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Tips for Managing Stress

24 April 2019 Candidate Blogs / Career Advice
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Stress comes in many forms and can be caused by many factors, especially pressures at work.
Statistics from the Health and Safety Executive show that in the UK during 2017/18 roughly 600,000 workers suffered from some form of workplace related stress, depression or anxiety which led to a total 15.4 million working days lost in the same period.   
 
The public sector is especially affected by these issues. Staff in education, human health, social work and public administration and defence on average experience higher rates of stress and mental health issues than any other industry (HSE, 2018).
 
The important first step to being able to manage your stress is to identify the cause. It could be the pressure of a specific project, difficulties with a colleague, having responsibilities that you find overwhelming or, inversely, you could feel that you don’t have enough work and aren’t experiencing change in your life. Whatever it is, take some time to reflect on your personal situation.
 
Once you know why you’re stressed you’re in the best position to be able to resolve it.
 
Here are 5 tips to help you manage your stress:

  1. Be active & healthy
    Performing some form of exercise or physical activity can help alleviate the intensity of the stress you’re feeling. This will help you assess what is stressing you out with a calm mind. Exercising will also help you sleep better, which combined with a healthy diet will give you the energy to tackle the root cause of your stress.  
     
  2. Be proactive
    If you’re feeling stressed because of an issue that seems to be looming over you but that you know you have the ability to influence or resolve, the best approach is to take control. The more you let an issue linger the more stressed you will feel, so begin by taking small steps towards the solution.
     
  3. Learn to let certain things go
    Not every situation is in your control and there will be factors you can’t influence. It is an important skill to learn to accept the things you can’t change and to concentrate on the things you can.
     
  4. Work smarter, not harder
    Prioritise your tasks to focus on those that will make a difference. Certain tasks may be urgent, certain may be important, others may be both and some will be neither. Complete the tasks that are both urgent and important first, the urgent tasks next and slowly start to make progress on those that are important. The rest can wait.
     
  5. Talk to someone
    Talking about your stress and the cause can not only help distract you or release the tension, it may help you think of solutions that you couldn’t before. At work your HR department are a great first port of call and are there to make sure you’re happy at work. If you don’t feel comfortable speaking to your Human Resources team, then reach out to family and friends.   

 

This article contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive and licensed under the Open Government Licence. Also contains public sector information published by the NHS. 

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