Regardless of what line of work you’re in, workplace demands are commonplace. Making it through days that are filled with work-related stress makes it tempting to reward yourself with food, alcohol, or something similar. Occasionally, this is fine but when you do so nightly, it takes a toll on your mental health – which is why it isn’t as rewarding as you once believed that it was.
Fortunately, there are some things you can do to relieve your stress that really are beneficial. These are things that’ll help you build upon your own inner strength.
Take Time to Visualize Your “Ideal” Day
Before your feet hit the floor in the morning, imagine your whole workday just as you want it to be, with you being strong enough to handle any difficulties that are thrown at you. Remind yourself that you’re strong enough to create this kind of day. This is powerful enough to help you have positive mental health that enables you to perform well.
Be Mindful of the Present
Oftentimes the root of your stress is the mere fact that you’ve left the present moment to worry about the future or dwell in the past. Sometimes you may need to think about these times in your life, but you shouldn’t dwell there.
Set Aside Your Strong Emotions
Regardless of the reason, you’re bound to have some really hard days. Do your best to set these emotions aside until you can deal with them appropriately. Think of this like you would think about prioritizing your “to do” list. When you do, you’ll realize that you’re taking good care of your mental health.
Let go of Work-Related Emotions When You Leave Work
By taking care of your pent-up emotions privately you can work into work without feeling a lot of undue stress each day. You can safely do this by beating on a pillow while expressing your feelings out loud. Many people are surprised by how such an activity can be quite therapeutic but it does work.
Remind Yourself of how Strong You Are
As a child you learned to think of yourself as either weak or strong, smart or stupid. If you were programmed to think that you’re weak and dumb, there’s good news: You can un-learn these things by surrounding yourself with reminders (e.g. a desktop wallpaper, uplifting music, a photo of your mentor, positive affirmations written on Post-It notes) of how strong and smart you are. While these reminders won’t “magically” change your life, they can help you remain calm and focused.
Conclusion
You’re bound to be distracted and challenged at work. These things are beyond your control. It’s not up to you to decide what will happen each day or how the people around you will act, but you can choose how you react when these things happen. Instead of letting them negatively impact your mental health, let go. Choose to remain present regardless of what’s going on at work. Then when you walk away at the end of the day feeling like you’ve brought some stress home along with you, take the steps to make a positive change for yourself. You don’t need permission to do this. It’s your body, your life, and your health. You alone are responsible for these things.
Sometimes taking these actions will be easy, sometimes it won’t. When you find that you need a little help accomplishing these things, make sure you reach out to someone. If you live in Clearwater, FL that someone should be Advantage Mental Health Center. They’re there to remind you that you really are strong enough to overcome any stress in your life.
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