How To Deal With Stress At Work

How to deal with stress at work?

Today, Harris asks:

—

“How can I stop stressing about everything that’s happening at work?”

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Welcome to Episode 180 of AskMatty!

Here’s my answer, Harris:


—

Ready with pen and paper?

Let’s dive in!




1. So, grab pen and paper.

Draw a line down the middle to create two columns.

On the left, write:

→ What I can control

On the the right, write:

→ What I can’t control

I’m not joking — Do it! :)




2. Now take a few minutes to think about your work life.

Under “What I can control”, jot down things like:

→ How I respond to feedback

→ My attitude toward my tasks

→ The effort I put into my projects

→ How I manage my energy and time

Then, under “What I can’t control”, write things like:

→ Office politics

→ Other people’s attitudes

→ Unexpected changes in plans

→ What my boss thinks of my work

We can’t control all of that, right?




3. Now, look at your lists.

Focus on the items in the “What I can control” column.

Choose one or two that you can take action on this week.

For example, let’s say you wrote down:

→ How I respond to feedback

Now, instead of getting defensive when you get feedback, you could:

→ Take a deep breath and consider their perspective

→ Say “Thanks for your input! I’ll think about how I can improve.”

Got it?



Now your question is:

→ Um, Matty, why should this exercise work?

Because it helps you shift your focus from:

→ what’s stressing you out

to

→ what you can actively change

When we focus on what we can change, we immediately feel better.

Why?

Because we can see our improvement.

And when we see our improvement, we start feeling fulfilled.

And there is no “bad stress” with fulfillment :)