April is once again Stress Awareness Month, something we support every year at Cordell Health. We are living and working in stressful times where demanding workplace challenges can be compounded by external issues such as the cost-of-living crisis. All of which makes this year’s message from Stress Awareness Week all the more important.
The theme is ‘Little by Little, A Little Becomes a Lot’. It’s all about the transformative impact that consistent, small positive actions can have on improving our wellbeing. It’s a very important message. The Stress Management Society believe that even the smallest steps taken each day towards self-care and stress reduction can yield significant improvements in mental health over time.
The impact of stress on the workplace
Stress seems to be increasingly in the news in recent weeks. A Google search will quickly show headlines like ‘Workplace absences at a 10 year high’ with stress as a major factor. Or that ‘1 in 5 are off sick due to stress’.
MHFA England released a report in 2023 showing that 51% of long-term sick leave is due to stress, depression, or anxiety. What’s more, it appears that younger workers under 30 are reporting that stress is a factor in their absence.
All of this presents a problem for employers as sick employees are less productive and less innovative. They are functioning at a level far below what they could if they weren’t ill. And employees who are signed-off work leave gaps that can be difficult to cover.
A recent article in Personnel Today estimated that an organisation employing around 1,000 people faces absence costs running at around £2million per year. If 50 % of this is down to stress related issues as the stats suggest, that’s a £1million cost alone.
Small actions you can take
While some of what follows might seem like common sense or too basic to need emphasising, we can assure you it’s not. And this is why The Stress Management Society are suggesting that we all need to focus on some really small actions that together, could have a big impact.
Their analogy is that stress management is like building a house, brick by brick. A single brick may seem insignificant, but small actions will serve as the foundation of our mental wellbeing.
Here’s what they suggest we focus on for a less stressful life, #LittleByLittle. All of these are relevant to the workplace but of course support better mental wellbeing at any time.
1: Connect with someone: A sense of belonging and connection can help reduce feelings of loneliness. The increase in flexible and hybrid working runs the risk that the signs that might suggest stress go unnoticed. So, check in with your team members and build a support network.
2: Prioritise sleep: Sleep is something we rarely value – until we can’t achieve it. Often the tech in our lives has a detrimental effect on our ability to sleep. Late working and exposure to bright screens can stop the brain unwinding and can be an inhibitor to decent sleep. Create a clean and restful sleep environment and avoid caffeine after 4 pm.
3: Move in your own way: Movement is good for reducing stress. It could be walking, running, cycling, swimming, yoga or gardening – doing whatever exercise you enjoy will get your endorphins flowing and help move you to a positive state of mind. In fact, the NHS recommends 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week.
4: Spend time in nature: Take a break from a busy office or leave your home workspace and get out into nature. If your workplace has an outside area, why not take your lunch and socialise. Or walk to work, taking in a park if that’s possible and stimulate your senses.
5: Breathe deep: There are a number of breathing exercises that will help to manage levels of stress and enable better sleep too. Deep breathing helps us to shift into a more relaxed mode. Being conscious of how you breathe and having a few breathing exercises committed to memory are important for your stress management toolkit.
6: Practice mindfulness: It’s worth acquiring some mindfulness training. It can allow you to focus on the here and now, aiding self-awareness and it also helps you to practice emotional regulation and control – both skills being very effective in both preventing and taking the stress out of stressful situations.
Preventing and managing stress at work
The small actions that form the basis of this year’s Stress Awareness Month are all valuable in stress prevention and management. But what about the workplace itself? It’s a place where many of us have experienced stressful situations – so how can we better cope?
Here are a few ideas:
1: Asking for help: Everyone needs help at some point and there’s no shame in asking for it. In situations where your manager or a colleague is the source of that stress, confide in a trusted colleague which emphasises the need to build that support network. It’s a good idea to step back, have a conversation rather than immediately responding which runs the risk of only increasing stress levels.
2: Time Management is a valuable skill: Planning your day and setting yourself achievable and realistic tasks to complete will help reduce feelings of being overwhelmed. It’s also a good tip to make a list of what’s on your mind the night before – and then trying to tune out of that list until the next day. This also helps free the mind of stimulation and aids sleep.
3: Find out about support services: Most workplaces will have an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that will usually offer free advice and sometimes counselling sessions. Organisations are increasingly recognising the need for support and that it’s OK to not feel OK. Taking advantage of the support available which is often external, may also make it easier to discuss any stress that may arise from colleagues.
4: Learn to spot the signs in others: This will help to preempt stressful situations becoming worse and offer support where needed. Signs that someone is experiencing stress can include mood swings and out of character behaviour, frequent short-term absences, increased signs of physical illness and changing attitudes towards work which may include inability to concentrate and loss of interest and lower engagement.
In conclusion
A certain level of stress is unavoidable in life and work. In some instances, it can actually add a little momentum in how we work and respond to situations. The danger comes when things get out of our control. That’s where stress management tactics become important in ensuring we cope better ourselves, while also becoming more aware of what might be happening with, and how to help, others.
About Stress Awareness Month
Run by The Stress Management Society, Stress Awareness Month takes place across April. There are a number of resources and a video to watch on the campaign website here:
https://www.stress.org.uk/SAM2024/
Get our guide
We’ve created a new guide on stress. Covering the signs and symptoms and with tips to manage stress, subscribers to our wellbeing site can download the guide. If you are not signed up to this service and would like to find out more, please contact us on wellbeing@cordel.247developments.com
Further reading
We also discuss stress in-depth in our article ‘Reducing stress triggers and creating psychological safety’.
https://cordel.247developments.com/blog/reducing-stress-triggers-and-creating-psychological-safety/
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash.
