Stress at work: how to manage and fight it?|Health Magazine

For some, work is a source of fulfillment.For others, it is just useful, ensuring a salary and material living conditions, and for others, it is downright a source of stress.In any case, given the time we spend there, you might as well be as best as possible because not only does this influence our morale, but also on our physical health.

Stomach knot, palpitations, back pain, accelerated heart rate, sleep disorders, concentration difficulties ... Faced with stress, your response is above all emotional.Ultimately, an excess of stress generates physical health problems.The solution ?Learn not to be overflowed or embarked by your negative emotions.

What are the links between stress and work?

We are talking about stress at work when a person feels an imbalance between what is asked to do in the professional context and the resources they have to answer it, "explains the National Institute for Research and Security (INRS).

Difficult relationships with hierarchy or colleagues, overload of work, lack of autonomy, insufficiently defined objectives ... "Cases of stress in the company are sometimes denied or attributed only to fragility or inappropriateness to the position ofSome employees ", regrets the INRS."Faced with manifestations or stress complaints, it is essential to derech the possible links with the professional context";

If work -related stress factors are highlighted, "adapted preventive measures will prioritize or, at least, reduce them".

How to reduce the pressure on employees?

The employer must ensure safety and protect the physical and mental health of his employees at work, says the INRS."To fulfill this obligation, it must favor collective prevention actions. These allow us to act on the causes of stress rather than on its symptoms".

How to get rid of stress at work: 6 tips

Mood disorders, depression, insomnia, increased risk of infarction, burn out ... There are many misdeeds of stress.

Bubble

To avoid surrounding stress, you have to learn to protect yourself from permanent interruptions because they prevent entering a psychic state conducive to well-being and productivity, which specialists call flow.What to do ?For a given time, create virtually a bubble impermeable to external stimuli.

Bet on "the mozart effect"

Those who work in open-space know this: a noisy environment nervously tires.Instead of the classic quies, you can listen to Mozart K 448's sonata for a few minutes which has a soothing effect and promotes learning.

Do not read your emails continuously

"The number of emails received per day is one of the most anxiety -provoking factors at work," said Alexandre Jost.The solution is simple to avoid stress, the hardest part is to stick to it: it is a question of managing your emails at certain times of the day rather than continuous.You also have to learn to welcome them differently: take a little while and wonder what impact the message has on yourself.

Favor light

By synchronizing our biological clock, light has a positive impact on sleep.This also applies to the workspace: according to a study published in Sleep magazine in 2013, people installed near the windows sleep 47 minutes more than those without windows nearby.

Take a break

The most peaceful people in their relationship with time are those who take a few minutes a day to breathe.To ask is to take a time for yourself without thinking about work, your concerns or performance.

Personalize your office

According to the work of British psychologist Craig Knight, appropriating his workspace with plants, photos, colors or art images, promotes "psychological comfort" and increases the level of productivity.

"It depends on the sensitivities, but creating a cozy space, bringing a little of your 'interior castle with you', to use the terms of the philosopher Robert Misrahi, is a factor of well-being", analyzes Alexandre Jost.

Have a good lifestyle

We never repeat it enough: it is proven that a good lifestyle helps reduce stress, at work or in general.Remember to eat balanced as much as you can, do physical exercise, drink a lot of water, limit tobacco and alcohol, sleep well ...

How to avoid sedentary lifestyle in business: 4 solutions

Sitting six at eight hours a day increases the risk of overweight and cardiovascular disease.American researchers (Mayo Clinic Processedings, 2014) have even observed that each additional hour of sedentary lifestyle is deleterious and must be offset by additional physical activity.

To overcome this negative point, it would ideally be 80 minutes of exercise every morning!In theory.Because in practice, it is as unrealistic as working standing all day.

Catch the “Bougeotte”

Fortunately, these researchers also found that when you are "stuck" at your office, each movement, as minimal as it is, is beneficial.Change position frequently in your seat, get up to develop an idea, read a document, answer the phone, or walk to the colleague's office rather than speak loudly or send him an email, in short, all the pretexts are good forMove and walk at least five minutes every hour.

Chat by walking

Without going so far as to offer 30 to 50 kilometers of prisonal meetings, as does the American businesswoman Nilofer Mercihant, you can take advantage of discussions between employees to initiate a walk.

