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Even if you’re a great time manager, it’s difficult to push yourself beyond a certain limit without feeling stressed out. Symptoms of overwork stress include feeling chronically tired, being unable to relax, finding that tasks are more difficult than they used to be, memory loss and being unable to get a good night’s sleep. You may feel that you’re constantly under pressure and you’re possibly overusing coffee, alcohol and cigarettes as a result. Read on to find out how to beat overwork stress.

Getting over overwork stress by scheduling breaks

In order to beat overwork stress, you need to give your mind and body frequent recovery breaks. Set yourself a realistic schedule for each day, making sure that you finish your work in the time set. Allow yourself short breaks every two hours or so and set a longer break in the middle of your working day.

Do something besides work during your recovery periods: shut your eyes, do some desk exercises, run down a flight of stairs, close your eyes and breathe deeply, listen to some music or to the birds in the trees or read some inspirational words.

For every three days of dedicated hard work, give yourself a full recovery day which doesn’t require intense thinking. Schedule a day of easy tasks that won’t have you feeling stressed. Consider finishing the day early if possible. Finally, schedule an ‘off-day’ once week. You may decide to do nothing at all on your off-day.

Communicate

If you still feel symptoms of overwork stress, you may be taking on more than you can chew. Discuss your workload with your boss – he or she may not even realise how much pressure you’re under. Perhaps a more workable solution can be found. If not, you may have to consider changing your job.

If you’re happy with your workplace, perhaps you need to look at why you’re over-working. Are you over-working because you’re avoiding loneliness or problems at home? Are you taking too long to complete tasks because you’re a perfectionist? Or are you taking on too much because you have an inherent desire to please?

Tags: lifestyle, stress relief