Stressed of feeling stressed?
Stress Awareness Month has been held every April, since 1992.
During this annual thirty-day period, health care professionals and health promotion experts across the UK join forces to increase public awareness about both the causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic.
The concept of job stress is often confused with challenge, but these concepts are not the same. Challenge energises us psychologically and physically, and it motivates us to learn new skills and master our jobs. When a challenge is met, we feel relaxed and satisfied. But when the challenge has not been met, we are often filled with anxiety, disappointment.
There are many ways for individuals to cope with stress and anxiety. Here are some suggestions from our team at Hasson Associates:
Sinead Hasson – Managing Director
Knitting & reading….oh and listening to the radio. I listen to podcasts to drown out the evening commute which means that I arrive home de-stressed!
Nicky Geen – Project Operations Manager
Drinking Wine, mainly, and the (very) occasional run! Attending the allotment (which I no longer have) – too stressful!! (hehe!) The best way for me to de-stress is walking. When I nearly lost a close family member due to a horrific road traffic accident, I walked, and walked and walked for miles!
Anna Foster – Office Manager
Spending time with my family is so important to me, going to exercise classes with my friends twice a week, and getting a good night sleep makes me feel calm and relaxed. I also find eating chocolate helps…
Damon Thomas – Senior Associate
Exercise is great for me – swimming especially.
I also find that spending quality time with my girls, as a great way to take the mind to somewhere else. Looking at the world through a seven year olds perspective makes everything better!
Catherine Vaughan – Senior Associate
I’ve been through times when stress has impacted massively on my life, sometimes the cause has been obvious, other times not so. It’s an insidious thing which impacts health as well as well-being. These days, I think I’m better at recognising the signs and attempt to nip it in the bud before it takes hold! I’d be lying if I said that wine didn’t play a regular part in my stress relief strategy, but clearly you can have too much of a good thing! Unfortunately, weekday indulgence can become part of the cause of stress rather than the cure! Yoga is brilliant, even the paltry 1 hour a week that I do seems to be surprisingly beneficial, particularly the breathing element. I’m a recent convert to gardening – I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, but somehow just digging soil is strangely therapeutic.
Kate Langford – Associate Partner
I combat work stress by making sure I’m active by volunteering in the community. I think it is important for mental health to step away from the work phone and laptop by doing something completely different.
Febe Pritchard – Associate
For me, the key to de-stressing is switching off. I practice a few “find your zen” tricks.
Drown your stress by playing your favourite music, find your version of a stress ball (your dog or cat, squeeze the life out of your other half); see or call your BFF, browse the net and research your next holiday destination, and one of my favourites – spray some lavender or jasmine on your pillow, close your eyes and take a power nap
Alex Giurgiu– Associate
What I generally do to combat daily stress is find myself something to clean/re-clean or go for a run in the afternoon. I also make sure to stand up and walk around the office as much as I can, especially in-between tasks.
Freya Valentine – Associate
At work, I combat stress with lunchtime walks and making sure I frequently step outside for fresh air. At home I have no stress because there is a kitten in the house and you just can’t be stressed when there’s a kitten in the house.
Anna Soares dos Santos – Resourcer
I do creative stuff to relax because it’s a good way to practice mindfulness. At the moment, I’m trying to learn calligraphy and I draw/paint a lot of mandalas.