Stress Away

A stressor is a biological or chemical factor, the state of the environment, an external impulse or an occasion, which causes the stress. Besides, the stressor can influence performance or mental functions. Social or mental stressors can determine one’s behavior and reaction to chemical and physical stressors. The most significant stressor is work overload, which belongs to a group of stress factors at the workplace. Work overload happens every time, when people have too little time for a huge amount of work and this limits their performance much more than conventional overtime work. Many companies punctually or periodically encounter periods of high activity that are inescapable and have an effect on the stress levels. Therefore, work overload is a serious stressor, because a considerable number of individuals are suffering from this, it interferes the work process and requires some notable management techniques.

At present, numerous employees are struggling with stress, and sometimes this leads to serious health and work disorders. Stress relates both to workers and employers, since the performance of the staff is affected by their level of stress that has a steady influence on the company's success. Work overload is not completely caused by the flow of work, but it may be the consequence of various errors committed by employees or colleagues. The stress-related situations are probably not controlled, unpredictable, and some of them are unknown. In order to manage work overload, it is required to identify the reason why people are faced with enormous workload and to remove it completely. Accordingly, there are many causes of stress at the workplace that range from private problems to work overload, work situation, physical environment, as well as disagreements between coworkers and administrators.

It is essential for individuals to assess whether they are managing their time effectively and consider opportunities to enhance productivity. If they determine that neither personal habits nor external factors contribute to their workload, they may benefit from exploring methods to mitigate overload. Many organizations now offer stress management training to support employees in coping with pressure. Management can further assist by providing access to healthcare services, facilitating timely consultations with therapists, and encouraging work-life balance through leisure activities and entertainment. Additionally, companies aiming to raise awareness about mental health strategies may choose to purchase blog content tailored to workplace wellness. By investing in professionally written articles, organizations can share practical tips and foster a culture of support. Choosing to purchase blog content also ensures consistent messaging across internal platforms, helping employees feel informed and empowered.

Stress management techniques are based on the effects of stress, instructing the staff on how to reduce stress and not concentrate on the root of stress. The first strategy requires setting priorities. It is obvious that the majority of people have a lot of things to do, and when they are faced with overload, it is important for them to set priorities and to fulfill their tasks depending on their significance and immediacy. Prioritization gives an opportunity for individuals to focus on the tasks of the greatest priority that lead to their intended output, while they can postpone those temporary intensive tasks that are not critical and do not contribute to the achievement of the targeted results. Although there are numerous ways that determine priorities, but it may be easy to set the priority of tasks from "A" to "E".

"A" means "very important", and these are the duties that are obligatory for employees. Nevertheless, serious adverse consequences may be evident. "B" presupposes "important", and the duties need to be done. If employees do not complete this task, there are can be slightly negative outcomes. "C" means plans that are "nice to do", and in comparison with "A" or "B", they are not so essential. "D" implies "delegate". Workers can delegate such responsibilities to somebody, who can do this job instead of them. "E" means "to exclude as soon as possible". Employees must remove each activity, which can be done, in order to free up the time. They must also be sure that the majority of days do not go past category "B". One should wrap-up the day with the tasks of "C" and "D" categories to be confident and calm that momentous things are definitely finished. Therefore, it would be beneficial for them to complete the “A” tasks firstly.

The second technique is organizing a plan. It is crucial to create an action plan that assists to resolve the problem of work overload. Thus, it is necessary to organize the calendar in a way that makes sense to employees, and this calendar should be simple. People have the ability to use the paper planner or Google calendar to track their tasks. They have to follow their daily schedule managing the time they are going to spend on plans at the top of the list. Since the action plan is of considerable importance, one must keep the calendar either on the desk or on the computer, and exclude everything they have to do on the next day.

If people work in a situation in which they experience external interruptions, they may lose time, and in this case, it is essential to talk with the manager about the fact how they can control their time better. If someone works with those who are very successful, he or she should ask them to share ideas, which might be helpful. When employees are concentrating on the duty that is at the top of the list, other tasks can wait. Firstly, it is necessary to think about things that can happen in coming days and then to fill the dates in the calendar and think about repetitive tasks that people cannot skip. As a result, persons will be able to get rid of external interruptions.

The third technique is management of emotions. In some cases, human emotions can actually worsen the situation. Some negative thoughts can lead to increased stress. Thinking about expectations will not help to do a job. Individuals need to talk to an encouraging friend who admits their best features and to have some breaks. It can be a shack or a quick walk up the stairs. For example, many workers traverse a block or go to refueling. Thus, this simple task separates them from the bad mood. Moreover, they can shout at somebody or something in order to release negative emotions. Such periods are the time to think straight, work well and last longer. Besides, a quick chat can increase confidence and self-esteem. Reading a book or listening to music is also a good way to improve a person's attitude. In this manner, it is beneficial for them to do something for their spiritual health, develop methods to avoid negative thoughts or take relaxing exercises, as it can add energy and even make them more passionate.

The fourth technique is finding the things that can be eliminated. If the workload of employees is already heavy, accepting more tasks may mean that one will not be able to ensure quality of the results. They need to stop and think before agreeing to accept any new terms thereby committing only to those duties that are extremely important. If an individual politely refuses, the colleagues and the employer will understand this. Work overload occurs when one has more tasks than they can accomplish. In some cases, the tasks that do not help achieve the organization's goals need to be eliminated. For example, if somebody spends seven hours a week at the meetings, he or she must talk to the manager and explain how meetings do not allow him or her to cover other principal responsibilities. In addition, they should ask their boss whether it is possible to reduce the number of meetings or ask questions if they can make changes to rationalize meetings to make them more operating. Therefore, the refusal from unnecessary plans increases the amount of time to work.

Thus, for the majority of employees work overload is a complex stressor that damages their productivity and creates chaos at the workplace. Because of overloaded work that people do not have time to complete, they start to become nervous and have many problems at work and at home as a result. Therefore, it is significant to apply one of the four management techniques. The first one is setting priorities from the most important duties to the ones that can be fulfilled by another person. The second technique is creating the action plan that helps to organize the day properly. The third strategy is control of emotions, the essence of which involves meditative and relaxing exercises. The fourth technique is the removal of those plans and things that are irrelevant and hinder work. Hence, by following these techniques, each staff member will be able to forget such an unpleasant phrase as "work overload."