In a city like Chicago, where people frequently come to pursue their careers, workplace stress continues to be a major topic for clients.  This post aims to begin a larger conversation for anyone interested in stress management or professional coaching services around ongoing workplace stress that may be limiting your full potential.

The following steps address common overarching concerns in coaching around work-related stress. Ultimately, however, these typically require additional brainstorming and planning conversations applied to your specific work and life contexts.

1. Focus on Expectations – This includes your own expectations as well as expectations from others in the workplace.  Try to anchor yourself to your specific job description, and notice how you may be stretching yourself too thin.  While there is nothing inherently wrong with being aspirational in your career goals and pushing yourself accordingly in your current position, these aspirations should never stress you to the point of struggling with completing your core job requirements. 
2. Consider Conflict – Mismanaged conflict you may have with others in your workplace can generate a lot of stress.  Work to maintain strong professional rapport with as many colleagues as possible, even if you would not consider them friends.  It can be difficult to practice perfectly assertive communication in every interaction with coworkers, especially when others may struggle with emotional maturity.  However, it is helpful to have a general framework of your needs and desires in your workplace, as well as how to advocate for these needs as respectfully and effectively as possible. 
3. Work Smarter, not Harder – The gist of this general suggestion is to encourage clients in professional coaching services to take inventory of how they are unnecessarily overworking themselves.  A common approach in professional coaching around work stress would be to determine which parts of your job you can complete more efficiently and with less effort, particularly if you have relatively mastered these tasks.  For example, perhaps there are ways you can systematize or prioritize tasks more effectively and shave time or strain off of your work day. 
4. Normalize Stress – At least try to normalize, to a degree, the stress you are experiencing.  While high levels of stress can have long-term negative effects on a person’s mental and physical health, a low level of “optimal” stress lets you know you are continuing to steadily progress at work.  In a modern city like Chicago, it is culturally expected for many individuals to strongly identify with their vocation.  Our jobs often provide a sense of purpose and identity, so it is understandable if there may be a healthy degree of existential stress wrapped up in your career. 
5. Avoid Perfectionism – It may be worthwhile to scan for any perfectionistic personality traits and how these traits may be contributing to your overall stress.  For example, do you struggle with asking for help or being unnecessarily competitive with yourself or others?  While there is nothing objectively wrong with striving for competency and high achievement, unhelpful perfectionism implies that the individual’s desire for thoroughness is actually beginning to negatively impact their work or other important parts of their life. 
6. Practice Self-Care – While the concept of self-care has become a bit cliché, thoughtful self-care routines catered to your specific work style are still as relevant as ever.  This is not a deeply brilliant suggestion but a gentle reminder to take inventory of what you need to be a happier and healthier employee.  For example, if you have a client-facing role in your organization, maybe socializing with coworkers multiple times a week during lunch (or happy hour) is contributing to your strained bandwidth at work.  Instead, you could commit to an exercise routine after work or avoid chatting with coworkers around topics related to work or gossip.  These minor interventions should not feel indulgent but rather like helpful strategies to make your workday more effective and your position more sustainable. 
7. Consider your Values – In both therapy for anxiety as well as professional coaching services, it is common for clients to explore their long-term goals and map these goals onto overarching values.  It can be a helpful approach to work “backwards” in goal-setting by visualizing desired outcomes for your career thirty-years out, and determining specific steps to achieving these goals.  By grounding yourself in what matters most for your future self, as well as your identified strengths in the workplace, you can potentially infuse more enthusiasm into your relationship to work.

This post works under the assumption that the stress you are experiencing related to work is “sub-clinical,” therefore not necessarily reaching the threshold of an anxiety disorder.  If your stress persists across contexts or begins to create other problems in your everyday life, it could be helpful to seek out individual therapy targeting anxiety, rather than seeking exclusively professional coaching services. However, if working with a professional coach sounds like a good fit for you in addressing your concerns regarding workplace stress, contact us today!

This blog is made for informational and educational purposes only.  It is not medical advice. The information in this blog is not intended to (1) replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified licensed health care provider, (2) create or establish a provider-patient relationship, or (3) create a duty for us to follow up with you.