It's good for legs but also for reflection: several experiences show that a simple walk, indoors and outdoors, stimulates creativity in real time and even a little more.We have more new ideas while you walk and after returning to your office.

Stretch without moving from your chair in less than a minute

To both be less sedentary, relax your cervical and trapezoids, relatively discreet easy stretching can be made at the office.To do at least once or twice a day.

Vary the premises

"The diversity of spaces makes it possible, in general, to multiply the meetings. This increases the feeling of freedom. The employee no longer feels confined to his only office. In addition, this also offers him the possibility of moving according to the task to be performed: He will not necessarily choose the same place if he has to send emails or read a report, for example, "explains Alexandre Jost.

The latter reveals that he has given his employees a quota of one to two days a month to go to work, if they wish, in coworking spaces, Numa or La Ruche, in Paris."Exploring other working methods allows them to enrich themselves."

Bad atmosphere at work: how to lower stress quickly?

Stress at work is sometimes caused by a deleterious environment."Often, the problems are relational. There is tension because the misunderstandings multiply, things are not said or badly said," says Jacques Salomé, psychosociologist.

Better communicate

Be polished, give information, make requests rather than reproaches, avoid value judgments ... It seems obvious, and yet!"Communication problems are behind a lot of violence," says Jacques Salomé.He proposes to avoid indirect communication as much as possible: if something is wrong with a colleague, it is to him that we talk about it, not to someone else.

Do not play it solo

"Communicating is to pool," recalls Jacques Salomé.Being benevolent, not doing others what we would not like to do us, are attitudes that increase self -esteem.American psychologist Shawn Achor recommends making a compliment every day."To be able to give is to recognize that you have resources yourself," says Dr. Jean Cottraux, psychiatrist.

Dare to be yourself

Being forced to laugh at a joke, to support opinions that are not your own ... One of the greatest difficulties at work is not being able to be emotionally yourself.

Develop conviviality

Organizing a snack, sharing a gym lesson ... The approach, often on the initiative of employees, must be authentic to work.The company can favor it by creating spaces of exchange.According to Robert Levering, co-founder of the Great Institute to work Institute, Confidence, Pride and conviviality are three fundamental pillars of well-being at work.

How to get rid of emotional stress at work?

Each individual reacts differently to the stress he suffers at work."Physical signals are the warning signs of negative emotions," said Dr. Dominique Servant, psychiatrist in Lille CHRU."This is an observation of failure. We think we are freeing by evacuating. In reality, negative emotion gives a false resolution to the problem."

To better manage these emotions that overwhelm you on a daily basis, Mélanie Perrin, physiotherapist and psychotherapist, recommends acting in three directions.

Ladeditation also helps you to release your mind from the ideas of the past and the concerns of the future, to focus on the present moment.

Stress management at work: three examples of reactions

Case 1: colleagues stop talking to you because of a promotion

You have to accept this fact because you will not be able to change it: “I recognize that my colleagues may be jealous.It doesn't make me happy, but that's how it is. "In fact, you need to be reassured by a positive return from your professional entourage, and your emotion results from this duality between "what I would like" and reality.

Mentally keep yourself mentally: let your imagination View a number of situations that have generated positive emotions, a good time with friends, your last vacation ...

Case 2: your work weighs you, and this makes you aggressive

You are too under pressure at your work, and this generates strong frustrations.Rather than getting stuck on your anger, ask yourself what you do in your work.Take stock of your “active share” at the end of the day.You have helped one of your colleagues, you offered a good idea at a meeting, you knew how to listen to the others, you supported a project ... No human being is only anger.Develop the other part in yourself.

Case n ° 3: In large periods of work, you have a pain in the neck, on the back

Become aware of your body.Five minutes a day, center your attention on all parts of your body, as if a projector was robbed on them.Take advantage of the bus, metro or waiting room, and even walking.

It is between 12 and 3 p.m., or at the end of the day, around 6 p.m., that this mental exercise is the most interesting.It induces a new emotional perception and a state of relaxation.And tell your chef or team that you may have to reassess the sharing of tasks.

Source 1: "Stress at work - What to remember", National Institute for Research and Security (INRS).