Coping with stress at work. Relax and reclaim your attention in the office.

Occupational stress – tl;dr

• Workplace stress is experienced by more than 80% of US workers. For more than 50%, stress has an influence on their private life. There are a few indicators suggesting that an organisation has a stressful work environment: high absenteeism, overtime culture, decreased productivity, and high employee turnover.

• Long-term stress can have serious physical effects, for example, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, muscle tension, headaches or sleeping problems. As for mental effects, workers may experience depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, burnout, exhaustion, decreased motivation and focus.

• Reducing office interruptions is a low-hanging fruit of workplace stressors. There are certain ideas to limit them, such as introducing quiet hours, providing desk partitions, investing in private office pods like hushMeet, making use of your calendar’s available/unavailable functionality, muting unnecessary notifications, and – in case of non-urgent issues – communicating  via team messenger apps.

What is occupational stress?

Occupational stress can be defined as strain from work-related factors. Heavy workload, long working hours, mundanity, interpersonal conflicts, and lack of control are only some of the examples. In fact, it is a really serious, widespread issue that impacts employees all over the world, resulting in both physical and mental health problems from heart disease to insomnia.

• More than 80% of US workers are said to experience workplace stress, and according to more than 50%, stress influences their family life.

• Roughly 23% of workers consider their stress levels high whereas only 6% claim they aren’t stressed at work.

• Indicators suggesting that an organisation has a stressful work environment may be high absenteeism, overtime culture, high employee turnover, and decreased productivity.

What causes stress at work?

Worries about job security. Fear of workplace retaliation. Confrontation with other employees, customers or supervisors. Struggling to adapt to new workspaces, rules and schedules. Working at the weekend. Having no breaks at work. Blurred work-life balance. And the list goes on and on.

Long-term stress seriously affects workers.

Some of the well-documented physical consequences of long-term stress include hypertension, headaches, muscle tension or sleep disorders. As for the mental effects, long-term stress may lead to depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, burnout, exhaustion, decreased motivation and focus.

Work-related stressors, ranging from heavy demands and strict deadlines to inadequate managerial support, have a considerable influence on an employee’s sense of well-being. They may gnaw at mental health and lead to a number of negative psychological consequences. Exhaustion, a sense of helplessness, and decreased self-esteem are just the tip of the iceberg. If an employee’s stress is not addressed properly, they may just give up

– says Mateusz Barczyk, Senior Brand Manager, Hushoffice.

Chronic employee stress is a drain on a company’s profitability.

It is estimated that work-related stress costs US employers more than $300 billion a year due to absenteeism, decreased productivity, and accidents. Employees that experience high levels of stress are less likely to find the necessary motivation to perform effectively or even stay at a company that does not enhance work conditions and fails to address the problem.

Focus and long-term stress do not go together.

Stress affects focus negatively through various mechanisms. One of them is the fight-or-flight response, for example, when we find ourselves in a stressful situation such as a startling interruption from a colleague, a tight deadline or a heated discussion, our body triggers an alarm response. Due to a series of hormonal changes such as the release of adrenaline and cortisol, we can face the perceived danger. But if this mechanism is repeatedly activated, it may affect cognitive processes such as focus and memory. So, when workers get distracted all of a sudden many times a day, their cognitive processes are disrupted and their productivity is reduced. Thus private work pods such as hushWork.sit&stand seem to be the key feature of a modern workplace – they function as shields blocking out alarming disruptions, and, as a result, address one of the most nagging, but manageable sources of office stress.

Our brains are impressively complex, but their capacity is limited. We can consciously process and act upon a restricted number of stimuli. And when we need to tackle a stressful situation, a significant part of our mental resources is used to deal with it. Consequently, less brain power is left to focus on tasks at hand.

Stress is also a considerable disruption for working memory.

Working memory is the type of memory responsible for holding and manipulating information in the short term. That is why stress can impair our concentration on sophisticated tasks that are a substantial part of work in the contemporary world.

Stress impairs “selective attention”.

Selective attention is our ability to process and filter out stimuli occurring at the same time. In stressful situations, it’s more difficult to keep attention and disregard irrelevant information. The hyperarousal typical of stress reactions also makes us more likely to get distracted.

What is more, stress is a trigger for worry and anxiety.

These mental states use up a lot of our brain’s resources. Anxious thoughts tend to be intrusive and difficult to deal with, further affecting focus.

Regardless of the perspective, the “stress picture” isn’t a nice one.

However, there is a silver lining. There are numerous simple measures that you can take to considerably reduce the base stress level in your office, first and foremost, by gaining control over office interruptions such as noise.

Workplace interruptions (including noise) are a main stress factor.

There are many kinds of office interruptions: phone calls, email notifications, background noise, colleagues’ chit-chats, unexpected visitors, hubbub in the kitchen etc. No matter what form they take, interruptions are interruptive and impede an employee’s individual flow, whether they are working on their task or having a moment’s rest.

Repetitive interruptions break an employee’s train of thought.

As a consequence, they have to divert their focus away from what they are doing at the moment. It requires time and mental effort to go back to the original task every time a disruption occurs. Such permanent shifting of attention results in mental fatigue and decreased productivity.

