October 05, 2008, 11:24 AM — Maintaining resilience and combating stress are major issues for the IT professional. Resilient employees are the ones who can easily bounce back from a stressful event. They do more than just recover. They often come out stronger than before. Employees in a resilient work culture can shake off frustration and move on. Unfortunately, stress can contribute to a loss in your resilience, and in order to maintain your resilience, you must be able to overcome stress.
Here are 7 ways to beat stress and overcome any problem:
- Change your perception. You must learn how to form healthier attitudes and beliefs by knowing what your personal strengths are, letting go of what you can’t control, and branch out to your support network. Your support network could be anything - a blog or an online friend or group that are easily accessible.
- Eat better. Make sure you are eating a healthy, balanced diet. It will not only make you feel better physically, but can help combat stress-related problems.
- Work out. Exercising does more than help you look trimmer; it also fights stress. When you are exercising you are releasing endorphins which help to give you a more upbeat outlook. It also gives you a healthy outlet to dissipate tension and mental fatigue. One way to incorporate exercise into your work day is to leave your computer for 30 minutes and go for a walk outside; the fresh air will help clear your head.
- Stop. Smell the roses. It is difficult to relax when you are consumed with stress, therefore you must find something that relaxes you. Find different relaxation and meditation methods that will oppose your body’s reaction to stress which can help you calm down. Relax on the computer by listening to music, looking at old photos, or even searching YouTube for funny videos, anything that frees your mind.
- Take time to make time. Time management is key. If you have a lot of things to do, don’t spend time worrying about what you have to do. Make a schedule for yourself and try to stick to it. Prioritizing will help you replace mere activity with accomplishment. Make a list on your computer or use the scheduling reminders on OutLook to help stay organized.
- Learn about different behavior styles. In other words, 'Don’t poke the bear'. Be armed with a better understanding of behavior styles that differ from your own. Many of our IT clients are mainly left-brained. This could mean that they are more likely to be orderly, analytical (especially factual analysis), sequential, or logical in their thinking. Knowing small things like this about your co-workers can help you approach workplace problems.
- Be assertive. Have confidence! When you stand-up for yourself, you are building your self esteem which pushes stress to the side. See where you can improve in the assertive, aggressive, and passive behaviors.
In order for any of these steps to work you must be proactive. You must take care of yourself in order to maintain your resilience.
