Doing everything while enjoying them, and balancing them seems to be a task of superhumans. Right? When work overloads us, our personal lives miss us and vice versa. From submitting your project before the deadline to spending time with your family to enjoying vacations to enjoying your life, everything seems impossible and exhausting. But if you look around you will most certainly find that everyone is balancing their work life and dealing with workplace stress. How are they doing this?
The Causes of Workplace Depression, Anxiety, and Stress
The reasons behind workplace stress include long hours of duty, tight deadlines, job insecurity, heavy workload, lack of confidence, not liking the work, poor relationship with colleagues or boss, lack of proper resources, and many more. Whatever the cause is of depression, one needs to identify the cause and try to deal with it. Here are some tips on how to reduce workplace depression, anxiety, and stress.
7 Ways to Reduce Workplace Depression, Anxiety, and Stress
Here are 7 ways to reduce workplace depression, anxiety, and stress.
1. Reduce Workplace Depression and Stress: Get Your Work Timings Right
An effective way to reduce workplace stress is to plan out your goals for the day. That’s because when you list down everything that has to get done, you already know what needs to get done before the day even starts. This provides you with clarity and sets the tone for the entire day. Remember to identify the viable initiatives and those that require your urgent attention while creating your daily to-do lists.
You can make a realistic list that does not overwhelm or disturb you by prioritizing and understanding your daily task. The Pareto principle, sometimes known as the 80/20 rule, states that only 20% of your daily activities have a significant impact and account for 80% of your results. In order to make the day manageable, you can identify the critical (20 percent of the job) that contributes 80 percent of the value and complete it first.
2. Reduce Workplace Depression and Stress: Choose the Right Company
Join a company that can provide you with worthwhile prospects for career advancement. These possibilities include promotions, programs for skill improvement and training, lateral transfers, and other ways to develop your expertise.
You may be inspired to provide your best effort to your tasks if you have the chance to develop in your profession, perhaps to a more honorable or lucrative job. Being effective will also be advantageous to the business.
It’s hard to predict whether you’ll blend seamlessly into the organization or get along with your teammates right away. Even more difficult to predict is how employee-oriented the business will be in terms of strategic planning, decision-making, and other areas.
Even the best job won’t seem good if your attitude is bad. So try to work on how you can love your job. Here are some tips-
- Don’t be afraid of seeking help from your manager
- Set out daily goals
- Work on your weaknesses
- Find out what you love to do
- Expand your network
- Be present
Be honest with your boss from the first day at your office and know how much time you need to dedicate to the company. Look for flexibility in deadlines whenever you are struggling with everything. Talk with other employees, know how they manage everything. Also, stay connected with your family members and plan quality time- it’s an excellent stress buster.
3. Reduce Workplace Depression and Stress: Avoid Negativism
Negativity in the workplace that persists over time has a pernicious effect on employee morale. Your company loses energy as a result, and crucial focus is diverted from work and performance. One department member’s attitude, perspective, and speech might be negative, as can a chorus of voices reacting to a decision or event at work.
Some tips to avoid negativism-
- Provide opportunities for people to make decisions about and control and influence their job.
- Make opportunities available for people to express their opinion about workplace policies and procedures.
- Treat people as adults with fairness and consistency.
- Treat your employees as if they are trustworthy and worthy of your respect—because they are.
- Do not create rules for all employees when just a few people are violating the norms.
- Afford people the opportunity to grow and develop.
4. Reduce Workplace Depression and Stress: Have a Task Scheduler
Strictly following the schedule with deadlines and being consistent with it is the key to balancing everything. This schedule will differ for everyone, so make sure it reflects your priorities and not others. Set your deadlines so that you can devote quality time to each activity and avoid overlapping activities.
5. Reduce Workplace Depression and Stress: Have Life Plants and Flowers Around
Employees experience psychological satisfaction knowing they operate in a safe environment free of airborne pollutants. As a result, they are less concerned about becoming sick and missing work.
Smelling a plant and touching the soil can both improve your mood. In a study published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology, participants were given the choice between two tasks. A plant was moved from one pot to another by the first group. The second team employed a computer. The gathering of plants felt “natural, calm, and at ease.” The computer group described their feelings as “uncomfortable, awake, and artificial.”
Aloe vera, snake plant, peace lily, etc. can be kept on your office desk as a mood lifter.
6. Reduce Workplace Depression and Stress: Use Mood Lifting Fragrances
Aromatherapy with different essential oils can essentially help to deal with depression and anxiety. They can’t cure depression but can better your mood, relax and relieve psychological symptoms and handle the situation.
The scent is the essence of essential oil. Scents are very emotive, everyone has a different reaction to them. Smell is one of the five senses of humans. When neurons of our nose detect the smell, they send information to various regions of the brain via the olfactory bulb. The particular regions after receiving information about smell control mood, memory, emotions, and behavior.
Keep a diffuser in your workplace and you can try out various fragrances according to your mood. Some of the mood-lifting fragrances include- Lavender, Sandalwood, Lemon, etc.
7. Reduce Workplace Depression and Stress: Spend Time with Your Family and Friends
Spending time with family and friends is one of the most important priorities one should have. Vacations increase productivity. It is a great way of spending time with your family members. It calms down your mind and keeps away all stress, anxiety, and work pressure. It promotes work-life balance by letting you spend time with your partner and with yourself. It helps you focus on more beautiful things around you, other than work. It significantly refreshes your mind and makes you think differently with a fresh mind and soul.
Conclusion
Every day is a new beginning. We grow every day. With every passing day try to improve yourself. Continuous learning is a process of life. Every day, try some new things, give a little extra effort to your projects, love your surroundings, and love yourself. The more we explore new things the more ideas cross our path. Thus, overall productivity increases.
“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life” – Marc Anthony.
Lastly, be clear about your priorities, necessities, opportunities for personal growth, and progress at work will follow. I hope the mentioned this article will help you to deal with work stress and depression. You can read our other articles to know more about depression and fight it.