Time and spirits shorten in the office. What can we do to help ourselves and our employees manage stress?
First, it’s easy to keep focusing on the future rather than spending valuable time, as a task force or team, enjoying our successes in the past. Good bosses can start with more praise, thanking their people personally, proactively, and sincerely for the quality of their work.
One of the keys to managing stress is having a proper perspective. Many people work harder and harder than ever, just to keep up with the economy, their financial needs, and their desire to spend time at home. We can all feel stuck on a treadmill, with no end in sight. This can lead to conflicts between employees with different opinions about what and how things are done. It can be helpful for each employee to take a moment to catch their breath, pause for a second, and then provide a response to a colleague that is based on clear thinking about hard emotions.
Second, it is important to keep in mind the concept of work-life balance. It may not be possible to do everything in one day. As Teddy Roosevelt said, “Do the best you can, with what you have, where you are.” This means that, as an employee, you must be satisfied with doing your best, knowing that there are many distractions in the office as you try to achieve your goals. As a supervisor, you need to be flexible and realistic about how much you can do yourself and how much your employees can accomplish.
Regarding personal stress management, the acronym “REDS” can help: Relaxation, Exercise, Diet, Sleep.
Relaxation means taking time each day to find a quiet place to close your eyes for a few moments and completely relax your body, from head to toe. Even 15 minutes can make a big difference to your energy level.
Exercise means that you try to get at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. Lots of busy people are shopping for pedometers and trying to record the 10,000 suggested steps in their daily work, home, and exercise routines. Exercise burns stress as much as calories.
Dieting means you have to stay away from too many foods to feel good and focus on eating small amounts of healthy servings, in moderation. Too much alcohol, sugar, and fat increase stress levels and waistlines.
Sleep needs are a great key to managing stress. We are a sleep deprived culture and most people rarely have the eight hours they need to reset their minds and bodies and prepare for the next day. Developing bedtime rituals, such as showering, listening to soft music, reading or writing a to-do list for tomorrow by the bedside tonight, can help prepare your mind for sleep.
It is always a good time to focus on two keys: gratitude and optimism. We all have things to be thankful for: good health, connections with family or friends, continued employment, some money in the bank, and hope for the future.
Finally, maybe a little Zen thinking can help too. Everything in life is a series of moments. If we take the time to enjoy the little moments in the office: a pleasant environment, familiar and friendly colleagues and new businesses on the horizon, all is well.
