Can’t take the stress at work? Keep calm and read on

Feeling stressed? Have you been sitting at your desk for longer than you can remember? No time for lunch today? Stress pervades our lives today more than ever, it seems.

Scroll down for 4 stress-busting tricks

Modern life has us juggling long working hours, an active social life, family duties and sometimes continued education all at one go. Find out if you’re suffering from stress with these easy to spot signs and learn how to survive. In a nutshell, breathe, keep calm and read on.

Job burnout

Modern workers are overwhelmed by their jobs, while work stress continues to be on the rise.

“The working dynamics have changed over the last few years,” Abdullah al-Mikati, principal consultant with The Hardwick Partnership, a retained executive search firm based in Dubai, told Al Arabiya News. “It’s an inter-connected world,” he says, both technologically and physically, which entails dealing with other entities across different time zones, hence the longer working hours and the constant connectivity to the job.”

According to Mikati, “competitiveness and differentiation in terms of a person’s technical skills are necessary nowadays to stay ahead of the curve within an organization.” He adds, “both scenarios put a lot of pressure on the employees to constantly strive to do better and to outperform internal competition and as a result increases the levels of stress, causes a person to lose the work/life balance and sometimes result into mental and physical fatigue.”

The damages of stress

When you’re constantly running in emergency mode, your mind and body will pay the price putting you at risk of “psychosomatic” disorders. “Psychosomatic” means mind (psyche) and body (soma) which are disorders that involve both mind and body. Sara Aboul Hosn, a doctor of psychology in Miami, Florida explains the physiology behind it. “Exposure to stress causes the body to increase cortisol secretion and high cortisol is problematic to the body,” she states.

How can you protect yourself? By recognizing the signs and symptoms of stress. “I would ask the general,” Aboul Hosn says, such as “are you having a hard time falling asleep? Do you find your mind racing sometimes that you can’t keep track of? Do you notice yourself struggling with poor concentration at work even though this wasn’t a problem for you in the past?” Other signs of stress can come as aches and pains, constipation, nausea, eating more or less, sleeping too much or too little, and a loss of sex drive.

The 4 stress fixes

Eat Healthy

Although you’ve heard that many times before, but only because it really is important. For example, eating a healthy breakfast helps keep your energy levels up and gets you through the day both positively and efficiently.

Consider a mix of oatmeal cooked in skimmed milk topped with berries and raw nuts. Although it’s tempting to reach for that chocolate bar when the afternoon slump hits, but that will only add to your anxiety and fatigue. Instead, pack in some fruit cuts which will give you a more natural energy boost.

Go for a stroll

A lot of the time people use their lunch breaks to get some more work done. But they’re lunch breaks are there for a reason so use them accordingly. Instead of sticking to your desk, go for a walk and get some sun.

Prepare a to-do list

Make sure to prepare a to-do list at the end of your day for the day after. Make sure it serves its purpose by setting realistic achievable goals and prioritizing them. Enjoy crossing them out one at a time the next day.

Take up a stress relieving hobby

There are no rules for this one. Go for a hobby that winds you down and makes your forget that long day of work. Try a number of activities such as kickboxing, yoga, belly dancing, or even an art class and see what works for you.