10 Tips for Being Happier and Less Stressed at your Job

On average, we will spend 30% of our life at work. That’s 1/3 of our lifetime. While that is a big chunk of our time, it’s even more daunting to know that many people spend this percentage unhappy or stressed out at their job.  Don’t let stress at work get in the way of your overall happiness.

Do these simple steps to make life at work happier and less stressful.

Keep your list short

Your list of things to do can be the biggest stressor at work. Knowing that you have a lot to accomplish can be overwhelming. Instead of maintaining a master list of things to do, distribute that list into daily to-do lists and make sure you prioritize the tasks with upcoming deadlines.

Reward yourself fun incentives

When you accomplish big tasks, it important to reward yourself. Whether it’s taking yourself out to lunch rather than bringing one from home or enjoying some ice cream after work, the littlest of rewards can make a difference and motivate you to work hard.

Remember to take breaks

Getting up and taking breaks can do wonders to your productivity and mood. Especially if you work in an office setting, you should get up at least once every hour to stretch, take a walk, and move, so you don’t get stiff and sore. Also, when your lunch break comes up, be sure to enjoy it rather than inhale your lunch. Not only is eating too fast bad for your health, but it will affect your mood and make you feel rushed.

Play your favorite music

When you’re feeling slightly unmotivated, put in your earbuds and play a playlist of your favorite upbeat songs to boost your mood. If you’re feeling really lousy, have a mini dance party to pick up your spirits.

Meditate

Sometimes we stress over things and aren’t aware that we are stressed. If you can’t fall asleep at night and can’t understand why, it might be an unconscious stress. Take some deep breathes and cut some time out of your day to mediate. There are free apps for your phone to help you meditate, such as Calm. Here it is in the Google Play Store and iTunes App Store.

Spend your commute thinking good things

If long commutes or thick traffic is stressing you out, spend that time in your car thinking of at least 3 good things that happened that day at work. If you complain in your car or lay on your horn during your commute, you’re only spreading negative energy. When you think positively, you feel better and it will boost your overall mood. You can even spend the time in your car productively, thinking of ideas for work projects.

Simple workspace with everything in its place

Your workspace can make you feel stressed out when it’s cluttered or you might feel unsatisfied when it’s lacking your personal flare. Spend time re-organizing and decorating your workspace. That way, you won’t stress out not being able to find things and you’ll be excited to see the decor in your work space.

Get some sleep, skip the coffee, and exercise instead

Make sure you get enough sleep, so you don’t feel groggy or crabby the next morning. Caffeine might perk you up the next morning, but it stimulates your nervous system and too much can lead to a rapid heartbeat and increase in blood pressure. Exercising is the best way to improve your energy and overall outlook of the day. Spend at least 10 minutes in the morning before work to exercise every day.

Laugh everyday

Whether it’s having a good laugh with your co-workers or enjoying a silly post on social media, take a few minutes during a break to laugh. It will help release endorphins to make you feel happier.

Communicate and switch up your routine

If the above tips don’t help, maybe it’s time to switch up your daily routine. You might feel stuck in a rut. You might even need to communicate more to your supervisor about things that are stressing you out to find a way to better distribute the work or find tasks that you can eliminate from your workload.

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