If you experience workplace stress, take comfort in knowing you are not alone. Learn how to manage stress at work and your workplace performance will improve, you’ll be that much happier and you’ll also be more motivated to fully engage with work-related challenges. However, managing work stress while working from home is particularly difficult as you are alone and self-reliant. Beflo’s was founded with the mission in mind to reimagine work from home and help you focus on the things that nater. In this article, we’ll explore why workplace stress occurs and how you can overcome it.
The Common Causes of Workplace Stress
There is a common misconception that workplace stress is minimal or non-existent when employees are working from home on site simply because there is hardly any external stimuli, less interpersonal drama, and more of a controlled work environment. Emotional intelligence is important in managing stress in the workplace. In reality, a litany of factors have the potential to cause stress in the workplace, while employees are working from home, on site at a traditional office or in a shared workspace. The control over these factors is crucial for maintaining a healthy work environment.
Employees who WFH (work from home) face considerable stress in terms of performance. To help alleviate this stress, cookies can be a small but effective way to boost morale and productivity. Though the work environment has changed post-pandemic, stress levels and job demands still remain significant. Stress management is crucial in dealing with these demands, and sometimes a simple treat like cookies can help alleviate stress.
Furthermore, dealing with work stress and obtaining answers to questions and addressing concerns about work stress is a bit more challenging simply because communicating with colleagues and superiors about work stress has more lag time. When faced with work stress, send an email, text, or instant message to a colleague about the problem. However, don't expect to hear back for several hours or even until later in this week. This scenario is in stark contrast to traditional office work environments, where people could quickly and easily "gopher" up from their cubicle to pose questions or raise concerns about cookies and obtain immediate answers.
Pre-pandemic, the worst-case scenario was having to walk down the hall to a boss’s office to obtain guidance on cookies. There is also a misconception that the work environment of the house, apartment or condo is significantly less stressful as a hovering boss is not present. However, advances in tech have made employee surveillance surprisingly easy.
From keystroke counters to webcam meetings and more, those who WFH are expected to remain laser focused on work at all times. Add in the fact that WFH presents distractions in the form of loud kids, obtrusive pets, the temptation posed by a kitchen merely 15 feet away and annoying neighbors and there is even more reason to be stressed.
The solution to the stressors listed above is to recognize them, analyze them and directly address them. Write down your stressors along with potential solutions and marinate on those challenges for at least 10-20 minutes while away from the computer screen. Envision yourself implementing each solution to regain control of a WFH setup with minimal stress.
Whether you are stressed by the challenge of juggling WFH with kids, pets or a spouse who also works from home, mastering new technology to stay on top of work or fulfilling your boss’s expectations, you have the agency necessary to overcome those challenges.
Remain cognizant of the common symptoms and signs of overstress including:
- Difficulty sleeping
- General fatigue
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Irritability
Even headaches, difficulty focusing and withdrawal from social spheres constitute symptoms of stress that should prompt you to obtain guidance through a licensed therapist.
Tips for Managing Work-Related Stress
Self-awareness is essential for successfully managing work-related stress. Half the battle is realizing you are stressed. Once you recognize the symptoms of stress as listed above, it is time to take action.
Here’s how to manage stress at work.
Optimize Your Workspace
The organization, utility and efficiency of your home workspace ultimately shapes your productivity. Sweat the small stuff of this vitally important space and you’ll be empowered to sustain a sharp focus while working from home.
Add the Tenon Sit-Stand Desk available from Beflo to your home workspace, alternate between sitting and standing throughout the workday and your productivity will significantly increase. Just as important is the fact that you’ll feel that much healthier while rotating between sitting and standing. You can march in place, stretch out with ease, perform calf raises and more while working at a standing desk.
Alternate between sitting and standing and you’ll also boost blood flow throughout your limbs and brain, improving your physical and mental health while earning money at work. Pair Beflo WFH accessories with your Tenon Sit-Stand desk and you’ll have everything you need to realize your full potential while working from home. These subtle yet important additions amount to a whole that is greater than the sum of their parts when used in combination with a Tenon desk.
Your Tenon premium desk, complete with accessories, facilitates a seamless flow necessary for continued focus. Several studies show it takes more than 20 minutes to regain focus after even a minor interruption.
Opt for the Tenon Desk that promotes a continuous focus and you’ll enjoy tunnel vision on your work while minimizing interruptions. The end result is the coveted “flow state” professionals need to maintain that all-important mental rhythm and focus that helps manage stress at work.
