Today’s workplaces are often fast-paced and incredibly demanding. For many professionals, it’s easy to get swept up in the hustle and bustle, causing stress levels to rise rapidly and incidentally leading them to neglect their mental health.
Fortunately, it’s easy to break that pattern and prioritize your mental health in the workplace, all without sacrificing productivity. Here’s a look at a few ways to ensure wellness is always part of the equation.
Set Realistic Goals
Trying to meet unrealistic deadlines or performance targets is a major source of stress. When objectives are impractical – if not impossible – you won’t just miss the mark, but you’ll also have the negative emotional impact of feeling you fall short. While you want to be driven and ambitious, you also need to make sure that any goals related to your work are inherently achievable and realistic.
Begin by breaking down your tasks into bite-sized pieces. Then, consider the time required to complete each step based on the nature of the work and your skill level. Communicate with your manager if their outlined deadline isn’t achievable without sacrificing quality, and work with them to either set a reasonable timetable or get support from others to make a challenging deadline plausible. That approach can reduce pressure and maintains open communication, both of which can reduce stress.
Take Regular Breaks
When you’re facing a strict deadline or feel there aren’t enough hours in the day to handle your responsibilities, skipping breaks or lunches might seem like a smart move. However, that can actually increase stress and may make you susceptible to burnout. Plus, it can reduce the quality of your work, which isn’t ideal.
Instead, make sure to take your breaks so that you have a chance to rejuvenate. By doing so, you’ll get a moment to relax and recenter, allowing you to return to your work refreshed.
Practice Self-Care
Ensuring you take the time necessary to care for yourself is an essential part of managing stress. By practicing self-care, you’re supporting your own well-being. Along with benefiting your mental health, that can genuinely make you more productive, too.
Begin by making the time to get sufficient sleep. Being well-rested ensures you can focus with ease, so carve out the correct number of hours every night for sleeping. Physical activity is another critical component, so find ways to incorporate movement, such as by using your breaks for a quick walk.
Learning short deep breathing exercises or meditations can be another vital component. You can use those to quell stress when it starts to rise, giving you a moment of calm during even the most hectic days.
Seek Support When Needed
If you’re struggling with mental health, use any available resources to get the support you need. Make an appointment with a therapist or leverage your company’s employee assistance program (EAP) if one’s available. Also, communicate with trusted individuals, such as family members, friends, or supervisors, to get the support you need to thrive.
If you’d like to learn more or want to find a job that helps you prioritize your mental health, TempStaff can help. Contact us today.
