In this blog, I will give you 8 strategies if you feel overwhelmed at work. These strategies will help you reduce stress and unlock your potential to the best at your workplace!

Stress is the most common issue faced by people in the current times. However, what people don’t realize is that being over-stressed and overwhelmed can reduce your efficiency multifold, affect your health to a great extent and is a catalyst for numerous long-term diseases. The issue of overwhelming stress was dealt with by Yerkes and Dodson in 1908, where they came up with a bell curve to depict how motivation is directly connected to feeling overwhelmed. According to them, extreme high and extreme low motivation are the bearers of inefficiency, which in turn makes us feel overwhelmed. A balance is necessary! Let us discuss how you can inculcate certain good habits to reduce stress and anxiety at work and maintain a balanced mindset to completely ward off the ‘Monday Blues!’.

1) Planning Always Helps!

Look in your drawer and take out the sticky notes you haven’t been paying attention to for so long! Write about every task that is due, and sort them out under urgent and important. Urgent is what requires you to deliver something at your best speed; it often makes you panic. Less thought goes into it and hence work efficiency reduces. The important tasks, on the other hand require proper planning, thought and action.

Do you know why is it necessary to know the difference between what is urgent and important? According to Eisenhower’s Principle, what is urgent is seldom important, and what is important is seldom urgent. Divide your work and prioritize it! Your time and attention are precious, use them wisely.

2) Focus on ‘Now’ & ‘Here’:

As I have said in my previous blogs, your universe resonates with you. Ask yourselves from time to time, ‘Are my surroundings comfortable enough for me to work efficiently? Can I change something that is amiss?’

If the answer is yes, make that change, first! Be it, cleaning your workstation, or resolving an argument with a colleague that is making your mind unstable.

3) As Yourself: “Is My Subject of Worry Worthy Enough”?

As I said previously, your mental peace is precious. Do not lose it over trifles. Think about the situation you’re so worried about, and let it go until it is something that concerns your life. As Dean Smith says,

4) Switch Your Work-Mode ‘Off’ and Take a Break

American author Douglas Rushkoff correctly describes the present condition of human beings as “Always On!” More than using technology to our advantage, we have slowly turned into its slaves. Being ‘online’, and ‘alert’ all the time has become a prerequisite today; and this greatly affects our physical and mental health.

What do you do when you suddenly feel overburdened and overwhelmed? Most of us get stuck further in the trap. Consider leaving your workstation, and take a walk somewhere in the fresh air to release the traffic in your mind. This helps in viewing at a situation from a bigger and a better perspective. Everything needs to be recharged, distance yourselves from technology in the break, and let nature recharge you!

5) Embrace the Reality

‘I have made a grave error! What will happen now?’ Each one of us in our lives, has had this experience of making an error and being scared about the outcome. However, in the end, we’ve always been able to manage the situation. Embrace your circumstances and focus on the present! It is  always wise to move on, rather than being stuck in the clock. Motivate yourself to take responsibility and do best in the next task at hand!

6) Monitor your Motivational Energy

Sticking to reality is essential. As I said in the beginning, balanced motivation is the best catalyst for efficient work. If you’re over-motivated, you might want to become an over-achiever, and you end up wanting to do everything at once! Ask yourself, ‘Is this possible for me to do? Or will it be stressful for me?’ Realistic goals help you ward off stress.

7) When Overwhelmed, Communicate and Put the Weights Down

Have you ever considered talking to your colleague or your manager when you feel overburdened? Build conversations over small coffee breaks, and get to know your colleagues. At times, a broad perspective is required to tackle a situation!

Your manager could be your mentor, talking to them and requesting solutions is always a good way of building positivity in your work environment and team-work.

8) Keep that Weekend to Yourself!

What do you do on weekends? When was the last time you prioritized yourself and your health over work? Ideally, weekends are not meant for work. However, in case the deadlines are close and working on weekends or holidays is the need of the hour, remember to prioritize! Day-offs are meant for a recharge. Hence, if you forget to rejuvenate yourself on the weekends or day-offs, you might end up feeling over-worked for the entire next week. Indulge in  constructive activities which concern you as a person! Grow in your life, to grow in your work!

