A big part of becoming an adult is working. Regardless of this, it’s important to ensure that your job is not a reason for being stressed. With 75% to 90% of visits to the doctor in the United States being due to stress, have a look below to see four ways in which your job could be having a negative effect on your mental health.
1. You’re Easily Angered
If you have become extremely easy to anger over time, it may be as a result of your job. If you spend a lot of time in a stressful situation, it may become harder for you to relax. Think about the last time you had an angry outburst and be objective about the situation that led up to it. If you feel that it was an avoidable scenario and realize that there have been more than a few of these for you of late, you may need to find a way to either relax at your job or consider looking for a new job. Remember that meditation can help improve the productivity of an employee by 120%. Bearing this in mind, look into such alternatives to help you be your best version at work and in life in general.
2. Your Sleep Schedule Has Been Disrupted
If you find that you can no longer fall asleep easily and stay asleep for long enough to relax, it may be because your job is stressing you. You can bring this stress home with you and fail to wind down effectively, staying in a state of high pressure even when you should be relaxing. Try to create a bedtime routine and see if it helps you get back to a healthy sleeping pattern, especially if you didn’t have trouble sleeping before you got your job. It’s important to look for a solution early on because if unchecked, an irregular sleep pattern can affect you for the rest of your life, even long after you leave the job and improve your lifestyle.
3. Your Personal Relationships Have Been Disrupted
Another sign that your job may be affecting your mental health through undue stress is if you seem to be drifting away from those closest to you. If you no longer have time to spend with your family and friends, you may be giving too much to your job. This may also be reflected if you do find the time to spend with your loved ones but don’t derive any happiness from doing so. In this case, you need to evaluate your working habits and find out if you can fix them in any way. Alternatively, check if there’s a different work setup that you can take advantage of, such as switching to remote work. It is believed by 64% of staffing agencies that Post-COVID-19, remote jobs will be more common. Working remotely may help you experience less stress while working, so find out if you can become part of it.
4. Self-Care Has Become Impossible for You
Finally, if you no longer have any time to spend on self-care, it may be because work is stressing you too much. If your friends and family and even colleagues have started pointing out that you don’t seem to be your usual self of late, find out if it’s because of stress. If things like basic hygiene feel like a strain for you, you may need to take a break and evaluate your job and the surrounding conditions. This could give you insight into what to change in order to be able to put yourself first again.
It’s easy to lose yourself to your job, but you need to make sure that doesn’t happen. If you have identified any of the signs above in your life lately, it’s time to make a change.