Working is stressful. Especially in 2020. You have deadlines, competing priorities at the office and at home, and of course you have to deal with your colleagues and boss. In today’s fast paced world, we are expected to complete tasks quickly, sometimes in an unreasonable period of time. Many of us get a task to finish “NOW!!” after the person asking for the task to be done did not pass on the information in a timely manner. This is an unfortunate reality that we oftentimes cannot control. You can however control your response. Here are a few suggestions to deal with some common stressors in the workplace.
1. The unreasonable boss. At some point in your career, if you’re not experiencing it right now, you will be faced with a manager who expects you to get to work early and leave late every day, who consistently gives you one hour to complete tasks which take at least one day, or who passes their work to you on top of your already full desk. In this situation, you have to learn to prioritize. When your boss assigns several tasks to you, let them know which tasks you will complete first and give a time-frame to completion for each. That way they recognize that you’re on top of the work and will be less likely to micromanage or be behind you to finish. Also, they will be able to indicate at that point which tasks they need completed first. The main goal is to communicate with your boss instead of quietly seething when you have been given an overwhelming amount of work to do.
2. The unhelpful colleague/team member. We all know the colleague who is clearly not pulling their weight. If you’re a perfectionist like me, you may end up choosing to deal with their tasks yourself in the interest of getting the work done or to ensure that a client is served. Eventually you will become resentful and ultimately it is not fair for you to perform duties outside of your function on a regular basis. The best way to treat with this if you are a peer is to report their behaviour to your manager. You shouldn’t address the problem on your own especially since your colleague does not report to you. If you are a manager, have the difficult conversation with the employee sooner rather than later. You do not want your team to think that poor performance is acceptable or that you are letting the errant party off easily. Further action should be taken if there is no improvement. It sounds harsh but you are responsible for ensuring that the work gets done by the persons assigned to do same.
3. Office gossip. Try to avoid this altogether. It can seem harmless but it creates a very toxic work environment and can be stressful. Imagine being in an office where people constantly talk negatively about their colleagues. It creates mistrust, decreases productivity and is at the very least uncomfortable. Do your best to stay away from conversations of that nature. It can be tempting to indulge but it really is not worth your time. We all have a job to do so just focus on that. Of course you should be cordial with your colleagues, but keep discussions focused on the work and lighter topics.
4. Mastering work/life balance. It seems to be a cliché now, but balancing your work and personal life is crucial. People are not meant to be in work mode all the time. You were more than likely contracted to work standard hours (40 hours/week) so it should not be expected that you work outside of those hours on a regular basis. There will be times when you have to stay late to complete a project or assignment, but if you are working overtime everyday you should really determine the reason why (hopefully it is by choice but even then you should assess why you are in office so long). Continue to work hard, but make time for activities and people outside of work that keep you grounded and happy. Your family and friends, exercise, meditation or going for a few drinks can help to relieve the stress you experience at the office. Do not neglect your personal life because it will manifest as stress in your work life.
Stress in the workplace is bound to happen. With the right mindset and coping tools, you can be productive and keep sane at the same time. Hoping the tips above are helpful. Have a great week!
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