When we think about lifestyle, we typically consider things like going on holiday, renovating our homes and eating delicious food. But it turns out that the way we go about our work also makes a massive difference in our quality of life. After all, we spend the better part of the week toiling away.
In this post, we take a look at the proven methods to take the stress out of your working day. It could be the best thing you ever did to improve your quality of life.
Take Action, Don’t React
Many of us work in jobs where we feel as though we do nothing but react all the time to the situation around us.
Just when we think that we have all our ducks in a row, something comes along that scuppers our plans, and we’re back to square one. It can be extremely stressful.
The best way to approach this is to act, not react. This way, you can nip issues in the bud before they develop into full-block crises.
It also helps you to feel more in control of the situation. The wind is not just buffeting about you; you have a real direction.
Stop Doing the Technical Side of Things
Trying to do the technical side of your business when you have a non-technical mindset is a disaster. It becomes a time sink, draining you of energy. Pact-One Solutions recommends that people pass these duties onto people who can actually do them, paying a small fee to free up their time. This way, you avoid the headaches and can spend more time focusing on your work.
Change Your Story
Some people get into the habit of forming unhealthy narratives around their work. They’ll say things to themselves like:
- My work isn’t valuable to anybody
- I’m just working for a paycheck
- My boss doesn’t like me
- The work I do is pointless and will never lead anywhere
- I’m working to enrich senior managers and the CEO, not myself
Usually, these statements aren’t true. But even if they are, they’re profoundly unhelpful. You don’t want to get into a situation where you’re continually undermining your energy and saying things that are getting in the way of your goals.
Try changing the story to things like:
- My work is valuable to be
- I’m working on creating my wealth
- I want to be independent
- I can always seek a new job if this one doesn’t work for me
This can help your career.
Find Ways To Cool Down
You can often find yourself getting flustered at work. It could be because you got a snotty email from your boss or somebody just dumped a load of paper on your desk for you to process.
Whatever it is, it pays to develop tools to cool down quickly. These are mental hacks that you can use to interrupt your emotions and refocus on the task.
Remember, your workplace already taxes you once by placing demands on you. The last thing you want is a second emotional tax layered on top of that.
Such a fantastic post Lauren! I love what you say about changing our story. I do sometimes find that the things I say to myself are not always productive or helpful. Also finding someone else to do the technical things. I find that if I can focus on the things that I love doing, the things that I am really good at and leave the touch techie things to someone else then my business flourishes and so does my mental health.
Thanks, Lynne. Always a pleasure to hear from you. And you’re so right, mindset and self-talk are crucial. I also can’t wait to hand off time-consuming technical tasks to experts.