Stress in the Workplace

The most common contributors to personal workplace stress are long hours, heavy workload, organizational change, deadlines, job insecurity, overbearing bosses, unfriendly workers, and stigmatization (Victoria State Government, 2019). However, stress from outside the workplace can also manifest in the workplace. If a worker is experiencing stress at home, from the family, or financial pressures, or too busy of a schedule because of work and schooling and so on, all of these factors could add up and cause the employee to feel stressed at work. Dealing with other workers who feel stressed can compound stress and make it contagious in a sense.
Stress affects my performance in different ways. It can make me short with people: I will have less patience with them and be short-tempered. It can make me quicker to become angry. It can cause me to lose focus on projects and be distracted by the thoughts that are related to the stress—for example, my deadline, or my family, or whatever is causing it.
Some stress management methods that I have not implemented before and that are of particular interest to me include anything that allows me to have a kind of release valve and let the steam out in a healthy and positive way. There are some workplaces that have sleep pods for workers who feel like they need just a quick nap to recharge and let rest be a way to deal with stress (Coade, 2018). I have never tried that but I would be open to using a sleep pod for a 30 minute recharge session so that I could get back to work with more composure.
Other ways to manage stress include taking a walk out of doors, particularly through a park or somewhere where you can be in touch with nature. Another method is to do some exercise in a gym or to engage in a constructive hobby like painting or building something like a train set. This can help to get the mind off of one’s issues. I myself have never tried those methods and what I usually do is just to deal directly with whatever is causing the stress. So if I am feeling stressed by a deadline, I will focus on getting that work finished and try to avoid others because I do not want to vent my stress on them. However, I will also realize that so long as I keep the counter-party informed about what is going on, it will not be the end of the world if a deadline is missed by a short time. So keeping a level head is important.
Relationships between stress mitigation and creativity development practices that are of interest to me would be painting and writing something creative. I have always wanted to write the great American novel and I think that doing something creative like that would be enjoyable and allow me to neutralize some stress build-up. Anything that enhances creativity can help reduce stress because doing creative things is an outlet—a way to burn off some pent-up energy but in a positive, constructive and enjoyable manner. It focuses the mind away from stressors and channels emotion and energy into something that gives you room to expand and think outside the box. Since stress often makes people feel constrained, creative exercises can give people a set of allegorical wings and help them to feel free.
Management tactics to reduce stress in the workplace should therefore include creating a stress-free zone in the work—such as a place for sleep pods or creativity—a place for working out (a gym) or a place for walking in a garden—such as a rooftop courtyard. These are ways to limit and reduce stress that workers would appreciate immensely.
References
Coade, M. (2018). Professional development: Career: Matters. LSJ: Law Society of NSW Journal, (49), 44.
Victoria State Government. (2019). Work-related stress. Retrieved from https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/work-related-stress