Managing Stress

Nurture | Managing Stress

What is Stress?

Stress is defined as “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances”

Stress affects everyone differently and for some people it has very little or no effect on them at all.

To tackle and manage stress it is important that you first identify the triggers that cause it. This could be amultitude of things such as:

Unachievable deadlinesTroubled relationships at both home and workLack of support Too big a workloadA change in circumstancesA global pandemic Shortage of financesShortage of staff

11 million working days are lost each year in the UK to Stress

The list goes on.

Ignoring any of your stress triggers can, and will, lead to you burning out and what are you going to dothen? Not very much probably.

Recognising stress in your colleagues and team is also important. You should be looking out for signs of:

Social withdrawalDepression AngerWorryLateness Increased time offDecreased productivityLack of motivation Increased emotional reaction

Employers have both a legal obligation to protect their employees not only physically, but emotionallytoo, and as humans we have a moral obligation to be looking out for and helping one another.

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Nurture | Managing Stress

How Can Stress Be Managed?

Exercise

It’s no secret that exercise can help to combat stress levels, depression, and a magnitude of other mental & physical health conditions. It increases the level of endorphins your brain produces; this is what makes us feel good after exercising. It also helps to improve sleep which is often affected by high stress levels and, of course, it can help to relieve any pent-up aggression and bad feelings.

Frequent Breaks

When the pressure is on at work; there’s deadlines to meet, reports to be handed in, staff off sick etc it’s so easy to try and power through for a solid 8 or 10 or 12 hours in an attempt to keep your head above water. However, it is imperative you are taking frequent and adequate breaks. This is for 2 reasons: 1. It’ll actually make you work better and more productively 2. It gives you a chance to breathe.

Now these few tips might be fairly obviousto you, but it’s amazing the number of people who do not do any of these thingsand suffer the consequences of extremelyhigh levels of stress. Stress can lead to serious health conditions, so we need to bemanaging it.

Eating Well

Eating well and exercise go hand in hand. Fuel your body properly. The vitamins, minerals and nutrients in good food give us the energy we need to conquer day to day life. It’s proven that eating well and exercising regularly can help us with managing our emotions.

Digital Lifestyle

In today’s life we are so wrapped up in the internet, our phones, Facebook, Instagram and so on! It certainly can’t be good for us when we are trying to manage our emotions and stress levels. There’s so much negativity out there, and it’s a complete distraction from what’s really going on around us. Disconnect - I dare you to disconnect from all forms of digital communication for at least one hour a day.

Positive People

Surround yourself with good vibes. Positive people make us feel positive. Engage more with people you enjoy interacting with; socialise, have fun, and most importantly get things off your chest. As they say – “It’s good to talk”

As previously mentioned, stress effects every single one of us differently, and so will the ways you manage it. What works for one person won’t work for another. It’s about finding out what’s best for you. You will need to consider what fits in with your lifestyle, where you live, your shift pattern, but there are so many fantastic resources out there to help. Here’s a few we quite like;

Mental Health UK

Health in Mind

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