Everyone goes to work on a daily basis and it is impossible to avoid stress while doing work. The thing is, some people get so into it until they forget to make time for themselves as they are always busy. They don’t even have time to be anxious, to feel sad, as their minds are all filled up with work-related things. Then, when it is time for them to go home from their jobs in Kuala Lumpur, they still can’t seem to get their mind off it. They might even sometimes break down on their way to commute home, or maybe on the family dining table at 8pm. And then comes your family asking the reason you are sobbing while eating that cheap spaghetti from Tesco, also a good way for them to provide you with an actual meal.
Work stress is real and safe to say, I think everybody will experience it at some point in their career. It is impossible to always feel good and happy while getting your work done. There is nothing fun in trying to finish your work that keeps piling within the deadline. It can get super tiring even if you are working in the company you have been dreaming about in your sleep before. Some people just learn to cope with it themselves and some aren’t able to. Stress can hit you like bricks and it can come out of nowhere without warning.
When you get stressed out after work, without meaning to, you have somehow brought work home along with you. The deadlines are lying next to you, it is staring at you while you’re trying to get some sleep. You felt as if you can never get any peaceful time for yourself anymore. People who get stressed out after work are said to have poorer mental health and it can get worse if they are just taking it lightly. But here, I want to mention several factors that lead to this, and of course, you need to pay attention to them if you don’t want it to get any worse.
#1 No balance between life and work
People tend to get burned out after work mostly because they failed to create a balance between work and life. Most workers, especially the ones that work full-time devote a majority of their time doing work, and this can definitely take a toll on their mental health if they do not know how to manage themselves well. Without a doubt, of course, there are many people who can do tons of work, but at the same time, they are very minimally stressed in doing so.
It really depends on how much a person can tolerate their stress and this is why stress management is important but many people still seem to not be focusing on it today. Unfortunately, we do not have control on how many hours we work every day, but we do have control over feeling balanced with our work-life environment. At the end of the day, after work, people should be feeling positive and reverberated, instead of feeling negative and down all the time. This can actually become a way to lower their stress levels after a long day at work and to be energized again when they go to work the next day.
Try to create a healthy lifestyle outside work. You need to be working hard to get all that you want in life, but remember that it’s not the only thing you want to be focusing on. Work out, do exercises, and take a few deep breaths now and then, just to add space and separate a part of your life from work.
#2 Too many doubts and “what if’s”
Stress after work could also happen because a person has too many negative doubts with themselves. They keep wondering and stressing about their career path such as what if they are not doing the right thing? What if it is not the right job or profession for them? What if I am not working my full potential here? Or what am I even doing here? Sometimes, they’re not even in the office and they could still be thinking about these things. Without intending to, this can contribute to stress and they might have no time to feel relaxed anymore as their minds are so occupied with unnecessary thoughts.
I mean it is not wrong to feel and ask these questions once in a while. If you find out that most of your stress usually come up when you’re doing your work, you are probably doing the right thing in giving your job a second thought. Perhaps it’s the field of work you’re doing that doesn’t entice you in, or perhaps it’s the boss that you just don’t seem to ever jive with. If you are always waiting around the clock wondering when you can finally go back, if you are dreading going to your workplace every single day, you should probably look for other options.
All careers are difficult one way or another, it’s not all fun and easy. We all go through tough moments but if you seem to have been facing it for the longest time ever, you might be in the wrong position. It is best to opt for other job options than carrying an immense amount of stress behind your back all your life.
#3 Lack of after-work outlets
If you barely want to do anything outside of work, but prefers to watch a lot of television and binge watch four seasons of Gossip Girls on Netflix, that might be one of the reasons why you feel anxious and more stressed out after work. These are actually common coping mechanisms among people who are stressed out when they ended up only wanting to hole up in their rooms and binge eating foods. Consider getting some flowers from any florist in Petaling Jaya! Flowers are known to improve one’s mental health and reduce stress.
For some people who are lucky enough might see their jobs as an outlet to express creativity and socialize. They have enough necessity and their needs are satisfied at work, it could probably be their way of handling stress too. Some people have no trouble trying to find an outlet that can decrease their stress levels. They might go to a karaoke place nearby, sing their hearts out and go to work the next day with barely any voice to spare. However, there are many who aren’t able to do that and might need an outlet outside of work to meet their needs. One might need an adequate amount of sleep, others might need social interaction or even love life. Try to find ways and outlets that can facilitate your needs after work so that you would not be as stressed.
In short, you need to be able to handle your stress a lot better and in order to do that, of course, you need to try several different methods that would suit you best. You need to make sure that you know the factors that lead to it. Try to decrease and get rid of things that contribute to it in the first place. Stress can make your life a living dumpster. It makes you angrier, sicker and overall, a mad person. If it’s not managed properly, things might get even worse and you probably wouldn’t even know where to start fixing it if you don’t pay attention to it now.