Eight inclusive strategies for employees to combat stress and build emotional resilience
Although the experience of mental distress is universal, everyone is different, and diverse strategies are required. Employees can learn to reduce the impact of stress by managing external pressures and developing emotional resilience – their ability to adapt and bounce back during times of change and adversity. Here are eight inclusive strategies:
1. Work-life balance
When we make time for ourselves and do the things we enjoy we're more productive in all areas of our lives. It's important to take regular breaks at work, have lunch away from the desk and leave the office at an appropriate time each day.
2. Walking it off
Exercises that focus on muscle tension and deep breathing, like walking, activate the parasympathetic system or ‘rest and digest system’ that's responsible for lowering heart rate and helping your body relax.
When you do high-intensity exercises, such as sprints or a combat class, your body needs to kick things up a notch and activates the sympathetic or ‘fight or flight’ system. While the endorphin release may make you feel better in the short-term, it isn’t the stress-relieving activity you might expect it to be.
A gentle 20-30 minute walk outside can release enough endorphins to help you feel relaxed and in control, without straying into the fight or flight zone. A walk in nature or an area you are particularly fond of can further boost positive feelings and remove you from a stressful situation.
Longer term, maintaining a fitness routine, particularly one featuring aerobic exercises, can improve your overall ability to manage your heart rate and behaviour next time you feel stressed.
3. Good quality rest
Rest is just as important as physical activity. Sleep is our body’s chance to recharge, without it we feel less productive, have lower energy levels and poor concentration. Try to get between seven and eight hours of good quality sleep each night.
4. Don’t look to substances to unwind
Ingesting caffeine, alcohol and nicotine all increase the activation of the fight or flight system and can interfere with getting good quality sleep. The after-effects of heavy drinking or drug use can also linger and seriously impair our ability to handle stressful situations.
Higher levels of cortisol which stress can cause have also been linked to increased appetite. When you’re stressed, you may find yourself overeating, particularly on unhealthier ‘comfort’ foods, which can have wider negative effects on your physical and mental health.
5. Mindfulness
Stress and anxiety are often caused by focusing too much on past events or worrying too much about the future, both of which are out of our control. Similarly, trying to focus on too many things at once can easily overwhelm us. Mindfulness can help us manage our attention and emotions in a more efficient way, focusing on the present moment.
People with excellent emotional wellbeing consistently take more time to savour moments like listening to their child laugh or watching a sunset. This boosts their happiness, improves resilience and increases life satisfaction, which leads to more opportunities to savour small pleasures, resulting in more happiness. It's a happiness cycle.
Stop for a moment and do just one thing, for instance, close the laptop and focus solely on eating a sandwich. Use as many senses as possible to really notice the activity as if you were doing it for the first time and are required to explain it to someone afterwards. Enjoy the activity as if it's the last time you’ll experience it.
You don’t just have to savour positives in the present. Reminiscing like with family or friends about past positive events, particularly where you shared laughter, can increase happiness and relationship satisfaction.
Exercising our minds encourages the growth of new cells, keeping our minds healthy and can make us feel more positive too. Stimulating our brains with activities such as puzzles and crosswords or learning a new hobby or skill can help boost mental fitness, and give us something present to focus our attention on.
6. Talking about it
Many people overlook the simple strategy of social interaction to reduce stress and improve health and wellbeing. Talking to friends, family and colleagues can help build strong relationships and develop trust. You may feel more comfortable talking about how you feel more regularly. Feeling isolated or not having the opportunity to talk regularly to others can affect mental wellbeing. Stress can also cloud your ability to see solutions that might seem obvious to an outsider, with a fresh perspective.
7. Find your triggers
We all perceive and react to situations in different ways. It could be your individual reaction to an event that may be affecting how stressed you feel. Talking to friends and colleagues may help you understand how other people react in the same situation. Talking to trained professionals may help you understand how your responses are linked to particular thought patterns and emotions.
8. Manage your behaviour
How we react or behave when under pressure doesn’t just have an impact on ourselves, but may also affect friends, family and colleagues. It can be helpful to not only try and boost your own positive feelings, but also those of the people around you. In the same way that we can use mindfulness to better perceive the positives in our own lives, doing something kind for someone else, no matter how small, can often clear tensions and lift everyone’s mood, including your own.
For further advice and guidance on the topic of stress visit the stress hub on our website.
The author is Brendan Street, head of charity at Nuffield Health. Brendan is a BABCP Accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist and NMC registered mental health nurse.
This article is provided by Nuffield Health.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, Nuffield Health
Nuffield Health are the UK's largest healthcare charity & the market leader in corporate healthcare.
