Sameer, 27, was growing increasingly frustrated by the day. He was about a year and a half into his current job, and he found that he was making small mistakes at work, snapping at co-workers and constantly experiencing a sense of fatigue, no matter how much time off he took.
Have you ever experienced something similar? This sense of irritation or emotional/physical exhaustion occurs when we tend to be coping with multiple issues that are a source of stress for us. Since stress has become a part of our daily lives, it may help to look at ways that help us cope with stress successfully. Another term for this is resilience.
Here are a few tips to help you get started on developing a sense of resilience in your day to day life:
1. Find a sense of purpose, meaning or understanding as to why something may have happened and how you stand to gain from it does help some people cope with a particularly difficult situation.
Sameer took a few days to reflect on what he enjoyed the most about his work. By keeping in mind his passion towards his chosen line of work and areas of interest, he was able to feel good about coming to work each day again.
2. Build a support system by regularly interacting with people who make you feel good about yourself. This also helps build resilience. In addition, making a point to support others helps strengthen bonds between individuals and builds a sense of belonging and connectedness that greatly protect against stress.
Sameer began interacting with two of his teammates who he found had a similar work ethic and disposition as him. By growing closer to them, helping each other at work as well as occasionally spending time outside office, Sameer was able to build a network at work where he felt supported, understood and cared for. This helped him be more positive and engaged in his work.
3. Develop a positive outlook towards yourself. When stressed out, it’s very natural for us to start feeling negative and discouraged. Resilience involves maintaining a positive outlook towards oneself in the face of a difficult situation. This means reminding yourself of your past achievements, things that you are capable of, and personality traits that you are proud of, and how others have appreciated in you over the years.
Whenever Sameer began to get stressed out again, he kept a few reminders of past achievements on his desk at work – notes from colleagues, a trophy he had won the previous year, encouraging quotes that reminded him of times he had done well. He found that looking at these in difficult times often gave him a sense of positivity and confidence when he needed it the most.
4. Learn to adapt to situations. Some of us tend to feel stressed out when things do not go the way we planned. Part of being resilient involves learning to be open to different possibilities and not allowing deviations from our original plan to overwhelm us. Keep your focus on your main goals, and if any changes do come up in your personal or professional plans, try to see how the new situation you face can be aligned with your desired outcome.
Sameer identified that one reason he was getting stressed out was because his work kept getting interrupted during the day due to interruptions from his colleagues. He later started discouraging interruptions from his colleagues at times that were inconvenient for him, and set fixed break timings to interact with those that came to him with doubts.
5. Recharge yourself. All of us require stimulation as well as time to relax. One of the best ways to ensure that we are stress-proof on a daily basis is setting aside time for us to unwind. This could be through engaging in a hobby, exercising or even in learning something new on a regular basis. This gives our minds an outlet for creativity and stimulation that isn’t work- related and guaranteed to be stress-free.
Once Sameer realized that he was also worn out due to a lack of rest and recreation, he made it a point to go back to playing basketball, like he had in college. He found that he felt more energised and positive after these sessions, and performed better at work on those days.
This article mentions a few ways that you can improve your resilience to stress, much like improving your immunity towards developing an illness. To better understand how these techniques (among others) could be applied to your life on a consistent basis, you could consider scheduling a counselling session.
To contact a counsellor sign up and log into www.1to1help.net or you can contact us on 18002701790 (toll free).
If you would like to discuss this further or need some help or support in this or any other area, our counsellors would be happy to help.
https://member.1to1help.net/articles/What-is-Resilience/NzU0
https://member.1to1help.net/articles/Strategies-to-Build-Resilience-Before-Facing-Trauma/NzUx
https://member.1to1help.net/articles/Building-Resilience-in-Children/NzUy
https://www.verywellmind.com/ways-to-become-more-resilient-2795063
https://hbr.org/2016/06/627-building-resilience-ic-5-ways-to-build-your-personal-resilience-at-work
https://psychcentral.com/lib/10-tips-to-build-resilience#1
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