There are many aspects of work-related culture that are not talked about nearly enough. Among those, workplace stress culture and the ways to decrease work-related stress demand special attention. Despite honest efforts to improve employees’ experience, it remains a significant hurdle in maintaining a successful and pleasant workplace.

High workplace stress levels lead to increased absenteeism, health problems, job dissatisfaction, and significant revenue losses. Not to mention that workers experiencing high stress levels may be more liable to commit errors in their work.

Types and causes of work-related stress 

Believe it or not, there is such a thing as positive stress. We talk about positive pressure when referring to a small amount of stress that urges us to do better at work and go above and beyond our regular duties. This stress has positive qualities since it is not related to fear of negative consequences. Sadly, this is the rarest form of workplace stress.

What happens much more frequently is that we experience negative stress, both external and internal.

There are many causes of external stress, but the main ones include fear-based organizations that keep the employees anxious about their performance and their future, without providing any sort of positive feedback and assurances related to their future in the company, and workloads that are impossible to handle.

Next, we have ineffective or insufficiently trained leadership and problems between coworkers that remain unresolved.

The leading cause of internal stress is our ability to handle stressful situations – or, rather, lack of that ability. Even if you make a conscious decision to ignore all the external factors, the truth is that they are going to get to you. That’s only natural when the place where you spend a significant portion of your day seems like a hostile place loaded with obstacles you have to overcome every single day.

Consequences of a stressful workplace

As stated above, small quantities of pressure are unavoidable and even beneficial as they can serve as a motivation that helps you work harder and better. However, a working environment with plenty of stress can have severe consequences for your health.

These include problems such as headache, stomachache, sleep disturbances, short temper, and difficulty concentrating. Chronic stress can result in anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, and a weakened immune system. Long term consequences may include depression, obesity, and heart disease. 

A significant way to reduce the negative impact of workplace pressure and make it more manageable is setting up clear boundaries between your work and the rest of your life. That is, you should learn how to keep the work-related issues at work where they belong. 

Work-life boundaries 

It’s easy to forget your basic needs and to reduce yourself to a creature that devotes 60 or 70 hours per week to matters related to work. As you might have figured out by yourself by now, this is in no way a healthy thing to do, as it can have all the negative repercussions mentioned above, plus an increased risk of experiencing burnout. 

Here are some tips on how to establish and maintain clear borders between your work and private life. 

Set up an exact starting point and an endpoint of your workday

Take the initial hour or so of your day to focus on yourself, and do the same once you’re done with work for the day. 

Pick up your phone and determine the time when your Slack, Zoom, Skype, and even text messages won’t be active apps. Doing so makes it clear to others that you are not to be disturbed at the slightest inconvenience, as they’ll still be able to reach you via a phone call, but it makes it clear that the boundaries have been set.

Avoid company-issued devices if it’s possible

This tip is an extension of the previously mentioned advice, as it has the same core idea. Taking a phone or another device issued to you by your company essentially signals to them that it’s OK to reach out to you 24/7 as they have a phone number where they would always be able to do so. 

Adding that small extra effort that one has to go through to obtain your private number can be just what is needed to deter them from even making the call. 

Don’t forget that time off exists for a reason

When starting a new job, or if you’re working in a highly competitive environment, it’s very easy to go with the flow and work all day, every day. After all, that’s what most of the folks around you seem to be doing, right? Wrong. You are a complete individual who needs time for friends, family, even hobbies. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Workplace stress is hard to avoid, but if you manage to identify what’s putting the unwanted pressure on you and set up clear boundaries between your work and the rest of your life, you’ll be fine. Just hang in there! 

Michael has been working in marketing for almost a decade and has worked with a huge range of clients, which has made him knowledgeable on many different subjects. He has recently rediscovered a passion for writing and hopes to make it a daily habit. You can read more of Michael’s work at Qeedle.