16 Helpful Ways to Deal with Stress At Work

Noelle Forseth

40% of workers reported their job was very or extremely stressful. That’s a problem.

Regardless of what kind of work you do, the reality is that workplace stress is detrimental for employers and employees. Read on to find the causes of job stress, why it’s so harmful, and helpful tips to cope with workplace stress.

What causes stress in the workplace?

Stress points certainly vary among industries and different roles, but many overlap. These can include:

Downsizing

A bad economy or a company experiencing a budget crunch leads to downsizing. Every worker, whether hourly or salaried, experiences stress from the fear of losing their job, particularly if they see others around them getting the pink slip.

Increased work loads

When there are layoffs, other workers are required to pick up the extra load. This is both physically and mentally exhausting. Salaried workers may find themselves putting in longer hours to get their work done without the benefit of overtime, and hourly workers may be forced to work harder to get the job done in the same amount of time. Either way, it’s stressful.

Pressure to perform

A workplace that fixates heavily on measuring performance and productivity might not realize that those things are putting stress on workers.

Longer work hours

Salaried and hourly workers who pull in longer hours suffer various health problems based on the type of work they do. They have a higher propensity for heart disease, diabetes, and weight gain. Unhealthy workers don’t combat stress well; the two compound each other, with stress causing health issues and health issues feeding into stress.

Issues with coworkers

You may spend nearly as much time with coworkers as your friends and family (if not more). If you don’t get along with the people you work with, this can cause anxiety and low productivity and morale, among other issues.

Why is job stress so harmful?

Job stress accumulates, and its impact on workers is inevitable. It leads to:

Sickness

Too much stress makes you unhealthy. Stress has physical repercussions, and lots of job stress leads to sick employees. This means absenteeism, or higher health insurance costs for employers.

Depression

Without good coping strategies, stress can lead to depression.

Violence

25% of workers have felt like screaming at a coworker because of stress, while 14% have felt like hitting one. Stress puts employees on edge with each other in a dangerous way.

Reduced productivity

If you’re stressed out, you’re not going to be operating at peak productivity. You’re going to miss deadlines.

Problems at home

When work is stressful, it tends to bleed into an employee’s home life. That compounds, and they bring that home stress back to work. It’s a brutal cycle that can bring employees to a grinding halt.

Retention problems

19% of workers have quit a job because of stress they felt at work. If the job is too stressful, you’ll lose employees. Ironically, your best employees may inadvertently be the ones to go because they have been saddled with more responsibility and a higher workload. Sure, they get the work done, but the stress is burning them out.

If your business has retention problems, try these 7 strategies to retain employees.

How to deal with stress at work: 16 tips

As you can see, job stress is detrimental to your career and overall quality of life. Here are some tips to help you deal with stress at work:

1. Address conflict without adding to it

Conflicts are going to happen at any job—whether it’s between coworkers or managers, it’s inevitable. What you do with that conflict, though, determines if it’ll be a stress point or not.

Don’t let conflict continue. If there’s a fight between employees, or you are an employee and are butting heads with someone else, it needs to be addressed. Use conflict management solutions outlined in the employee handbook. Ignoring conflict doesn’t make it go away. It makes it get bigger.
Avoid punitive responses. Punishment, instead of reward, creates fear, which creates stress. Resolve conflicts and problems positively, and not through negative reinforcement.

2. Create a sense of loyalty to your workers

By showing that you trust and value your workers, you create a sense of loyalty and safety. That reduces stress.

48% of workers who say their employers aren’t loyal to them are dissatisfied with their job stress levels, compared to just 26% of workers who are happy with their employer’s loyalty. Being in a culture of loyalty and trust reduces unnecessary stress significantly.

3. Avoid irregular work schedules as much as possible

Salaried workers don’t have to deal with varying work schedules, but hourly employees do. And it’s a huge stressor. Almost 30% of workers with irregular schedules report having serious work and family conflicts over the issue.

Random shift changes and on-call work schedules can all lead to stress, because workers are constantly in limbo when it comes to balance between work and life. They never know when they’ll need to work with much advance, and it’s difficult for them to make personal plans or even decompress when they could be called to work at any moment.

Try to create schedules that your employees can depend on. Make sudden changes as rare as possible. Make it possible for your employees to rely on a steady schedule enough that they can arrange a solid personal life around their work schedule. This will help them return to work refreshed.

Bonus tip: Using a reliable work scheduling app allows employees to visualize their schedule so that they can arrange plans outside of work. (For more tips on supporting hourly employees, check out How HR Can Meet Employee Needs In Shift-Based Workplaces.)

4. Make wellness a part of the workplace

Since stress can create physical illness, doing what you can to keep your employees healthy can combat stress. There are several ways employers can encourage wellness:

Gym memberships. You can give gym memberships (or discounts) to employees.
Wearable technology. Give devices like the FitBit or JawBone Up, which measure steps, heart rate, and activity. Have competitions in which employees compete to be the most active to win prizes.
Provide healthy snacks. Make healthy snacks available in the breakroom instead of junk food and sugary soda.
Free checkups. Partner with a local clinic to offer free tests for employees, such as blood sugar, cholesterol, or blood pressure.
Encourage breaks. Make sure your employees take their breaks and take the time off coming to them.

