Dealing with work stress

What causes work stress?

It's 9 p.m., and you're still at work. You can't relax at home with unfinished work on your desk. And if you don't get this done, your boss will be angry. At least, that's what you think.

It's not work that prevents you from relaxing. It's that you see the work as a threat. Stress is not a reaction to an event, but rather to how you interpret the event. You think, "If I don't work late every night, I'll get fired," or "My boss won't like me," or "My coworkers won't respect me."

We want to be liked. And if you say 'no', you think people will be mad at you, so you say 'yes'. Then you go home and think, 'What have I done?'. The first step to reducing stress is to change your mindset so you can set boundaries at work.

If you say to yourself, "If I say no, they won't like me," counter that thought with, "If they didn't like me, they wouldn't have asked me to do it." If you're thinking, "If I don't work late at night, I'll be reprimanded or fired," counter that thought with, "If I don't take time for myself, I'll make myself sick and not be able to work." ."

Living in constant stress mode does indeed make you sick. It's like coming face to face with a tiger. All your senses become sharper and your adrenaline increases. Occasionally it is not a big deal, but when this happens in the long term, it causes your body to deteriorate. This results in abdominal pain, intestinal problems and heart problems.

When your senses are sharper, things are more physically irritating. That is why we take out work stress on family. For example, if you are in stress response mode, your child will get under your skin even more. It's important to recognize this as it happens and breathe deeply before responding. Deep breathing increases the oxygen level in your blood, which relaxes your muscles. This helps as it is impossible to be relaxed and tense at the same time.

Try these tips if you have a lot on your plate

Change your mind. Write your fears on notecards, such as: "If I don't work late, my boss won't take me seriously." On the back of each card you refute that threat. “If I keep working this late, I'll never see my family.” Look at these cards if you're having trouble closing.

Say "no." No doesn't have to end in "absolutely not." Try, “I can't do this right now, but I'm willing to sit down with you and help figure out how we can do this.” Or, "I'm willing to add this to my to-do list, but can we discuss taking something else off?"

Breathe deeply. It should take at least four to five seconds to inhale and the same amount of time to exhale. You will notice that some tension disappears with each exhalation.

Support your body with Ashwagandha. This is an adaptogenic herb that has been used for centuries in traditional Ayurvedic medicine to help the body adapt to stress. It lowers cortisol levels in your body, which reduces stress and its symptoms such as increased blood pressure and heart rate. In Metis Anti-Stress 03 we use Ashwagandha KSM-66 ® , which is the purest form with a high dose of active substances for an optimal effect.