How to cope with stress at work

It's helpful to learn how to manage stress caused by work. If you often experience feelings of stress, you might be at risk of developing a mental health problem like depression or anxiety.

Stress can also make existing mental health problems feel worse.

On this page:

• Tips for coping with stress
• Coping with a stressful workload
• Managing a difficult work-life balance
• Lack of support in your workplace

Tips for coping with stress

You don't need to cope with stress at work alone. Here are some general ideas you can try to help you manage.

Understand more about stress

Recognising the signs of stress and learning about the causes of stress is good place to start.

Make a Wellness Action Plan

A Wellness Action Plan is a practical way of helping you support your own mental health at work. It's a tool to help you map out causes you stress, and what keeps you well.

Once you know what helps, your plan can help you talk to your employer. They may be able to make some changes to help you.

We've created a range of free Wellness Action Plan templates you can download. Our templates cover office-based, remote and hybrid working.

Get a Wellness Action Plan

Learn different coping techniques

Everyone deals with stress differently, so take time to find methods that work for you. Use them as soon as you start to feel pressure building.

We have a range of self-care tips on mental health at work.

These guides from the Stress Management Society also have more ideas. 

Try practising mindfulness

This practice is about focusing on the here and now. It might help you to find calmness and clarity to respond to stressful situations.

See our pages on mindfulness to learn more.

Look after your physical health

Eat well and try a gentle activity like going for a walk. Or try the NHS website's tips on doing a chair-based exercise.

Our pages on physical activity and food and mood have more details on how this can help your mental health.

I try to keep each task short and clear, take breaks when getting tired and be polite, honest and empathic with the people I work with.

Building resilience

Looking after your wellbeing can help you deal with pressure. In turn, this can reduce the impact of stress on your life. This is sometimes called building resilience.

Resilience is your ability to recover or adapt quickly when faced with challenges. By building resilience, you can better maintain your mental wellbeing when things get difficult.

For more ideas on building resilience and coping with work pressure, see our page on managing stress and building resilience.

Coping with a stressful workload

Ask your manager for help

Discuss your workload with your manager, if you have one. Try setting realistic targets and talk about how you can solve the issues you're having.

Try to balance your time

You might be doing too much at once. If you don't give each task your full attention, it can take longer. Try to claim your time back if you ever need to work extra hours to get something done.

Reward yourself for achievements

Rather than only focusing on work that needs to be done next, reward yourself for tasks you’ve completed. Your reward could be taking a break to read, doing a puzzle, chatting with co-workers or spending time outside.

Be realistic

You don't have to be perfect all the time. You might find that you're being more critical of your own work than you need to be. Work within your limitations and try to be kind to yourself.

I don't take on too much at one time, little steps are the way. Breathing strategies, having a mindset and thinking, 'I can do this!'

Coping with a difficult work-life balance

Give yourself short breaks

Take these throughout the day, as well as at least half an hour away from your desk at lunch. Spend some time outside if you can.

Take some time off

Try to use any holiday you're entitled to. If things get too much, a few days off or a long weekend can help you feel refreshed. This can even increase your productivity in the long run.

Focus on your life outside work

Nurture relationships with people you don't work with. Develop interests and skills that you don’t use in your job. This can help you see the difference between your personal life and your working life.

Develop end-of-day habits

Finish your working day by tidying your workspace or making a to-do list for tomorrow. This can help you switch off from work, especially if you're working from home. We have more tips on mental health and working remotely.

Coping with a lack of support in your workplace

Find out about services in your workplace

Some organisations have employee assistance programmes (EAPs) which offer free advice and counselling. Others have internal support systems such as mentoring or buddy systems.

Tell someone that you feel unsupported

You should be able to discuss this with your manager. If you feel you can't talk to them, speak or write to someone else. This could be your human resources department or trade union representative, if you have one.

Develop good relationships with your colleagues

Connecting with people you work with can help build up a network of support. Having connections with co-workers can also make work feel more enjoyable.

My work has become a strong support system. My work colleagues have become like family and there is a mutual respect in how we treat one another.