Find out more about the impact of workplace stress on ourselves and society and I will share a strategy that can help reduce the affects of stress.
Did you know that 602,000 people in Great Britain suffer from work-related stress, according to the HSE in 2018/19? That is a 50% increase in the last ten years. 44% of 100,000 people interviewed reported that they suffered from stress, depression or anxiety as a result of their workload (HSE, 2018/19) and consequently 12.8 million working days (Labour Force Survey, 2018/19) have been lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety. Professional people are the most likely group to be hit by stress (HSE, 2018/19). Sadly, there is still a stigma for people seeking help which is why I decided to write this blog (Neenan & Palmer, 2012).
Self-Management Strategy
One of the reasons our workload is unmanageable is that we believe that we have to get everything done now and that we are the only ones that can do it! Let me tell you that you don't..... You have a choice. For example, we could delegate some of our tasks to others. Do you have to do everything or are you choosing to do everything?
One strategy that could work for you is creating a table and prioritising your tasks (Covey, 1989) into:
The purpose of this strategy is that you are becoming aware of how urgent or how important your tasks are and maybe, just maybe any task that you put in 4, you could get rid of completely or delegate these tasks to a member in your team. You are also changing your mindset from 'having to' to 'I want to'. Try it and I'd love to hear back from you about how you got on. You might also like to share what works for you....
Take care, Paula
Read our other pages on: criticism; coaching; managing expectations;reducing stress;procrastination
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References:
Covey, S.R. (1989), The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Simon & Schuster:New York
Neenan M & Palmer S (2012), Cognitive Behavioural Coaching in Practice, An Evidence Based Approach, Routledge:Hove