One of the biggest factors in your day-to-day effectiveness at work is stress. This bugbear is on the up in India, with the Economic Times reporting that nearly 50% of workers experience workplace stress with that number rising to a startling 95% for millennials. Managing this most intrinsically workplace-linked of conditions is key to both productivity and maintaining your health.
Alterations to your office and environment are an excellent way to reduce stress levels, as are employer-led incentives and schemes. However, stress ultimately emanates from your own self. Mastering your day, and how it rides through ups and downs, can help you to nail down a working pattern and foresee bumps before they cause effect you.
The first stop: stimulants
Laying solid foundations to be able to manage the working day is a labour of love and time. For many workers, stimulation needs to be find right there and now, and usually helps to power through low ebbs during the day. Being empowered to complete more work during quieter hours will help to reduce your stress at peak times.
There are two main ways to approach the need for stimulants. The first is through nervous system stimulants. One of these is caffeine. Indians are well acquainted with caffeine, as tea contains it; and so does the coffee that 10% of Indians now consume. Another is supplements; various outlets retail strong mental focus pills for busy people to maintain focus through slumps. What supplements and caffeine both do is target your nervous system, delivering a jolt of energy released over time.
Natural long-term solutions
The long-term solution to ensuring vitality throughout the day is through your health. This takes form through three stage: sleep, exercise, and hydration. The first, sleep, has an intrinsic link to productivity. A report by the Hindustan Times outlined how mild insomnia results in 54% lost productivity. Essentially, a poor sleep cycle impairs your ability to stay focused through the day and increases stimulant reliance – even in peaks. Not great for managing your peaks and troughs.
Exercise and hydration come hand in hand. Exercising regularly helps to strengthen your cardiovascular system, improving stamina even at work; and secondly, it improves your hormones, creating a better natural cycle in the body. Hydration is a part of exercise, but even on-the-spot it can be helpful; Data Genetics have outlined how cold water ‘shocks’ your system into work, giving a zap of energy. The same can be said for exercise, where a quick jog up and down the stairs will get the blood pumping and your body stimulated.
In the long term, these measures will add up to make you healthier and more productive. Feeling full of vitality and being able to cope with downturns in your working day will stave off stress. In the long run, pairing natural, holistic self-care with stimulants will be to your all round benefit.