By Arina Smith
It’s no secret that working can be a thankless and stressful experience for your mental health. Further complicating matters is the fact that consistent overwork has become the norm in the U.S., with many workforce members building their entire lives around their jobs.
Needless to say, this situation is less than ideal for your mental health. So, if you’re dealing with stressful, abusive, or downright untenable conditions at work, nip these issues in the bud before they’re able to destroy you psychologically.
4 Easy Tips To Handle Work Negativity
If people think they can walk all over you, there’s a good chance they won’t hesitate to do so. This is particularly true in the case of bosses and coworkers who regularly saddle people with larger workloads than they can reasonably handle.
If this sounds like behavior displayed by the people you work with, you can nip this problem in the bud by setting clear boundaries with your bosses and coworkers to eliminate the stress from your mental health.
Here are the four tips for handling your work negativity and the impact.
1. Set Boundaries With Bosses And Coworkers
When addressing your bosses, make it clear that you can only handle a certain number of tasks in a given workday or workweek and ask that they abstain from giving you more than what you’ve specified.
In some cases, the only way for bosses to know when they’re overworking employees is for the employees to speak up. There’s a very good chance that they never intended to stick you with unmanageable amounts of work, and it is becoming impactful for your mental health.
Similarly, if you have any coworkers for whom you consistently have to cover, inform them that their job is their job, and your job is your job. Of course, providing occasional assistance to colleagues is part of any job, but when you find yourself taking on large chunks of someone else’s work, something needs to change.
2. Don’t Let Work Cut Into Your Me Time
A good work/life balance is essential for your mental health. Unfortunately, for many workforce members, the workday doesn’t end when they leave the office – it just marks a location change.
Far too often, people spend a sizable portion of their personal time touching up projects, taking phone calls, and answering emails. In essence, this amounts to unpaid overtime, and no employer is owed that level of commitment.
Many companies will attempt to absolve themselves of responsibility by claiming that they don’t technically require employees to continue working after-hours. However, if you’re given so much work that the only way to stay on top of it is by sacrificing your personal time, you’re being exploited.
Anyone who seeks to maintain a healthy balance between work and personal time should abstain from bringing work home with them and regard their departure from the office as the official end of the workday.
3. Transition To Remote Work
Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more companies are coming to realize that remote work is a perfectly viable option for most employees.
In addition, many members of the workforce have enjoyed working remotely so much that they’d sooner quit their jobs than return to the way things used to be.
There’s little wonder as to why remote work has proven to be such a hit. Working from the comfort and safety of home means avoiding bothersome commutes, complicated office politics, and stressful workplace atmospheres, and your mental health is not in the perfect state. So, if your employer offers remote work, you’d do well to take them up on it.
4. Work With A Mental Health Professional
Regularly seeing a therapist, counselor, or any other type of mental health professional can provide you with the coping tools you need to manage job stress and prevent yourself from being exploited.
The exact course of treatment your doctor will recommend largely depends on the type of mental issues you’re dealing with. For example, if work problems have facilitated major depressive episodes, they may recommend depression medication.
It’s easy to see why work is closely associated with your mental health and trouble stage. Many U.S. employers have zero qualms about fostering soul-crushing, exploitative work environments and saddling employees with unreasonable demands. More often than not, employees’ mental health means absolutely nothing to companies, and workers are viewed as expendable grunts instead of invaluable team members.
Conclusion:
If this describes your work environment, it’s only natural that you’d be suffering from heightened stress, depression, or anxiety. Fortunately, despite this country’s historically poor treatment of nine-to-fivers, there are numerous ways you can take back control of your life and prevent work from wearing you down mentally. And if you are right now in a troubled stage, take the help of the stress management counselor to check your mental health.
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