Stress Management Techniques and Tips
Stress management can be critical for excelling in a job. What are some of the best ways to manage stress and maintain productivity?
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Stress management can be critical for excelling in a job. What are some of the best ways to manage stress and maintain productivity?
Stress management skills are pretty much what they sound like: the ways in which we protect our well-being and manage tense situations. Stress management is especially important in the workplace because it can help to prevent burnout, maintain productivity and keep morale high.
Stress management techniques and coping mechanisms can take many different forms, including breathing exercises, yoga, mindfulness apps and healthy lifestyle choices.
The first step to figuring out what stress management technique to use is to recognize where your stressors are coming from. Stressors are situations that create stress by putting you under physical, psychological or emotional pressure. For example, lack of sleep can cause unnecessary stress, as can being late for appointments or work.
There is no way to remove stress entirely; it is a part of life. But it is possible to cut down on chronic stress as well as the health problems it can lead to. Here are a few tried-and-true techniques for doing so.
Build my resumeIf you have previously struggled to deal with high levels of stress and it has had an impact on your physical and mental health, it is important to take steps to improve your stress management skills and develop healthy coping strategies. This is especially important if you have preexisting health conditions that worsen your fight-or-flight response, cause high blood pressure or affect your nervous system.
If you have a stressful job, however, it can be hard to minimize your exposure to stressors. Instead, you should focus on stress reduction and your stress response options, using activities like:
We can’t control when things become stressful, but we can control how we react to stressful situations. Here are a couple of relaxation techniques you can do or incorporate into your daily routine for stress relief:
What we do outside of work greatly influences our work environment and how we feel. Everything from your mental health to your physical health is interconnected, so finding balance is key to a better quality of life. Some lifestyle changes you can consider for reducing stress include:
As we explained above, the only thing in life we have control over is ourselves. Life will happen, so it’s important to build mental tools to handle the unexpected and stressful in a healthy way, such as:
Any activity you find relaxing can be a good stress reliever, so don’t feel like you need to stick to these suggestions. The key is to recognize the signs of mounting or chronic stress and to know how to react in a way that is effective for you.
If you commonly suffer from acute stress in the workplace and your coping strategies are proving ineffective, have a conversation with your employer and seek the advice of a mental health professional. These are the first steps toward a healthier relationship with your work and stress levels.
Stress has become one of the most important factors in rising rates of absenteeism in the workplace. The most obvious benefit that stress management has for an employer is a reduction in absence rates and an increase in productivity and morale in their workforce.
These benefits to employers are why it pays to feature your stress management abilities in your resume and cover letter. Here’s how:
We also highly recommend having a few work examples of how you can use stress management to handle specific job situations ready for an interview. The potential employer will likely ask you situational questions, so practice before your job interview and come ready. If you need expert interview tips, explore our job interview tips and guides page.
Build my resumeWhen it comes to other skills you should focus on for your career and resume, ResumeHelp has plenty of additional resources and articles to help you:
Have questions? We’re here to help.
Yes, there are many health benefits to learning appropriate and robust stress management techniques, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular and heart rate problems, increased sleep quality, a general improvement of mental health and a reduced risk of mental health crises and mental illnesses.
Stress affects multiple parts of your well-being and it’s something you carry with you outside your workplace. It’s crucial for your mental and physical health to develop stress management techniques.
Think of it this way: the lack of stress can lead to many positive impacts on job performance. For example, a person who has less stress is likely to have lower blood pressure, reduced risk of burnout, reduced risk of heart disease, and is more likely to get enough sleep. All of this contributes to job productivity and makes it easier for you to be alert, focused and generally quick on your mental feet.<
Potential employers understand that if you’re good at managing stress, it means you have good coping strategies that will make a positive impact on how you will fare in the workplace. First and foremost, they want to know you can handle the responsibilities of the role, but managing stress and avoiding sources of stress when you can is equally important.
The four A’s of stress management are:
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