Stress can have a long-term effect on health if not managed properly and is also an avoidable part of professional life. We have already seen Simple ways to manage stress quickly that work for everyone. But this article will discuss stress management related to busy professionals, and how they can live in peace even in the fast-moving world.
Why Stress Management is Important for Professionals?
Workplace stress is on the rise, with 80% of professionals reporting anxiety due to productivity pressures, costing businesses billions annually. Studies like the CIPD 2023 Report show how mental health issues are increasingly linked to job stress, making effective stress management crucial for long-term well-being and performance. For busy professionals who keep juggling around deadlines and to-do lists that never end, it becomes even more important to manage stress before the stress starts managing you.
Smart Ways to Manage Stress as a Professional
1. Prioritize Work and Tasks based on Importance
When you are bombarded with multiple tasks, it is better to prioritize the workflow. You must have heard about the 80-20 rule for Professionals, where 20% of tasks are most important and have a higher impact than the rest 80%. So by finding the important 20% of work that matters, professionals can avoid getting bogged down by trivial tasks and instead focus on activities that yield long-term benefits. This way you can avoid the unnecessary stress that can burden you later.
You can even go a step further by implementing tools such as the Eisenhower Matrix which helps you even further by dividing tasks and work in 4 quadrants.
Here’s a basic overview of the Eisenhower Matrix
A study from the American Institute of Stress shows that effective prioritization can enhance decision-making, improve time management, and reduce stress.
2. Get Better in Time Management
Have you ever realised that you want to do lots of stuff but get short of time? This happens with every professional you are not alone. And the only way to eliminate this is Time management. Time management is crucial as it helps you to distribute your time in work that needs more attention.
Planning your limited and precious time across the important tasks is what you need. A simple example would be to block your calendar for emails and meetings, so you are constantly not interrupted during that course.
How would Time Management reduce stress?
Time Management reduces stress because it gives you more control over your workload by allowing you to plan your work effectively over time instead of heading towards the last-minute rush and feeling overwhelmed.
3. Draw a line to maintain a Work-life balance
Drawing a line is setting a boundary between work and your personal life. This is very important for professionals which usually most of us lack or realize it too late.
A few examples of drawing boundaries would be like
- To avoid work and work emails after office Hours.
- Dedicate weekends to personal life and avoid any office work.
- Blocking lunchtime in the calendar so that you can enjoy your lunch and can also go along for a short walk or socialize with friends, and colleagues that will refresh your mind and improve productivity.
Have you ever had this thought that setting such lines will make you appear less dedicated to work, rude, or non-responsible? This thought process is the main culprit that holds you back. And even settings may sound inappropriate at the start but it is for the good.
This allows you to disconnect yourself from work life and focus on your personal life, family and friends, self-care, hobbies and much more. Many countries have laws to disconnect from work which ensures you increase productivity at work and avoid burnout.
4. Learn to say “No” Confidently
As a professional, it’s hard to say “No”, especially to colleagues, clients or Bosses. But the reality is the sooner you learn to say it the easier your life would becomes. Nobody cares about how you feel or what’s your state of mind, they just care about the work.
Just to be clear saying “No” is not about rejecting opportunities instead it’s more about protecting the time and efforts for something meaningful and worth it. You might end up pleasing someone by saying “Yes” for everything but you also end up putting more burden and stress on yourself.
For Example, if your colleagues ask you to do some extra work even though you are full of capacity, politely saying “No” to it will ensure you don’t get burned out.
5. Do Physical Exercise, Meditation as they are mind boosters
Exercise and meditation can make a huge difference in professional life. Either you exercise or meditate, your body will end up releasing happy hormones that make your mind go lala. It will not only be a stress eliminator that will reset your mind but will also evolve your mind and personality to handle tough situations.
As research from Harvard Health, “Regular Exercise changes the brain to improve memory and thinking skills” proves that any physical activities like sports or exercise significantly reduce stress hormones like Cortisol and enhance cognitive brain functioning.
6. Develop Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman, an American author and science journalist brought Emotional Intelligence (EQ) into the limelight through his books and studies which indicates that Professionals with high EQ are way better at stress handling, decision making and dealing with uncertainty and overall well-being.
What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)?
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the ability to understand emotions not just yours but also others. It consists of
- Self Awareness – Self-awareness helps you to overcome your problems. Analyzing yourself and accepting the problems would be the first step, then you need to find the resolution and this way you’ll be a better version of yourself
- Develop Empathy – Empathy is a very important skill to have in today’s time. Understanding other’s emotions and situations and putting yourself into their shoes is what deepens the bonding.
- Bring Motivation In You – Everyone is in a tough situation and everyone has some problems in their life. Being happy and motivated even in tough times is something that separates you from others. Find ways to be motivated. Keep small goals so that if you achieve you will be motivated.
- Develop Social Skills – Networking is the net worth in today’s time, if you lack social skills work on it, it will help you achieve bigger goals in life.
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) develops your mind to tackle day-to-day challenges and mental tension and evolves you as a better person.
7. Lastly Take Professional Help If Needed
If you are already too stressed out with the overall situation and any of the above-mentioned ways to manage stress cannot help, it is better to reach out to the professional asap. Stress is a very serious problem that will kill you from every corner if not consulted. A better Psychologist will make sure you feel better soon.
Hope you liked this amazing article on Managing stress for busy professionals.
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