From high blood pressure and heart disease to chronic headaches, internalizing stress may be causing more than you've bargained for. Next time someone in the office pushes you to the limit, take the following steps to stop short-term workplace drama from potentially creating detrimental long-lasting impact on your life.
Examine Yourself First
Before you start blaming your boss or co-worker for why you're wound up so tightly, you have to examine what you may be doing to contribute to the chaos. Are you cutting it close with deadlines or not returning phone calls or emails in a timely manner? What might you be able to do to streamline your own processes in order to eliminate a little tension today?
Eliminate Stressors When Possible
Generally we lose our feeling of calm not because of one single event or situation that upsets us. It's more like a bunch of little ones that over time build and develop into an overall feeling of frustration.
If you've eliminated the ways in which you've contributed to your own stress, the next step is to look at parts of your work life that may be consistent stressors. Is there someone you should really avoid speaking to? Can you modify the way in which you communicate with them to serve you better? Is there a part of your job you once loved and now despise? Consider speaking to your supervisor about shifting your role in a way that now supports you and can be a benefit to the organization.
Stay focused on solutions.
Discipline yourself to remain totally solution oriented, no matter how tough the circumstance or challenge you're facing. Resist the urge to become an emotional mess like everyone else in the office. Workplace stress is often heightened when we become more focused on problems that arise rather than remaining dedicated to always finding a way to resolve that problem.
Make it habit to ask yourself, "What's important right now to resolve XYZ challenge?" Harping on the fact that the situation has arisen is not the way to find the solution.
Get out of the office daily.
If people at work are getting on your nerves you need to have a go-to ritual in place that helps you get out of dodge and regroup. Find a quick, relaxing ritual that you can do relatively often that helps you quiet the nonsense and noise and clear your head. You may go for a 10 minute walk, sit in your car and blast your favorite song or just sit outside and people watch. Whatever you choose to do, do it often and it'll become your personal peaceful place.
Force yourself to laugh more.
It's hard to smile or laugh and have a sour face all at once. When you feel a case of the furrowed brow coming about, reach for something funny. You can pull up podcasts of a comedy show on iTunes or look for crazy videos on YouTube. Find something that is hands down a knee slapper for yourself and force a little laughter back in your life.