Are you feeling overwhelmed at work? Are you struggling to motivate yourself? Do you feel miserable? When we’re having a tough time at work we are unable to perform well and negativity often seeps into our personal lives too. But what can you do about it?
The first step is to ask yourself what exactly is causing you to struggle at work. Some common triggers include:
We naturally start to feel stress when we think we do not have enough resources to fulfil what is expected of us. We feel overwhelmed and under pressure and this releases stress hormones including cortisol and adrenaline.
If you’re unsure about your triggers, start keeping a journal of when you are feeling overwhelmed and what you think and feel at those times. This should help you to identify what is causing your reaction.
If you are consistently struggling at work and you feel your workload is unmanageable, it’s important to have an honest conversation with your manager. Set up a meeting with them and prepare what you want to say beforehand. You’ll want to explain what you are struggling with, lay out the tasks you are juggling and suggest some ways you think things could be improved.
Try to stay as calm and professional as possible during your meeting. It’s okay to ask for help and to focus on how you don’t want the quality of your work to be affected. Your manager may be unaware of just how much you have on.
Many of us end up in stressful situations at work because we don’t know how to say no. It’s difficult to turn colleagues away when they ask for help. It’s difficult to tell your manager that you can’t take on this new project. However, always saying yes could hurt your work quality and mental well-being later.
Try not to see saying no as closing the door on an opportunity, it simply makes way for the right ones. If you turn a task down, that should leave you with the energy, time and motivation to generate better results with the tasks you are already working on.
Are you stressing about feeling stressed which is making you feel even more stressed? It’s all too easy to get wrapped up in a bubble of stress and worry but changing the way you think could help to take some of the pressure off yourself.
Remind yourself of what the most important things are in your life. Try some mindfulness techniques to help you cope. While the way you think won’t solve your problems at work, it will help you to cope better and manage your feelings and responses.
How many of us react to feeling overwhelmed at work by working crazy long hours and skipping our lunch breaks in an attempt to get everything done? Guilty! However, taking breaks is vital if we want to work productively and at our best. Our brain needs breaks!
After work, you should also try your best to switch off an enjoy your downtime. Stress can make us want to ditch our exercise regimes and start eating junk food, but this will only make you feel worse. If you feel overwhelmed at work, you should make more effort to enjoy your evenings and give yourself a chance to relax and recover.
If you’ve tried to make improvements but you’re still struggling, then it may be time to move on. Looking for a new job isn’t as scary as you may think, and you will be a lot happier and healthier when you have a new role in a company that is a better fit for you. Be sure to assess potential employers carefully to ensure you don’t end up in a similar position in the future.
If you’re an electrical wholesale, distribution or manufacturing professional, take a look at our opportunities here. Or, if you are a graduate who feels your first role wasn’t the right choice for you, we have some graduate jobs available too.
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