Feeling Stressed at Work? Strategies to Break the Stress-Cycle
Global trends on work-related stress are worrying. Gallup reports a further rise in people being stressed out by work in 2022. Worst even, about 80% of people in the knowledge industry have experienced symptoms of burnout in the past 12 months, according to data from tech workers in Ireland.
Chances are you are reading this article because you are one of the many people feeling stressed out at work.
Common factors that contribute to work-related stress include:
increases in workload to an unsustainable level
budget cuts and the great resignation lead to understaffing, with employees permanently covering more than their fair share
being always-on: Slack, WhatsApp, LinkedIn work emails… it never stops
work is not engaging, you feel bored and not challenged
low sense of autonomy and control over your work
few or no opportunities for professional development, growth or learning
The problem is, your stress doesn’t go away when you close your laptop. With many people working from home or in hybrid working environments, the boundaries between work and life have become blurry. The effects of long-term stress on your mental and physical health can take a toll. From sleep problems, to mood swings, feeling low in energy, high blood pressure to anxiety and burnout - the list is of physical and mental symptoms is long.
Understanding your body’s response to stress
When working with people and teams in tech who want to break the cycle of endless stress, we always start with understanding what happens in our bodies when we experience short or long-term stress.
To understand our body’s response to stress, we must travel back in time. Back to a time when humans were hunters and gatherers faced with life-threatening dangers on a daily basis. Our stress response developed out of a need to quickly prepare the body for a fight or flight or freeze response. To do that, our nervous system developed a helpful process, that activates the body through the release of adrenaline. You notice that through an increased heart rate, the muscles tense, and all senses are on high alert. If the stressor persists longer than 30 minutes, a second phase is activated through the release of cortisol. Cortisol helps to sustain the physical response for long periods of time.
Our body’s stress response to danger.
Smart nervous system, huh? Well, not anymore. In our modern world, sitting at your desk typing away, there are very few life-and-death dangers that could surprise you in your (home)office.
When your job stresses you out
So what are we stressed about? It’s often that seemingly endless to-do-list, all the responsibilities, projects and things you need to do in a day. In working environments with an always-on and high-performance culture, maximising your output and results has become the only currency of success. Your stress is constant. It never stops. Remember that cortisol? Yep, that is sky-high every day, keeping you focused, helping you plough through your to-do-list day after day. You might have to pay the price in the evening, not being able to fall asleep, feeling restless, the mind is racing.
Stress Management Strategies for People in Tech
Tackling work-related stress is a two-way process. I work with tech leaders to help them create working environments that focus on realistic workloads, achievable targets and a healthy balance between peak performance times (hello quarter end!) and stress relief through calmer times.
Luckily, there is more in your personal control to manage your work-related stress than you think. And it all starts with carving out tiny amounts of time.
MICRO+ Breaks for stress relief
The key to stress relief is to support your nervous system to calm down and to stop the release of cortisol. You can help your body to de-stress by taking small but frequent breaks from your work, stepping away from your screen and desk. I call these breaks MICRO+ BREAKS, and I invite you to build your own idea bank for your stress relief.
Build an idea bank of MICRO+ breaks you can take away from your desk
Start your MICRO+ BREAKS idea bank with a list of things you can do in a five-minute break away from your desk. Some examples include stretches, making a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy it outside in a mindful moment in nature, doing a breathing exercise or a short guided meditation. If you happen to have a furry friend living with you, give them a pet - petting your dog or cat is a great way to relief your stress and calm the nervous system.
Expand your idea bank with activities you can do in 15-minute breaks, in half an hour, and the longer time blocks in your free time or the weekend with an hour or more. Create a mix of calming activities, physical stress relief, social activities to kick start the happy hormone oxytocin, and things that bring you joy.
Why do you need a whole idea bank for MICRO+ BREAKS?
In times of stress, we tend to forget what is important for our self-care. In times of peak performance, your brain is laser-focused on the tasks at hand. In these times, it is easy to forget breaks. Having an idea bank ready helps you to pick a few activities each day and stay calm in the storm.
Taking more breaks and looking after yourself is one important step to de-stress your work and life. I work with people in tech to break the stress cycle and re-focus on what is really important in their lives. If you find yourself grinding away, often stressed and unfulfilled, come work with me to reshape your work/life.
