5 Ways to Cope with Work Stress

For the past few weeks, I’ve been busy with a big project at my day job. It’s a social media and fundraising campaign that has a lot of moving parts. It’s actually happening right now and going very well! But, we had to wait for some decisions to be made and got started working on collateral much later then I would have preferred. Needless to say, my anxiety has been high, so I’ve been working on ways to cope with the stress. No matter what your job is, you’ve probably experienced work stress at one point or another…and it’s pretty likely that it will happen again. So, I thought I would share 5 ways to cope with work stress that have been helping me during this busy time:

1. Ask for help: We all want to prove ourselves as hard workers who can get stuff done, but we can’t always do it on our own. Sometimes you need to ask for help, and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean you’re not capable, you just realize that getting someone else involved will help you produce a better overall work product.
2. Talk it out: Last week, my best friend Elena and I went for a long walk one day after work. We both had a lot on our minds, and it was so nice to talk about it with someone who understood and wouldn’t judge. Just getting all of those swirling thoughts out of your head and out in the open makes a big difference.
3. Recognize when you need to decompress: If you’re not making coherent sentences anymore, or you’re feeling panicky and overwhelmed, take a break. Go for a walk around the block and clear your head. Or, go for a workout and then do more work from home later if you need to. The quality of your work is going to decrease if you keep pushing yourself when you know you’re burnt out, so don’t let that happen.
4. Let yourself relax: Once you determine that you’ve reached the point of the day when you can’t do anything more, let yourself relax. Curl up with a good book, watch some trashy TV, or take a bath, and don’t look at your email for a while. The world will continue spinning and you’ll feel recharged.
5. Invest in tools to help you do your best work: If you’re using the free version of something, but upgrading would save you serious time and effort, make the case to the powers that be to invest in the tools you need. The worst they can say is no, so you might as well ask! Also, there are plenty of inexpensive notebooks, pads and planners to help you stay organized during the busiest times. There’s nothing wrong with needing a little help keeping everything together! All too often, we make it harder for ourselves for no reason, and that’s just silly.

How do you cope with work stress? Share your tips in the comments.