burnout And Take Back Control Today

Work stress today is very prevalent at all levels; prior to the pandemic, work stress was high but, since, work stress is out of control. According to the American Institute of Stress, 80% of workers feel stress on the job. I am sure that number is higher in certain industries, such as restaurants and retail.

The effects of stress can be very detrimental to one’s health and well-being, the effects which can be long-lasting. You may be experiencing the symptoms of work stress burnout no matter your age.

Symptoms of Work Stress

In order to manage stress, you need to understand what the symptoms are before you can take control of it. The symptoms will vary by each person, but there are some general ways stress presents itself. Here are some questions to answer:

+ Are you feeling a lack of personal achievement and satisfaction at work? This is one of the early warning signs.

+ Is going to work a time-consuming drudgery and work itself a day-long bore?

+ Do you get frustrated more easily and/or getting angry with work, your coworkers, your boss or customers?

+ Do you find yourself tired, both physically and mentally?

+ Are you having frequent headaches, backaches, eye strain, or neck pain?

+ Having problems sleeping, either falling asleep or frequently waking up?

+ Are you having trouble eating – either too much, reaching for foods with sugar, or not eating a lot due to an anxious stomach?

+ Do you have racing thoughts that seem to permeate areas of your day?

+ Are you feel anxious during the day, or worry about the future? Have heart palpitations or chest pain?

 

If you answered yes to these, you’re not alone. You are experiencing the effects of stress and may be on the downhill slide to burnout.

You may not be aware of the severity of these symptoms as you may ignore them or attribute them to some external factor. But they can creep on your slowly, taking its toll on your physical and emotional health.  Others may not  understand what you are going through, as burnout is extremely personal in nature – you are having the crisis, not them.

There are emotional and physical symptoms associated with what you are going through.

Emotional symptoms of stress at work…

The emotional symptoms usually show up as the first sign of burn out. You may often feel an unrelenting stress, lack enthusiasm, have a sense of loss of control as well as experience an unexplainable grief.

You may want to blame those around you for the way you feel, but this rarely resolves the inner turmoil that you are experiencing.

In severe cases of work stress, many people experience a sense of total detachment and wanting to escape the situation; the more they have these thoughts, the more detached and shut down they can become.

This feeling often results in a loss of productivity and creativity. It also fuels negativity and cynicism, with a quickness to get angry and blame others. Over time you may find solace in detaching yourself from others by isolating from your team members; however this will not resolve the issue.

One of the biggest effects of prolonged stress is feelings of guilt and shame – this list could go on, but many feel guilty for not working as hard or contributing as their teammates, or just for not being ‘strong enough.’ These types of thoughts and feelings only add to one’s stress level, which the spiral down continues.

 

Physical Symptoms that accompany job stress…

Work stress also affects your body. The feeling of “never being able to do enough” may drive you to work extensively long hours in an effort to catch up.

Physical exhaustion may take the form of headaches, physical shaking from head to foot, inability to think clearly and being unable to relax. Pain can show up in other parts of your body, such as you neck, eyes, hips – we each hold stress in differently. You might find your hair falling out and you are more susceptible to colds and illness due to your immune system being compromised.

Physical exhaustion also causes you to lose your natural communication ability, so communication between your spouse and children, your boss or co-workers may sometimes become explosive; you might have the opposite effect with withdrawal behaviors – not speaking up, being overly agreeable despite not wanting to.

There is also the possibility of experiencing gastrointestinal problems; you may find comfort in food or alcohol as a way to cope, or you may feel an aversion to food due to a ‘nervous’ stomach.

 

Is there a solution?

Yes there is. You need to gather information and make a lifestyle change. Making the determination to deal with stress is the first step. Understanding the concept of stress, such as through the American Institute of Stress (http://www.Stress.org) will help as awareness is the key.

Another step is to be more aware of the symptoms you are experiencing, i.e. know your body. Begin to notice when you have aches and pains, when your routine veers from its normal, when you detach or become aggressive in your behaviors towards others – this is when you, then, are able to stop the feelings and learn to use good coping skills that will lesson stress and its effects.

Stress can be managed but, if you’ve been under its effects for a while, it can take time to begin to feel more relaxed and able to handle your job. Write down you stressors to see how you can go about managing them so you can enjoy your work again.

 

 

If you are having difficulty with workplace stress, reach out to get help as we have programs that can help you and your team survive and thrive so their performance, productivity, and satisfaction are at their highest. Help is available – just reach out.

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Be Accepting of Yourself While Striving for Greatness

There is absolutely no way for you to be successful and reach your goals until you accept who you are. You have to like yourself and what you do before anyone else will.

The world detects how you feel about yourself and often simply shares the opinion you have about who you are. It is said that what you put out is what you attract; so, if you are not kind and compassionate to yourself, then you will be coming from a low level of vibration which will show up in all areas of your life, especially in your work.

When you are at a lower level, stress and anxiety are free to creep in which can lead to a host of mental, physical, and emotional troubles. Productivity and time management decline, behavioral issues may arise (i.e. irritability, conflict, etc.), and disengagement to some level occurs.

But, it doesn’t have to be that way. Whether you realize it or not, you do have control over your thoughts and actions so you step into your greatness. You must be yourself and free yourself in the process.

You are an individual who is unique. Your talents and abilities, you intelligence and interests, you opinions and tastes, make you who you are. There is no need to hide a part of yourself or alter a part of yourself for the sake of conformity. True success is about freedom and all truly successful people are individualists who have, more or less, accepted and glorified who they are. You should do the same.

At the same time, being yourself does not mean glorying in mediocrity. You need to be the very best version of yourself possible. This means that you have to work at being you.

You have to put the time into self-improvement. If you want to be great, you have to take daily actions that lead you there. Acceptance is not an excuse for laziness, cowardice or fear. Life is a privilege. It is a gift.

The gift and the privilege of life is that you get to be yourself, the best self you can possibly be. Use the gift; take advantage of the privilege that you’ve been given every day. Take time to breathe, to plan, to visualize, and to work on becoming the best version of you so you become great.

 

            “To increase your effectiveness, make your emotions subordinate to         your commitments” (Brian Koslow)

 

Don’t squander the chance. Let your own unique light shine forth. This is the light that will illuminate the path to real success in life. It will also be the light that attracts other people to you and shines the way to greatness.

 

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