How to Manage Stress When Overwhelmed by Work

The need to learn how to manage stress is becoming more important due to the fast pace and increasing responsibilities in our daily lives. Both home and work seem to be placing additional demands upon us that do NOT come with any additional time with which to meet them. The result quite understandably is that many are left feeling overwhelmed and in need developing ways to relieve stress as a result of these mounting pressures.

One of the best way to control stress before it causes irreversible damage to your physical or mental health is to address the causes directly. In this case we are speaking about the pressures we feel from mounting responsibilities that leave us feeling overwhelmed.  These feelings often times result in paralyzing our efforts and inhibiting our ability to function effectively.

Here are 3 simple but effective ways to relieve stress due to the overload felt by the increasing responsibilities and expectations in our lives.

Dive In

It is normal for people to pause and re-evaluate or reflect upon a situation that has changed. This reaction is especially true when work duties or other personal responsibilities increase.

The problem with this is it is easy to allow self-doubt to develop when attempting to adjust our schedules for these additional tasks. The questions arise as to whether you have the talent or time to successfully complete these new duties.

As doubt builds it then becomes very easy to begin feeling overwhelmed by the situation. This results in procrastination setting in due to our fear of failure. The more we delay taking action the more pressure builds as responsibilities and expectations continue to mount.

One of the best ways to relieve stress in a situation like this is to simply 'dive in' and get busy. It is amazing how taking action tends to help melt the stress away. It matters little if you are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with what it is you are doing, in time both these feelings will disappear.

Focus on Just One Thing

Often stress builds when our focus is allowed to drift towards other 'unfinished' business. This diminishes our ability to properly concentrate on what we are doing which tends to lend more stress to the situation. The best way to control stress like this is to focus on ONLY one thing at a time. By doing this you increase the quality of your performance, complete the task and relieve the pressure that was building up inside of you.

And speaking of completing the task…

Complete Each Task

Although multi-tasking is widely adopted for use in our busy schedules, hopping from one task to the next only lengthens the time it takes to complete any one project. With all the 'unfinished' business hanging over your head once again the pressure on you mounts.

Make it a point to stay on each task until it has been completed. By doing this you will gain a sense of accomplishment you would not have had if the task was left unfinished. This peace of mind will help you to control stress and allow you to focus better on the next task you undertake.

Learning how to manage stress that results from the mounting pressures of our everyday lives is of great importance to our health. The best way to control stress due to increasing responsibilities is to address the causes head on. Above we spoke of 3 ways to relieve stress due to feeling overwhelmed by an overload of responsibilities. By taking the first step in approaching and completing these responsibilities one at a time gives you the feeling of accomplishment. This in turn will lead to a decrease in any pressure you are experiencing and an increase in your motivation to accomplish even more. You are now moving in the right direction!