As a result of frequent interruptions, employees feel they lack influence on their work environment.

The sense of limited autonomy is a well-known cause of stress.

Visits from colleagues can also be an issue.

They can lead to misunderstandings or conflicts, especially if one considers them unnecessary or invasive. As a result, the work environment can get really tense. The sudden aspect of such interruptions, particularly when we are fully engaged and focused on our task can also be startling, and, consequently, stressful.

Office interruptions can trigger a vicious cycle.

They impair focus and generate stress, which in turn further diminishes our ability to focus. Luckily, there are many quick ways to manage and decrease the number of interruptions that are low-cost and easy to implement, starting with a team meeting to gather everyone’s opinions and ideas on the matter:

• Introducing quiet hours
• Installing privacy partitions between desks
• investing in private office pods such as hushMeet
• Using the available/unavailable functionality in your calendar
• Dividing space with the use of acoustic solutions (see: SONIQ partition system)
• Specifying busy signals, such as headphone use or busylight
• Encouraging workers to mute unnecessary notifications
• Discussing non-urgent issues via team messenger applications

It’s a fact that creative ideas blossom in a relaxed, stress-free mind.

If your employees are constantly tense, your company’s innovative potential is limited. When workers are permanently on edge, they give priority to stress management rather than pushing boundaries. The company’s creative capacity is then reduced.

A relaxed mind opens up pathways leading to creative thinking.

It’s because the human brain is a complex network of neurons communicating with one another with the use of electrical and chemical signals. Thus different states of mind, for example, undivided attention, relaxation, and sleep are connected with different patterns of neuronal activity.

When relaxed, your brain is in a state called the “default mode network”.

It’s a mode allowing us to imagine the future and let our mind wander. “DMN” can stimulate creativity in many ways: through divergent or associative thinking, improved intuition, reduced inhibition, or the incubation effect.

Relaxation techniques that can help alleviate stress at work …

Do you want to encourage a more peaceful state of mind in your workplace? Check out one of the following techniques every time you feel frazzled:

• Focus on conscious breathing. Simply try to stay aware of your breath and use it as an anchor that keeps you present in the moment. Merely observe the breathing process, following your inhale and exhale.

• Visualise a place that makes you feel happy and secure. Retreat to a calm place, perhaps an acoustic booth such as hushHybrid. Close your eyes and take a few minutes to visualise one of your favourite places vividly.

• Meditate and relax your body. Progressive muscle relaxation is a very effective and easy way to meditate, because it makes your mind focus on your body, calming spastic energy. You can do it even at your desk. Just tense each muscle group for a couple of seconds, and then release and relax them. Focus on the difference between tension and relaxation to achieve a more laid-back mindset.

• Take a breather in the break room. Unwinding for a few minutes in a calm space such as the hushMeet.L pod may foster relaxation by letting you escape from the office hubbub.

• Take breaks more often. Keeping a healthy work-rest rhythm is an essential basis for a relaxed and productive working cycle. Find out more about this topic on our blog: Give me a microbreak!

Undoubtedly, chillout zones, calm spaces, private pods and spaces for relaxation – no matter what we call them – are significant features of a modern office. Contained environments where sensory overloaded employees may seek refuge. That’s the point. They complement the office’s variety of areas in terms of privacy level and soundscape. And they provide people with alternatives, allowing them to choose the workspace that meets their current expectations and gain control over their resources, reducing stress

– says Mateusz Barczyk, Senior Brand Manager, Hushoffice.

Dealing with occupational stress – summary

• Workplace stress is experienced by more than 80% of US workers. For more than 50%, stress has an influence on their private life. There are a few indicators suggesting that an organisation has a stressful work environment: high absenteeism, overtime culture, decreased productivity, and high employee turnover.

• Long-term stress can have serious physical effects, for example, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, muscle tension, headaches or sleeping problems. As for mental effects, workers may experience depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, burnout, exhaustion, decreased motivation and focus.

• Reducing office interruptions is a low-hanging fruit of workplace stressors. There are some sure ideas to limit them, such as introducing quiet hours, providing desk partitions, investing in private office pods like hushMeet, making use of your calendar’s available/unavailable functionality, muting unnecessary notifications, and – in case of non-urgent issues – communicating  via team messenger apps.

Occupational stress – frequently asked questions

What can I do to relax in the office?

There are numerous reliable stress-relieving techniques that you can use even at your desk, for example, conscious breathing, visualisation, or progressive muscle relaxation training. If you want to form a calmer work environment, you may suggest introducing quiet hours, meeting-free days, or some kind of official busy signal to limit stressful distractions and make employees more in charge of their cognitive load and frame of mind.

What are the causes of workplace stress?

Heavy workload, looming deadlines, long working hours, increased expectations, lack of control, poor level of communication, no job security, lack of supervisor guidance, and a loud or chaotic work environment are some of the most frequent sources of stress at work.

How can I deal with office anxiety?

One of the best techniques to decrease your anxiety level is to introduce relaxation techniques as well as getting rid of workplace interruptions. Another helpful idea might be analysing those aspects of your work environment or duties that trigger anxiety to understand and address the underlying causes of the problem.