How to manage stress at work

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How to manage stress at work

As it’s Stress Awareness Month throughout April, we’ve put together a brief guide to help you manage stress at work.
Stress is a serious mental health issue, which if left untreated, can cause serious problems, like insomnia, depression and fatigue.

The signs of stress

To first manage your stress at work, you need to know whether you’re showing the signs of stress. Here’s what to look out for:

Tiredness	Anxiety
Tight chest	Tearfulness
Indigestion	Mood swings
Headaches	Lack of motivation
Appetite and weight changes	Feeling low

Although not an exhaustive list, these are the most common symptoms of stress.

The cause of stress

Although stress isn’t exclusive to the workplace, it’s far more common to see stress develop as a work-related illness. According to SECE Mind the common causes of stress in the workplace are:

Too much or too little to do	Unclear expectations
Work that is too easy or too hard	Conflicting messages
Deadlines approaching	Lack of managerial support
Physically demanding work	Shift work
Poor communication from employer	Lack of control

There are other causes of stress in the workplace, but we’ve listed the most common ones here.

Dealing with stress at work

Taking steps to deal with stress in any way you can will help prevent some of the symptoms of stress. Picking and choosing the most appropriate solution(s) for you is a good place to start. Remember, not everything on the list has to be done to de-stress at work!

Develop relationships with colleagues and build a network of support at work.
Talk to someone you trust, in our outside of work, about pressures in the office.
Speak up if you need help or can’t take on your workload.
Arrange to meet a friend regularly to chat with.
Maintain a healthy work-life balance; give time to both personal hobbies and work.
Eat and drink well; drink plenty of water and eat enough to keep your energy up.
Try to avoid working excessive hours or taking work home with you.
Exercise regularly and get plenty of fresh air; walks are a great start!
Discuss with your employer what is making you feel stressed at work.
Ensure your work environment is as clean and comfortable as possible.
Make use of the support on offer. Not sure? Ask your employer for more info!

For more info and mental health support, visit SECE Mind’s website, they have excellent resources and guidance for people living with mental health issues.
Want to learn more about being mentally healthy at work, download Mind’s great guide!

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ENS has been our sole agency provider for the past 8 years. During this time we have worked in partnership to establish an agency service that provides us with the assurance that ENS staff are flexible, highly trained and able to adapt to our working environment across all of our diverse services.
ENS has been able to support our services to a very high standard throughout our geographical locations. Key Performance Indicators often exceed agreed outcomes.
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Director of Human Resources and Training – large Housing and Support charity based in London

We needed to fill two last minute vacancies with high quality teachers. With this brief, Julie from ENS did not disappoint. One candidate was from Canada and Julie ensured that the move over went as smoothly as possible both for the teacher and the school.
What impressed me the most was how Julie listened to exactly what I required and so no time was wasted on my part, sifting through candidates who would not have been good enough for my school. I would highly recommend ENS to another school looking to fill their teacher vacancies.

Darren, Drapers Academy in Harold Hill

My daughter Lynda has enjoyed 24 hour care provided by ENS since July 2013. The care staff are all well trained & briefed as to her complex healthcare regime & are also very sociable. This is very important to Lynda who loves to talk &interact with them. They also manage her household budget, encourage her to participate in domestic tasks within her capabilities, & promote a healthy lifestyle. The administration of ENS is excellent & has ensured that Lynda has a regular rota of carers & that when stand ins are necessary that they have had shadow shifts with her.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the hard work and support you have offered our Foyer and Parent and Child Scheme in managing the placement of temporary staff.
We appreciate the level of consistency and continuity your staff have bought to the schemes and would not hesitate in recommending the services of ENS Recruitment.

Foyer Manager – Large Housing Association based in Southeast England