This years' theme for Mental Health Awareness Week is anxiety, which like stress is a normal emotion in us all, but if we struggle to manage this feeling it can become a mental health problem.

Stress can be defined as our emotional response to an actual stressor, for example taking a look at your to do list at 3pm in the afternoon and realising your not even halfway through it - this can cause you to feel overwhelmed, and may be accompanied by thoughts such as not being able to cope as there is too much to do. Anxiety has similar symptoms to stress, but the key difference between the two is that anxiety is future focused, it's a threat that we anticipate, rather than one that is present.

Here are my top tips to deal with Stress and Anxiety at work:

1. Mindset 🤯

Firstly it's the mindset that we carry into any situation. We all have this train of thought, and either we look at things from an optimistic or pessimistic perspective. So, it’s all about our approach and what set of lenses we choose to look at our difficulties. Shakespeare once said " there is no good or bad, but thinking makes it so".

2. Me-time ⏰

Each day carve out some time just for you, whether that's for 5 or 50 minutes. I wake up each morning and the first thing I do is some breathwork, followed by yoga and a cold shower before breakfast. This leaves me feeling calm, focused and motivated to take on the day ahead. Fill your cup first, because you can’t pour out of an empty one!

3. Set boundaries ⛔️

This means learning to say no sometimes, and focusing on what is actually important - because if everything is important then nothing is important.

Switch off unnecessary notifications on your tech devices.

4. Journaling ✍🏾

Journaling is simply writing down your thoughts and feelings to understand them more clearly. It can also help you to gain control of your emotions and improve your mental wellbeing.

Anne Frank once said "paper is more patient than people!"

5. Talking 🗣️

As a society we are too polite and don't want to burden others with our difficulties, but people can be quite empathetic to your needs and talking can help release the weight you are carrying around. You can talk to a loved one, a close friend, a colleagues, a professional or the Samaritans on 116 123.

We are all unique, so experiment to see what tools work best for you.

If you would like to find out more about our online and in-person talks on Managing Stress and Anxiety, or the other courses we offer, please contact us here/email hello@thewellnessmovement.co.uk.