Dealing with Personal Stress at Work

Stress can be a downer on our health and our productivity! Sometimes our personal issues can interfere with our professional life. It is our job to ensure we do not allow stress to get in the way of our success. Identifying stress triggers and understanding the basic fundamentals of our stress can help keep our emotions in check and our performance professional. Taking time to reflect on our personal stressors will help us maintain focus at work. Once we have identified our stressors, we need to find a way to channel our nerves, while we are at work, so we can continue to be productive and communicate clearly and effectively. One way to channel our nerves is to practice Centering; it is an ancient visualization technique that helps us stay calm and grounded when our stress attempts to get the better of us. The technique helps us focus on the present moment, channel our energy away from outside concerns, and allows us to remain grounded. Centering can be used in various situations but has proven to be useful when managing personal stress at work. There are three stages to using the Centering technique:

1. Focus on Your Breathing

• Deep diaphragmatic breathing. Learn how to perfect belly breathing here (NOTE: no need to actually lay down at work, this video teaches you how to perfect a deep rhythm so you can practice deep breathing anywhere). 

2. Find Your Center

• Focus your mind and energy on your center of gravity; located two inches below your belly button. Your mind will become stable when you focus on your center; thus, allowing you to focus on releasing all of your negative stressors and allowing you to redirect your energy into productive outcomes.

3. Redirect Your Energy

• Channel your energy and visualize morphing it into positivity.
• On your deep inhalations think about the tasks you want to accomplish and remain positive. If being positive is a challenge, try using affirmations, such as, “I've got this”, “I can do this”.

     Moreover, maintaining focus in stressful situations takes practice. Learning to leave distractions and negative stress outside of our work environment is critical to being an effective and efficient employee. Once we become comfortable and confident with our Centring technique, we can use it anytime we feel stressed, unbalanced, or face a difficult situation.