Casual Friday: Keep calm and manage your workload

Although you may be an advisor who thrives in a high-pressure environment, it’s important not to overstretch your limits. And as difficult as it can be to pull away from mounting obligations, you have to establish parameters for what you can tackle reasonably.

“It’s really about understanding yourself and finding that balance,” says Emma Nicholson, occupational health and safety specialist with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) in Toronto.

Although some sources of stress are just beyond your control, there are steps you can take to curb your overall stress levels.

Nicholson offers a few tips for relieving workplace stress:

1. Be mindful of your “trigger points”
Be conscious of what throws you off your daily routine, whether it’s lack of sleep or skipping a meal, says Nicholson. Take stock of your overall habits — diet, exercise and social commitments — and how each one might contribute to your stress at work.

The better aware you are of what affects your ability to function properly, the easier it is to figure out how best to tackle the day’s workload. Think of “little things” you can do to help you make it through the day, she adds. For example, if it’s not part of the ritual, treat yourself to lunch outside of the office, or go out to take a quick walk, even if it’s just for 10 minutes.

2. Develop personal coping strategies
When the workload starts to take a noticeable toll — affecting your productivity and level of focus — integrate activities or exercises that help you relax, says Nicholson.

People have different ways of looking after themselves, but aren’t always attuned to what they need in stressful situations, she adds: “It may take a couple of different runs at it [to see what works]. Some may want to [just] plod through.”

3. Assess your response to daily demands
If you start to notice an alarming pattern in the way you react to competing responsibilities, take some time to recharge and review your workload. That feeling of being overwhelmed and overstretched might manifest itself as a shift in your behaviour, in which you may become withdrawn, sensitive or moody, says Nicholson.

“The catch is having enough self-awareness to be able to notice these changes,” she adds.

As stress symptoms reveal themselves in different ways, it’s often difficult to pinpoint the sources of stress and quantify their impact. The CCOHS developed a tool, the Measure Workplace Stress App, says Nicholson, in which you go through a series of questions that measure your stress levels. The app, which is available for Android, BlackBerry and iOS devices, can help identify how you might go about changing your routine.

4. Draft a daily to-do list
Set priorities for yourself each day so you can triage all the unfinished tasks that are ahead of you. “Be honest with what you can accomplish,” says Nicholson, “and don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

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