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Easy Ways to Minimize Work Deadline Stress

The notion of working from home may seem to be a great one on the face of it but when you have to deal with screaming children, infuriating salesmen at the door, loud TV and music and annoying neighbours, going off to office may seem to be a wonderful idea. However, this may not be possible right now. So, do you let the stress get to you and make you unproductive? Or do you find techniques for stress management that are easy to adopt? The latter is not difficult at all as you will see here.

Stress management that you can start today:

All it takes to make work from home a stress-free and productive affair is some effort from your side and these pointers:

• Make a schedule:

Start by writing everything down that you must do in a day, both personal and professional. Now allocate numbersin terms of priority. Determine the time that it will take to do each and jot that down. Now play around with the tasks like a jigsaw puzzle so you fit them all into your work and free hours and your schedule is done.

• Get realistic about time:

Take full advantage of the work from home option and keep flexible hours so that you work when you can do it best. For example, waking early and getting a couple of hours in before the kids wake up is a great idea. Don’t set unrealistic expectations like working on the most crucial things when the kids are most active.

• Avoid overworking:

Since your home has turned into your office, you may no longer be able to maintain strict work hours. Adopting an ‘office’ environment inside your home can address this problem. Get dressed for work, shift to a place that you have setaside especially for this, do not allow personal things to enter there, leave the ‘office space’ at your usual workday ending hour. Do not give in to the temptation of sneaking a peek at work emails or messages after this point.

• Discuss boundaries with your boss:

Sometimes, your boss may not understand that work from home does not mean you are at work 24/7. Firmly set boundaries with them and make it clear that you are available only during work hours and not otherwise. Giving a specific window of time during which you will be available without fail often helps.

• Choose to interact face to face:

Not only is this a good break from screen time and thus a nice stressbuster, but it also ensures there is no misunderstanding that leads to unnecessary stress. A terse message may give you the impression that your colleague or boss is unhappy with your work. However, it may just be that they are having coffee and thus typing the shortest message possible.

• Take breaks:

In an office setting, you would take coffee breaks and stretch your legs for a few minutes periodically. Do the same at home too. Get up, take a walk, check in on the rest of the family and maybe chat for a few minutes before you come back to work. A five-minute break can make work less monotonous and ensure that your brain gets recharged.

• Exercise regularly:

The simplest and healthiest way to reduce stress is to exercise regularly. Apart from exercising after hours, you can also do some chair exercises right in your office space.Rolling your shoulders, doing neck relaxation exercises, eye exercises, finger stretches and even desk push-ups can be very beneficial. This way, you can avoid the muscle aches that come from staying in one position all day and also keepup with daily stress management.

• Stay connected:

Thanks to COVID, we are all in the same boat when it comes to work from home. So, it helps to have friends checking in on us to see if we are doing okay. Start calling up buddies to check in on them and you will have them reciprocating the same soon enough. A short friendly chat can make the stress disappear like magic.

Just a few changes can make sure that stress does not impact your mind and body. Adopting these simple stress management techniques make it easy for you to work at your best, stay healthy and stay happy while at work.

Disclaimer: This blog provides general information and discussions about health and related subjects. The information and other content provided in this blog, website or in any linked materials are not intended and should not be considered, or used as a substitute for, medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Kindly contact your Doctor before starting a new medicine or health regime.

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Published on January 20, 2022