Addictive Habits to Avoid If Youre Stressed at Work - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / Addictive Habits to Avoid If Youre Stressed at Work - Introvert Whisperer Addictive Habits to Avoid If Youre Stressed at Work Many introverts struggle with how to deal with excessive workplace stress. Events like staff meetings, work parties, or retreats can leave you dreading work way more than your extroverted colleagues. Add in normal stressors like inadequate staffing, lack of time to complete work, and tense coworker relationships, and you can find yourself feeling downright frazzled.     All of this tension can cause you to turn to habits that you know aren’t good for your overall well-being. Here are three habits you should avoid and ways to counteract the urge when things get stressful at work: Heading to a Smoke Break It’s no secret that smoking causes negative effects on the body. Tobacco, nicotine, and other chemicals like tar and acetone in cigarettes can cause long-term lung problems such as cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and bronchitis. But did you know that smoking can damage more than just your lungs?     Smoking increases your risk of other serious health conditions such as heart disease, erectile dysfunction, and infertility. It has also been proven to increase the risk of some cancers of the blood. Smoking even a few cigarettes each day can cause dependency, which makes it harder to quit. Many people turn to cigarettes to help them cope with negative emotions like stress and anxiety.   Pouring a Cold One Opening a beer or pouring a glass of wine after a long, stressful day at the office is a common practice in many homes across the nation. Having a limited amount of alcohol can help you relax, but when drinking becomes excessive, there can be many adverse consequences. For men, five or more drinks at one time are considered a binge, but drinking 15 or more drinks in a week is known as heavy drinking. Since women’s bodies are a bit different, it only takes four or more drinks to be considered binge drinking and just eight or more in a week constitute heavy drinking.   Too much alcohol can increase your risk of long-term health effects such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and liver disease. Many people think that having a binge from time to time isn’t as dangerous as heavy drinking. However, even occasional binge drinking can lead to liver disease, alcohol poisoning, and unintentional accidents. Dozens of people die each year because of crashes that involved a driver impaired by too much alcohol. Turning to drink as a way to cope with stressors at work can leave you with dangerous side-effects that can damage your health, relationships, and even your ability to hold down a job.   Making Poor Food Choices Sometimes a greasy hamburger just sounds good, especially when you’re stressed. During the day, you might tell yourself that you deserve a candy bar or chips from the snack machine to deal with workplace tensions. While treating yourself from time to time is okay, you may start to suffer consequences if poor food choices become the norm.       It’s critical to know that eating poorly deprives your body of nutrients and vitamins it needs to be healthy and work properly. The consequences of poor eating habits include damaged hair, dental problems, change in your bowel habits, and feeling tired all or most of the time. Of course, too much food or making excessively poor choices combined with no exercise can also lead to weight problems, including obesity.   Try This Instead Workplace stress can be challenging. Many introverts keep to themselves, which can be useful for things like steering clear of workplace drama. However, when it comes to coping with stress, it can leave you feeling alone and struggling to find healthy habits. Here are three healthy habits you can try the next time you’re tempted to reach for a cigarette, alcohol, or bad food choices: Rest Up Dealing with workplace stress can make it difficult to rest at night. Some experts feel that there is a connection between insomnia and increased levels of stress. If you’re looking for healthy ways to combat workplace tensions, try going to bed at the same time every night. Spend a little “winding down” in which you stop all work, phone calls, or other stressful activities. If you have trouble falling asleep, try playing relaxing music or diffusing essential oils that can help you relax. Manage Anxiety If you live with overwhelming feelings of anxiety at work, it might be easy to turn unhealthy lifestyle choices. Controlling stress can be done by creating healthy habits that give your body time to rest and restore after stressful situations. Try a few strategies for managing anxiety like eating well, practicing yoga, or making an appointment with a mental health professional.   Give Your Time Feeling stressed out can cause you to forget about the most important things in life. Reconnect with family and friends and ask them to volunteer with you at a local homeless shelter or charity event. Reminding yourself of all the good things you have in life can help ease the tension and put things back into perspective. If you’re looking for a place to volunteer your time, look for events or organizations close to you.   Kicking Bad Habits High-stress levels can make bad habits look good. Don’t beat yourself up over a few bad choices that happened after workplace stress. Come up with a plan to change your bad habits to get yourself back on track and then use these three strategies to kick your addictive habits to the curb. By: Frankie Wallace Frankie Wallace  is a blogger from Boise, Idaho and a recent graduate from the University of Montana. Wallace contributes to a variety of different blogs online and focuses on writing about career advice. Image Source: Unsplash Go to top Bottom-line â€" I want to help you accelerate your career â€" to achieve what you want by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my 4 Building Blocks to Relationships eBookâ€" the backbone to your Networking success and fantastic work relationships.   Grab yours by visiting here right now! 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