It seems that the life of an office worker is all about comfort. Sitting in a comfortable chair under air conditioning, typing on a fancy laptop, occasionally going for coffee. But in fact, working in an office can lead to chronic fatigue and nervous exhaustion. The main reason is the constant stress. Let’s try to explain where it comes from and how to cope with it.
1. Conflicts
Typically, the word “conflict” is used in the negative sense: now we’re going to argue and say unpleasant things to each other. But in fact, conflict is a sign that the system has stopped working and needs to be renewed. For example, teenagers don’t fight with their parents because they no longer love them. They have simply grown up and wanted to be no longer cared for as a child. It’s the same at work. Conflicts with co-workers mean that old patterns of work and communication have lost effectiveness.
How to deal with conflicts at work
- Don’t ignore the problem. It won’t solve itself. The longer you turn a blind eye to it, the more negativity will accumulate among those involved.
- Do not be dramatic. Periodic conflicts – a normal part of the job. Writemyessay.nyc recommends not to worry about the fact that the relationship with your colleagues will be irrevocably damaged.
- Look for the reasons. Try to determine what displeases the participants in the conflict and how they want to change the situation. If you are not ready to accept the terms of your opponents, look for other options and try to come to a compromise.
- Distinguish between productive and unproductive conflicts. Both types can be quite violent. But in the first case, the parties want to come to a common solution, and in the second, they do not. Participants in unproductive conflict engage in it just for the sake of fighting.
- Distance yourself from unproductive conflicts. If you cannot solve the problem, try to reduce communication with your opponent to a minimum. In the worst cases, it is worth thinking about changing jobs. Otherwise, you will live in constant stress, and this is destructive to the body.
2. Impostor Syndrome
It is a psychological phenomenon in which, as an expert, a person underestimates his knowledge and believes that those around him know the subject better. Impostor syndrome is caused by the Dunning-Kruger effect. It consists of the fact that people with low qualifications are absolutely sure of themselves: they simply do not have enough knowledge to realize their limitations. And those who have been in the profession for several years estimate themselves much lower: they realize that they still do not know and cannot do much.
The second reason that causes impostor syndrome is upbringing. Since childhood, we are taught to pay attention to mistakes and to make the right decisions for granted. This causes people as adults to devalue their strengths and focus on their weaknesses. Think back to your high school dictation, where the teacher highlighted all the flaws with a red pen. Such marks are immediately striking and make you feel inferior. Although if in the same dictation, green underlined the words written correctly, it would be obvious that you have not written so badly.
How to deal with imposter syndrome
- Remember that doubting your competence is a sign of professionalism. If you don’t consider yourself a super-expert and realize that you have a lot to learn, that does your credit.
- Concentrate on accomplishments. Praise yourself for what you’re doing well. Track your progress: yesterday you struggled with Excel, today you’ve mastered all the basic functions. Yes, you are not yet a data analysis guru, but you are growing every day.
- Don’t feel bad about making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. This does not make you unprofessional. The main thing is to admit your mistake, correct it, and learn a lesson for the future.
- Take your weaknesses as a motivator to develop. If you do not know how to do something, it is an area of growth, not a reason for frustration.
3. Job Change
Adapting to a new place is always stressful. There are unfamiliar faces, processes, and tasks around. All of this throws you out of your comfort zone and makes you nervous. You can’t completely avoid anxiety in such a situation, it’s the body’s natural reaction to change. But it is possible to minimize the level of anxiety.
How to reduce stress during adaptation:
- Give yourself time. Do not expect to get used to the new place in a couple of weeks. It doesn’t work that way. A normal adaptation takes from three months to six months.
- Don’t be afraid to tell your coworkers how you feel. Explain that you are worried or feel uncomfortable with communication. Ask to take you out to lunch. This will help relieve tension and bring you closer to your team.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions or ask for help. Believe me, colleagues won’t be disappointed in you for not knowing something. On the contrary, if you start pretending to know everything, it’s more likely to cause irritation and prevent you from understanding the new area.
4. Lack of Work-Life Balance
We live in a contradictory era. On the one hand, we are under pressure to be productive and successful in our careers, and on the other hand, we are urged to live our lives to the fullest and take time to travel, play sports, and devote time to family, friends, and hobbies. The superhumans who succeed are said to have found a work-life balance. And the rest are stressed because they do not meet the high demands of society. In fact, work-life balance – it’s not a superpower to manage everything. Rather, it is an individual state of comfort in which you do not sacrifice one important part of life for another.
How to achieve work-life balance:
- Remember that there is no right and wrong balance. For some people work-life balance – it is work from 9 to 18 and measured evenings with the family, for others – a twelve-hour working day and active sports on weekends. Do not be guided by others, look for your own variant.
- Know your own peculiarities. The level of vitality depends largely on temperament. For example, if you are phlegmatic, then you will have no problem with assiduity and meticulousness, but you quickly run out in a situation of time pressure. This is not a weakness with which to fight, but your specificity. Take it into account when choosing a work mode.
- Listen to how you feel. When the mode is not balanced, the body immediately begins to signal about it. The main thing is not to ignore these signs. If you constantly feel depressed and tired, forget things and lose your keys, then it’s time to change something. If you’ve been longing to play tennis, then it’s the perfect time to learn about it through IPTL World and other resources. Try things that you’ve always wanted to do, it’ll be a great help to enlighten you.
- Don’t use temporary measures. To cope with burnout and chronic fatigue, it’s not enough to get enough sleep or go on vacation for a week. This will help, but not for long. Problems will return, as soon as you go to work. So it’s better to think about how to globally restructure the regime, so as not to drive yourself to exhaustion.
5. Procrastination
By tomorrow you need to finish an important presentation, and you’re up until late-night watching the show. As a result, you did not rest and somehow managed to finish the work 10 minutes before the deadline. The guilt is off the charts. Does this situation sound familiar?
We procrastinate when the brain cannot choose between two significant needs (to work and sleep) and the stress just switches to something else, such as soap opera. Often a person is not even aware of one of these needs. For example, you know exactly what you need to pass the project, but do not realize that the body suffers from a severe lack of sleep.
How to deal with procrastination:
- Look for the cause. Procrastination at work begins when a person systematically neglects meaningful needs. For example, psychological comfort, self-actualization, the desire to do something important or receive recognition from others. Identify what you are missing and try to add it to your life.
- Think of severe chronic procrastination as a wake-up call. Perhaps this is your brain’s way of letting you know that you’re working for a company that doesn’t fit your regime, emotional climate, atmosphere, or values.
- Identify your motivation. To reduce procrastination and more easily tolerate difficult working conditions or unpleasant tasks, you need to be clear about why you want it. For the sake of a desirable goal, a person can temporarily mobilize resources and turn a blind eye to the fact that some of his needs are not being met.