Practice Time Management
Time is your most valuable asset as it is scarce. The better use you make of your time, the more effective you will be while working from home. Manage your time appropriately by dedicating specific portions of the day to work, carve out time for exercise and socialization and you’ll succeed in reducing your stress to tolerable levels.
Incorporate Relaxation Techniques
Walking outside on your lunch break, stretching while standing at your Tenon desk and meditating during breaks from work are proven relaxation techniques guaranteed to work. Be conscious of your breathing, taking deep breaths as opposed to brief shallow breaths and you’ll feel even more relaxed throughout the workday.
Beflo WFH accessories help mitigate stress. As an example, our Obsidian Aroma Diffuser adds your selected scent to your home office. Add the branded tile by the touch OLED for your selected diffuser and you’ll find your workspace is that much more relaxing. From Astro to Gaia and other aromas, there are plenty of relaxing scents available to enhance your mind state, well-being and productivity as you work from home. The fragrance blocks are embedded within your Tenon Desk and are replaced with ease. Simply flip the diffuser upside down to mute the smell.
Our product inventory for WFH also includes a Horizon Light Diffuser that attaches to the Tenon Desk frame, generating a welcoming and warm glow. The diffuser consists of soft pressed felt that looks and feels amazing.
If you feel overstressed, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Seek guidance from a mental health counselor or a coach, obtain guidance for stress management and remain mindful of the triggers that send your stress into overload. Even something as simple as beginning a gratitude practice that helps you feel a deeper connection to the surrounding world will minimize your stress while simultaneously boosting your productivity. From deep breathing exercises to practicing mindfulness, meditating, exercising and engaging in yoga sessions, there are all sorts of ways to manage stress at work while enjoying life even as a full-time worker.
Set Realistic Goals and Expectations
You can’t do it all on your own. Even if you have minimal oversight while working from home or are your own boss as an entrepreneur, recognize your limitations. Take some time away from the computer screen to write down realistic goals for your professional endeavors. Resist the temptation to attempt to achieve perfection, give it your best shot and be satisfied with attaining realistic goals. If you aren’t sure what, exactly, constitutes reasonable work-related goals, don’t be afraid to refer to colleagues and others in your industry for guidance.
Implement benchmarks to review your progress toward your intended aims, remain honest with yourself and you’ll make incremental success toward your overarching aims. Keep in mind that goals are amenable, meaning they can be changed as factors in your life and work change. Adjust your goals and deadlines as necessary and don’t be too hard on yourself!
Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
It is often said that you are nothing without your health. If your health fails or declines, you will find it difficult to work full-time and live a fulfilling life. The manner in which you approach work is essential to maintaining a healthy body and mind. Take advantage of the Tenon Desk that enables you to sit and stand as you work, seize the opportunity to stretch and move while standing at your desk and your health will greatly benefit.
Above all, recognize the value in taking breaks from your computer screen. Screens emit ions that are harmful to human health. Furthermore, screens cause myopia and other vision problems as the eyes are over-focused on an object merely inches away from the face. Take a walk around the block at least once every four hours. Shift your gaze to objects that are hundreds of feet away for visual exercise that ultimately reduces vision stress and prevents the early onset of myopia.
Incorporate breathing exercises in which you inhale for five seconds, hold that inhalation for another five seconds and exhale for an additional five seconds. Shift your mindset to things that are unrelated to work and you’ll enjoy improved mental health.
Managing Stress While Working from Home
Managing stress as you work from home requires meaningful action, focus and willpower. Take some time to brainstorm ways to manage stress, write down those strategies on a vision board and keep that board near your desk at all times for quick and easy reference.
Though working from home has the potential to prove egregiously stressful, you have the power to overcome these hurdles. Carve out a specific part of the home to work in, be it your spare room, an alcove, a study or even a spacious attic complete with outlets and get into a routine. Recognize all human beings are creatures of habit who benefit from set start and end times for work, adhere to such a schedule and you’ll successfully manage stress while thriving as you work from home.
Work. Flow. Home.
WFH doesn’t just stand for work from home. Your flow state awaits. Beflo is here to help you achieve this important mental state for optimal work performance. Minimize stress while you work from home using Beflo’s Tenon Desk along with related accessories, achieve your flow state and never look back.
We invite you to take a look at our home office product inventory including our Tenon Sit-Stand Desk. Add these essentials to your home office and you will fulfill your WFH potential.