Healthy and rested employees are less stressed and do better work. It’s that simple.

5. Know the difference between good stress and bad stress

Not all stress is bad, and not all stress can (or should) be avoided.

Good stress motivates you. Deadlines, tests, or being asked to speak in front of other people—these are all situations that create stress, but they are also what motivates us. Good stress tends to be short-term and can even enhance or improve brain function. When the pressure is on, the brain sharpens up.

Bad stress, however, is chronic. It harms your health, slows you down, and can even start to inhibit thinking.

Essentially, stress uses your fight-or-flight response. Good stress gives you time to recover from that response, but bad stress locks you into it and wears you down. It’s important to know the difference between good and bad stress so you know which is the problem and which is actually helping you.

Also check out: 70 Awesome Ways To Motivate Employees

6. Learn to identify signs of stress

You might not even know you’re feeling stressed. Sounds strange, but it’s possible. Even if you don’t know the true level of stress you’re feeling, your body does. The damage that stress does happens whether you are aware it’s bad or not.

Look for these signs—stress might be affecting you if you:

feel anxious, grumpy, or depressed
feel apathy or disinterest in your job
feel overwhelming dread about your job
have difficulty getting a good night’s sleep
feel general fatigue and tiredness
find it difficult to concentrate on tasks
have tight or sore muscles
have stomach pains and/or headaches
are socially withdrawing from others (if this is unusual for you)
use alcohol, drugs, or other destructive coping mechanisms

If you see a pattern like this list in your life, you need to take action.

7. Tell someone you are struggling with stress

It helps to tell someone that you’re struggling with stress, whether that’s a manager or a coworker. They may be able to help you, or point you to someone who can.

Consider outcomes you’d like to see. Before you go speak with a manager, have a few ideas of what a resolution would look like. You may get a chance to offer them as a solution.
Know the specific source of stress. If it’s a specific person, a shift, or tasks that are more than you can handle, be ready to coherently state your case. It’s hard for a manager to hear “I’m stressed!” and know what to do to relieve it if they don’t know the specific things causing it.
Be ready to discuss collateral effects. If you know others are similarly stressed, let your manager know. Not everyone has the courage to speak up, but if others remain stressed, it will seep into all workers.
Use blame-free language. Be selective with the words you use, and avoid blaming others. Phrase things as they relate to you. For example “I’m struggling with meeting my sales goals” instead of “James makes it impossible for me to meet my sales goals.”
Ask for specific solutions. If you just need to unload and have a counseling session, your manager may not be the best person to go to. But if you’re really looking for solutions, don’t leave the meeting without having some specific things you can do or expect to help change the stressful situation you’re facing.

It’s not a shameful thing, that you’re stressed. It’s worse if you don’t get help and let it build. Most managers would rather employees came and told them they were having stress issues on the job rather than find out through missed deadlines or low productivity.

8. Try to find humor in the situation

Stress isn’t funny, but some situations that cause stress can be seen as humorous if you make the effort.

A good laugh is a good thing. Research has shown that laughter reduces stress and has other positive benefits. Not only does it relieve the stress response, but it brings more oxygen into your body, activates your body, and soothes tension.

Being angry or worrying, on the other hand, is extremely unhealthy, harming your heart, your immune system, and even increasing your risk for stroke.

Finding humor in a situation means:

You never laugh AT a person. No one person is the target of the humor.
You laugh about the ridiculousness of the situation.
You compare a situation to a funny metaphor.
You laugh about a similar situation in the past and try to show the current situation as a temporary problem.

You’ve probably been in that moment where it feels as if a situation could get very ugly very easily, and then someone cracks a joke and the tension seems to immediately leave. That’s what you’re aiming for.

9. Form positive relationships as much as you can

Some people start a job with a chip on their shoulder, and seem to set out to make everyone there miserable. Whether you’re starting a new job, or make it a goal for new employees who start where you work, build a better foundation than that.

Not everyone is outgoing or makes friendships easily. And no one is asking you to make your coworkers your best friends. But you can set out to be positive towards others, avoiding negativity as much as is in your control.

Be a good listener.
Be sincere but generous in complimenting someone else’s work.
Help someone who needs it.
Be willing to teach or mentor someone with less experience than you.
Avoid gossiping or speaking negatively about anyone else on the job.
If conflict or problems have to be addressed, use positive language and avoid accusations or painting someone in a negative light.

Deciding to be positive can go a long way towards relieving job stress. It can make some situations go away, and for those that persist, it can give you a better attitude about them so you don’t feel the stress nearly as much as you might have otherwise.

10. Address physical issues that are adding to stress

As noted earlier, stress has an impact on your physical health, and vice versa.

Basically, all of the things you hear about staying healthy? They help reduce your stress, too.