Use these eight strategies to feel lighter at work and say goodbye to work-stress. Stay tuned and know more about our Stress Masters Programme to deal better with stress at workplace.

Till Then Stay Positive, Healthy and Stress-free!

The famous author Mark Manson, in his book known as ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***k’, says, 

“If it feels like it's you versus the world, chances are it's really just you versus yourself.” 

It is always you versus yourself. Things change when you begin leading your life this way. However, for numerous years, we have directed our minds to constantly deny our faults and blame things on our surroundings. 

1. Shifting The Blame Without Introspecting Within

Let me narrate an incident to explain this. Some time ago, in a party, I came across this person. My friend Nitin told me certain things about his life. The man was the founder and CEO of a famous beverage start-up which, in the last few months, was on the slope towards failure. Besides the hefty funds they received, the company had begun to lag in the market because their workforce had stopped being supportive. When I walked past him, I heard him blatantly blaming his employees and calling them ungrateful and sluggish. 

Nitin told me that in the recent past, the man’s employees had been complaining about his behaviour, and some had even resigned. The man was rude and mismanaged in his work. He used to call his employees for meetings on weekends or holidays, providing them with unrealistic reasons and often cancelled at the last minute. Such repeated acts were clearly a reason why his employees had stopped supporting him.  

Numerous attempts had been made by his closed ones to explain to him the real reason behind his downfall, but he refused to accept it. He deeply believed that his employees were at fault.  

This was his blindspot!  

And this is where I realised that most of us constantly dwell in our blindspots. A blind state is not healthy for your mind. You need to remove your blindspot in order to move forward in life and accept your responsibility towards shaping your life. Let me explain this better through the Law of Attraction.  Your life is constantly getting shaped with or without your knowledge. How so? Every decision you take, be it small or big, makes a difference in your life. Often do we wonder, 

“How come these successful people are always so confident? Do they never make wrong decisions?”

The answer to these questions can be easily understood with the proper understanding of the Law of Attraction. Every decision is correct if taken confidently and for the benefit of the others, hence, people who take decisions without any doubt, always tend to be successful in life. Law of Attraction has one basic rule: 

For the law to work, Desire and Action need to be present, however there should be no place for Doubt. When was the last time you gave an advice to a colleague, or a friend? How easy or difficult was it? We do not hesitate while making decisions for others. While counselling others, we do not give in to doubt. However, while deciding or taking an action for ourselves, we often spend days as well as months before reaching a conclusion.  

What do you need to do or eat to remain healthy? What should be your daily routine? Most of us have been aware of the answers to these questions for years, but have we really begun to bring them into action? We spend hours planning, thinking about what we should or should not do. Being practical and taking actual decisions for yourself is the tricky part. 

2. Harbouring Superstitions Rising From Self Doubt

Doubt emerges mostly from our past experiences. Here, let me introduce the concept of Power Centre, i.e. the collection of beliefs (stored in our subconscious) which is a result of positive as well as negative experiences in the past. We often dwell on our past for the decisions we make in the present.  Dwelling in the past gives rise to superstitions!

Let’s say, you have failed an exam when you slept early the night before the exam. Your past belief will not let you sleep before the next exam. You’ll always be scared and will try your best to study till late at night. If somehow, you fall asleep the previous night, you’ll sit for the exam with a truck load of fear in your heart and eventually end up forgetting what you learnt! As explained in my previous blog, the Law of Attraction shall work perfectly in this case. 

This is how doubt, and in most cases, superstition forms a part of your subconscious.  

It is your responsibility to constantly make choices from the positive power centre and not from the negative power centre. Make use of your past for motivation! This is one of the few ways to direct the Law of Attraction in your favour! 

Do away with doubt and remove the blindspots which keep you from your dreams and life goals! 

Stay tuned for my next blog where I’ll explain the do’s and don’ts that will allow the Law of Attraction to work in your favour!

If you want to understand how and where to start, let’s have a conversation.

Till then, Stay Positive! Stay healthy and Stress-free!