Feeling the Pressure of Family and Work Stress?
The stress of maintaining a challenging career with demanding expectations can put a significant strain on your mental health, family life, and relationships. If this sounds all too familiar, you’re not alone. More than one in every four full-time workers report finding even a regular day “quite a bit” or “extremely” stressful. [1]
We all experience some form of stress as a normal reaction to everyday pressures on the job. The real issue is when it becomes excessive or ongoing, and begins to burden you on a personal level.
Work Stress Affects Family Life
After a long and gruelling day, do you find yourself taking your irritability, anger, and fatigue out on your partner, children, or other family members? This means that your stress is no longer yours alone. In fact, longer working hours have been shown to increase family conflict, distress, and health problems. [2]
How to Achieve a Work-Life Balance
You can achieve a healthy work-life balance by taking small, attainable steps toward reducing pressure at work and managing your personal life.
Reduce Stress in the Workplace
Here are 8 tips to help ease the pressure at work:
- Flexibility – arrange for a more flexible work schedule.
- Prioritize tasks – knock off high-priority tasks first and save less important tasks for when you have more time.
- Take short breaks throughout the day even if it’s just a few minutes to stretch your legs.
- Set limits that confine your work to specific hours and locations.
- Breathe – when you feel overwhelmed, stop and take a few deep breaths to regain focus.
- Minimize interruptions – schedule designated times to read emails, take phone calls, and meet with colleagues.
- Don’t overcommit – learn to say no when your schedule is already full.
- Delegate more responsibility to others – you’ll be much more efficient.
Manage your Personal Life
A well-balanced life includes healthy family interactions and lifestyle choices. Here are eight tips to help achieve this:
- Eat a healthy diet – include a wide variety of unprocessed foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean sources of protein, and healthy fats.
- Get enough sleep – sleeping 7–9 hours per night is ideal.
- Decompress – take time to decompress and switch gears after work.
- Limit responsibilities – make time to completely check out and limit responsibilities, such as during the evenings and on weekends.
- Disconnect from electronics –including cell phones, tablets, and laptops.
- Communicate – talk to your children and partner about their needs and feelings.
- Build a strong support network – parents, siblings, neighbors, and friends are often willing to help out.
- Stay organized – set daily goals and delegate tasks to family members.
Relieve Stress Naturally
Natural Factors Stress-Relax® line of products is ideal for people looking to relieve symptoms of stress naturally. These products provide a comprehensive approach toward calmer days and restful nights. Helpful options include:
- Tranquil Sleep ® – a unique combination of natural compounds that supports relaxation and enhances sleep quality.*
- Adrenal Serenity – provides a unique combination of herbal extracts that help the body cope with occasional stress and promote emotional well-being.*
- Magnesium Citrate – an easy-to-absorb source of magnesium that helps restore normal levels of magnesium and balance calcium intake.*
- Pharma GABA® – helps increase the production of alpha brain waves to create a profound sense of physical relaxation while maintaining mental focus.*
- Ashwagandha Sensoril® – clinically studied to help inhibit occasional fatigue, tension, and exhaustion often associated with everyday stress.*
- 5-HTP – provides natural support for emotional well-being.* Caplets are enteric coated to minimize gastric discomfort and optimize absorption.*
Find Your Balance
It can be difficult to balance a stressful job with family life. Finding ways to manage this stress and strike a work-life balance will help you foster healthy family relationships and support your own well-being.
