Effective ways to nourish and protect your mental health for career growth
October 10. 2023
Juggling time between jobs and domestic chores is now a part and parcel of life. How many times have you checked through your email and social media feeds while commuting to work or returning to the home from office? The economic upheaval triggered by a lingering pandemic has made the job market fiercely competitive. Prolonged exposure to personal and professional stress is affecting mental health. You may have seen people in various professions coping with enormous stress. Besides, the worry of unknown factors wreaking havoc with life and career has enhanced the mental burden on millions of professionals. Sadly, a majority of the stressed out and anxious people do not realize they are living under havoc mental strain. Proper analysis and seeking expert guidance is what they need to fare better.
Mental health can impact your career- Here’s how
When the stress and anxiety level goes up, the results can be felt on your overall health as well as the job. People coping with chronic stress and burnouts face hurdles at the workplace in numerous ways. The effect on their mental health should not be overlooked.
- People with high levels of stress are often forgetful and this impacts their work performance. They often forget to do allotted tasks in time, or in the proper manner. This takes a toll on productivity, eventually.
- People dealing with elevated stress and anxiety may find it hard to maintain their cool at the workplace, at times. They may not fare well with workload and resultant stress as well as others.
- Stressed out people may feel less interested to bond professionally. They may not, for example, feel like participating in workplace events like parties and outings much. They may feel like staying confined to their own tasks, mostly. It takes a toll on their happiness and mental health.
Mental health can impact your career- Here’s how
When the stress and anxiety level goes up, the results can be felt on your overall health as well as the job. People coping with chronic stress and burnouts face hurdles at the workplace in numerous ways. The effect on their mental health should not be overlooked.
- People with high levels of stress are often forgetful and this impacts their work performance. They often forget to do allotted tasks in time, or in the proper manner. This takes a toll on productivity, eventually.
- People dealing with elevated stress and anxiety may find it hard to maintain their cool at the workplace, at times. They may not fare well with workload and resultant stress as well as others.
- Stressed out people may feel less interested to bond professionally. They may not, for example, feel like participating in workplace events like parties and outings much. They may feel like staying confined to their own tasks, mostly. It takes a toll on their happiness and mental health.
Is your social circle building you or building your stress?
Sometimes, you may not be aware of how associating with certain individuals or groups can lead to stress accumulation. When left unchecked, this affects your mental health adversely. From time to time, do a deep assessment of your contacts and try to fathom their impact on your mind. For your own happiness it is okay to discontinue contact with people who make you feel stressed out and have a toxic effect on your mind. When you detach yourself from such individuals, their activities can no longer affect your mind.
Developing new hobbies
When your mind lays idle for long, it becomes more prone to negative thoughts. These, in turn, affect your mental health adversely. So, it would be worthwhile to develop new hobbies that help you stay engaged outside work hours. This has been backed by study findings. Again, there are many options to pick from. You may think of learning a new language, trying new recipes or picking a new dance form- based on your penchant and lifestyle etc!
Adopting a pet
A number of studies including one by NIH have indicates how adopting a pet (This can be an animal, bird or even fish) can have a positive impact on the mindset of a person. It lets you develop a bond with a living being without complications. Spending time with pets like dogs and cats has a relaxing and calming effect on the human mind and acts as a stress buster. Of course, you have to bring home a pet after analyzing your routine, lifestyle and preferences. If your job requires spending a long time outdoors, you may not want to adopt a high-maintenance pet, for example.
Trying meditation
People coping with high levels of stress can try meditation for relief. It helps soothe your mind and reduces the factors causing stress and negativity. You can try learning the meditation process using online resources and there are online courses for the same. There are several instances of people trying meditation to override stress and burnouts. Doing these can help dissolve stress and improve mental health.
Practising self-awareness
When certain issues are causing burnout, or increasing stress levels, it is necessary to release the feelings. Using self-awareness can be ideal for this. Try spending some “me time” every week, or when you feel stressed and anxious. Analyze issues that are making you stressed and ask yourself why would you let these affect your mental peace. This will help you feel relieved, to an extent and your mental health will be in better shape.
Talking about stress and tension
For some people, the options to share their inner woes with are fewer. They struggle to share intimate and depressing thoughts with others. If opening up to a relative or co-worker is not feasible, they should try finding friends to share such thoughts. When they can share their woes it will make them relieved, and let them focus on careers better.
Doing a self-analysis
For some people coping with stress and anxiety issues, the root of woes can be discovered through self analysis. When you can figure out your areas of strength and weaknesses, it will be easy to fathom things and activities that suit you better and not lead to stress. Sometimes choosing a different job may help you find a balance and align better with your goals.
Relocating to a new place
At a few times, the root causes of stress and anxiety lay in the place where you live. Sometimes, people may not realize the memories of traumatic pasts related to incidents and certain people staying in the place, are the culprits. The ideal option for such people is to relocate. A change of atmosphere will help in fading the memories, eventually. This will have a positive impact on your happiness and overall mental health and foster career growth.
Finding like-minded friends
For a section of people coping with stress and anxiety, the root cause is loneliness. They may feel hesitant to interact with people owing to bitter past experiences. Societal conditioning may act as the source of low confidence level in such people, leading to loneliness. However, the truth is such people gain by finding like-minded people and interacting with them. Thanks to the internet, finding compatible people with diverse likings and mindsets has become simpler.
Join us for an insightful journey as we explore proven strategies to nourish and protect your mental health, empowering you to excel in your professional life.
You might want to read: Killer tips to motivate and inspire team members
Summing it up
People may find stress and anxiety affecting their mental health and career prospects adversely in various situations. If you feel such issues are impacting your career growth, seek professional guidance without delay. Enrolling in suitable personality development and communication enhancing courses can be of great help, here. PeopleNorth offers a wide gamut of services that can benefit you in improving career prospects significantly.