Stand or sit. Stand more if you sit a lot. Sit if you stand a lot. If you sit, you’re wearing out your back. If you stand, your feet get tired. Break things up, give your body a break.
Move around. Walk on your break. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk in place behind the counter if there are no customers. A good rule of thumb is to avoid sitting or being in one position for more than an hour.
Stretch your muscles. Do basic head, neck, arm, and leg stretches to get the blood flowing. It’s amazing how stress and tension end up locked in the muscles of the body. Work that out through stretches.
Consume less caffeine and sugar. Excessive use of caffeine and sugar make you edgy and jumpy. Consuming more than 350 mg of caffeine a day can cause energy-sapping dehydration issues. Eat fruits and vegetables instead of candy or carbs. Drink water or herbal tea instead of soda and coffee.
Avoid nicotine. It seems like nicotine relaxes you, but it’s actually a stimulant. It’s going to exacerbate the physical effects of stress.
Take it easy on alcohol. While alcohol can temporarily reduce worry and some of the other symptoms of stress, it increases them even more when the alcohol wears off.
Get enough sleep. Being tired makes even the smallest thing a huge crisis. Get plenty of sleep. Show up to work rested and ready.
Change your surroundings. Use aromatherapy, humidifiers, air purifiers, white noise, cushion mat, or anything that helps create the physical surroundings that will help you calm down and make you less tired. Making an effort to improve your physical office space can transform a stress-filled room into a zen office.
If you’re sick, stay home. Your body is already struggling. No need to add even minor, regular work stress to the load.

The first thing to do when you feel stressed is to address the physical first. It might be enough to do the trick in that moment.

11. Take the breaks you are given

Take your allotted breaks.

If there’s a park or bit of nature nearby, go there. If your work environment is stressing you out, try to change your environment, either by going someplace else (even just sitting in your car) or by reading to get your mind in a different place.

You need a break, especially if you’re stressed. If management makes it difficult to take a break, press the issue. You have a legal right to breaks.

12. Find a way to help others

Oddly enough, when you help other people, you feel great.

An American Journal of Public Health study found that when someone was dealing with stress, but helped others, they reduced the physical dangers associated with stress.

It sounds crazy—when you’re super stressed, who has time to help someone else? However, turning your attention from yourself to someone else can relieve the self-feeding negativity that serious stress creates.

If you’re feeling stressed, help someone else.

Constant connection and the interruption of technology can increase your stress levels.

Social media, for example, can make you aware of stressful events happening to other people or in other places. They might not have any bearing on your life, but you allow yourself to feel stressed about them anyway. It’s called the cost of caring.

As an interruption, social media and text messages can also add to stress. University of California Irvine found that employees who received a lot of emails were more stressed. They stayed in a “high alert” mode all the time. Being constantly connected and going back and forth in response on social media or via text messages does the same thing. Additionally, it distracts you and slows you down (a common problem with multitasking) and you end up feeling stress as you rush to catch up with the work you didn’t do because you were busy on your phone.

Stay off social media and mobile devices as much as possible when on the job. The last thing you need is drama via social media or text messaging while you’re trying to get your work done.

14. Learn to accept what is in your control, and what isn’t

Some things are out of your control.

Find ways to make the things that are out of your control more bearable. If where you work is too noisy, maybe noise-canceling headphones would help.

For example, getting stressed about the traffic on the way to work is completely unhelpful. You can’t control the traffic. The best you can do is leave early enough so you have plenty of time to get to work. If leaving late is adding stress because the traffic makes you late for work, leaving you apologizing or making excuses for why you’re late, you’re needlessly adding to your stress. You can’t control the traffic, but you can control when you leave home.

Make changes to what you can control. The rest is not worth getting upset about.

15. Prepare ahead of time as much as possible

The most stressful time of the day for workers is the morning, or when they start their shift.

You can’t always prepare everything ahead of time. If someone leaves a mess when you arrive for your shift, there’s not much you can do about it other than try to work with them and get them to do better.

But, wherever possible, prep ahead of time. Think of it like this: how you start your work day sets the tone for the rest of it. If you start it in a panic, a rush, the whole day is going to be stressful. It’ll feel as if you never get caught up or on good footing.

Preparing ahead of time might include:

setting up tools or products that you’ll need to use
mentally considering challenges you’ll face and how you’ll diffuse them
exercising, or physically preparing yourself for the work you need to do to avoid physical injury or tiredness

16. Remember to breathe

In a stressful moment, don’t forget to breathe.

It sounds a little silly, but people generally take shallow breaths. Closing your eyes, breathing in deep, and then letting that breath out slowly can help you slow down and reduce your negative physical reactions to stress. It can also help you control your reaction to a tense situation that might otherwise escalate into something more stressful.

It’s not a long-term fix, but it can help negate some of the effects on your physical body in that moment of conflict.

Conclusion: Learning how to handle stress at work is important for your productivity and your health

Stress in the workplace is a double-edged sword. The right kind of stress can focus you and help you grow. But the wrong kind of consistent stress can cause problems that will affect you and your employees in the long run, costing your business in productivity and absenteeism.

There’s one stressor you can eliminate, and that’s the stress of having to spend hours building the work schedule every week. Use When I Work to save time and build the employee schedule in minutes. Plus, employees love that they have access to the schedule 24/7 and can swap shifts or request time off as they need it. It’s a win-win for everyone involved. Sign up today to start your 14-day free trial of When I Work.