Our five steps to combat stress

Tomorrow , Wednesday 4 November, is National Stress Awareness Day. Stress comes second to back pain as the most common reason for taking time off work. And currently the UK loses 15 million of working hours every year because of our stressed out employees.

Second Step runs successful stress-busting courses as part of our pop-up Recovery College operating across Bristol and to help manage your stress our Recovery College manager Amanda Headley-White has come up with her top five tips.

1. Take Time: make sure you have regular breaks and check in with how you are feeling. If you need to take time out, don’t beat yourself up about it – it’s ok to have a duvet day once in a while. And during a busy working day, remember to take time out for lunch – it will help
2. Know your limits: don’t over commit yourself and take time to prioritise. It’s ok to say no sometimes.
3. Talk: speak to colleagues and or supervisor – especially if feel you are becoming stressed or anxious.
4. Learn what helps : particularly what helps you and find time to do it. For some people that might be going hard at the gym, for others taking time to read or play a game on your phone.
5. Do something fun or nice for yourself to help leave your stress at work or wherever the stress may be and try and do this every day

Amanda says: “The key to all this is valuing yourself to enable you to find time just for you. We all need to learn that it is ok to put yourself first and do things for you. Our five top tips are manageable and doable. It’s about beating stress with small steps.”