When your phone never seems to stop ringing, your inbox fills up quicker than you can reply to messages, and you barely have time to eat lunch, it’s no wonder you may end up feeling stressed.
Related:7 Ways College Students Can Manage Stress Effectively
Signs of stress can include rapid heartbeat, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, shortness of breath, feeling powerless, sudden mood changes, or changes in appetite. Stress may also lead to decreased work productivity and interpersonal difficulties with your colleagues.
How To Stop Work Stress In 5 Ways
Despite the stress you may encounter at work, you can learn to manage stress so that you can be more productive and have healthier relationships with your colleagues. Here are five tips to try right now to stop work stress:
1. Prioritize
It’s easy to become overwhelmed when you feel like you don’t have enough time in the day to check off all of the items on your ‘to-do” list. Determine which things you must absolutely do today and focus on those. Don’t try to take on all of the tasks by yourself, though. Instead, delegate tasks to others whenever possible.
2. Clear Clutter
Working in a disorganized space can make it hard for you to focus and can leave you feeling unmotivated. You may also waste time trying to locate items you need to complete an assignment. Throw out things you no longer need and make sure everything you need to do your work is easily accessible. Once your work area is clear, it may also help to decorate your work space with images that represent peace and tranquility. You can find images online or in a magazine.
3. Change Your Atmosphere
Temporarily remove yourself from a stressful situation and go somewhere that is calmer. Consider taking a walk and focus on the present moment, not what you need to get done when you get back to work. If you can’t get out of your building, visit the staff lounge or another floor where you have supportive colleagues. Taking a break is likely to leave you feeling refreshed when you return to work.
4. Re-Fuel
Make time to eat lunch and healthy snacks. Instead of working while you eat, consider a technique called mindful eating which can help you enjoy being in the present moment. Practice mindful eating by taking the time to focus on the texture, appearance, smell, and taste of your food. Aside from working on an empty stomach, lack of sleep can also make stressful situations tougher to manage. If you can, consider taking a short nap that is no more than 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Practice Deep Breathing
Stress can lead to shallow breathing which can perpetuate a cycle of anxiety. To prevent this from happening, consider deep breathing also known as diaphragmatic breathing. Sit or lie down comfortably and place your hand on your stomach. Inhale through your nose until you feel the hand on your stomach rise. Your chest will also rise slightly, but not as much as your stomach. Then, depending on what feels most comfortable, breathe out through your mouth or nose as you feel the hand on your stomach move inwards. Repeat until you feel calmer.
Although there are times when you may feel stressed at work, you can learn to manage stress by focusing on what you can change right now. However, seek help from a qualified mental health professional such as a psychologist if you have unremitting stress that interferes with your ability to function at work.
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.