8 Techniques to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed at Work (According to Science)

Workplace stress costs US business over $300bn per year and is one of the common causes of high blood pressure. And nearly half (46%) of employee stress is caused by workload. Managers and HR professionals have a responsibility to their business, and the people that run it, to keep workloads manageable and to help workers manage their stress when they’re feeling overwhelmed.

Re-strategizing workload is something you’ll need to figure out yourself, depending on your company, employees, and industry. But what about helping your colleagues to manage the stress of feeling they have too much to do? It’s healthy to create a work environment where employees know how to cope with stress and anxiety – because they won’t always feel comfortable telling you when they feel that way.

Part of your regular training pattern (or at least company literature/internal news email) should address this matter. Suggest to employees that they use mindfulness techniques, exercise breaks, and a workplace digital detox to get their mind back in focus. In the longer term, change work hours, method of commute, and the way tasks are planned and executed, to make the same workload more manageable.

This visual guide to workplace stress management is a great place to start. Absorb these eight techniques yourself and share it with your staff to help keep them on top of their workload and their feelings. Your people and your business are worth too much to let stress and anxiety bring them down.