Ever feel like your to do list never gets checked off and you find it difficult to cope with your workload? You’re not alone, most people will answer with yes.
Everyone experiences stress at some point in their life, at work, home (or most likely both). While things in your personal life can be difficult to control, work doesn’t have to be such a stressful environment.
Just as you schedule in meetings, it’s important to schedule in different moments of relaxation throughout the day. Everyone is different, so your stress free solutions may not be someone else’s cup of tea. There are a range of typical measures you can put into practice to reduce stress. However, they can be unrealistic or create even more stress by just the thought of another list to check off.
Here’s some simplified suggestions of what you can do to make your day a little lighter:
Set goals – Simplified – Start the day with a to-do list
A goal doesn’t have to be as grand as climbing Mount Everest – celebrate the mini victories. Writing a daily to-do list sets your day up to be productive, and who doesn’t get satisfaction by ticking off a completed task?
Help others – Simplified – Ask about someone’s day
Just by talking, you can help relieve stress for someone else. Research suggests that acts of kindness are associated with positive mental wellbeing, and stimulate reward areas in the brain – making us feel happier! You might not be taking a task off their workload but by simply asking about their day you’ve offered an ear to listen.
Take regular breaks – Simplified – Don’t skip lunch
When your workload is high, it might be hard to promise yourself regular breaks, however make sure you give yourself a break for lunch. By taking a break and resetting your brain, you’ll get the most out of the rest of your day. More time to be productive and get ticking that to-do list you made earlier!
Exercise – Simplified – Go for a walk
Sometimes we don’t have enough hours in the day to fit in a full trip and back to the gym. So when these days come about, it’s still important to get out and about, even just to clear your mind. If you don’t usually follow suggestion 3 and struggle to take your lunch break, why not use this time to go for walk? You’ll feel refreshed when you get back to your desk and ready to tackle the afternoon. At Avenue HQ we don’t shy away from a little healthy competition – for instance, challenging our members to a step challenge, where whoever gets up and about the most wins!
Throughout April, we are raising awareness for Stress Awareness Month, putting on events across our sites to help members work towards creating a stress-free work life.
Why not take time to consider what you could do to make your work day less stressful? Check out our Instagram for inspiration, where we hosted our own Week of Wellness for members in January.