Addressing accountant stress requires a holistic approach to deal with the overarching impacts it has on many facets of life. Last week, we took a look at factors that cause stress in the workplace. Once those are identified, it is important to deal with each stressor individually. Unfortunately, those can be mitigated to some degree but will likely not be solved completely nor will they stay isolated to the workplace alone. Therefore, stress management must also address physical, psychological, social, and environmental factors both now and for the longer term. Beck and Company Certified Public Accountants and Business Advisors personally understand accountant stress and can help you alleviate them through assistance in improving accounting practices. Let us help you address your specific accounting needs.
Here are a variety of tips for holistically managing accountant stress both at the workplace and outside the workplace:
- Have a personal and professional social support network
Developing a good social support network and spending time with friends and family away from work is helpful for managing stress. Work teams need to spend time doing other things like team building every so often to develop some social bonds and not just associate each other with work and its stressors.
- Maintain a healthy diet
This is so much more than simply watching your portions and intake. It also means intentionally not indulging in unhealthy foods thinking they will relieve stress and reducing the intake of things link caffeine, alcohol, and unnecessary over-the-counter medications.
- Exercise regularly
Exercise is a great stress management technique that also has endless health benefits. Non-competitive forms involving mindfulness are especially beneficial. Exercises that are done outside and in nature, such as golf and hiking, are great, too.
- Sleep well and get sufficient sleep
It may be common sense, but getting enough sleep benefits stress levels. You can’t cheat your own biological system and get away with it long term. Although it seems like having more time in your day may be beneficial, less is not more when it comes to sleep.
- Practice deep breathing and use relaxation techniques in moments when stress hits hard
Tense your stomach muscles, shoulders, fists, eyes, jaw, and all the other muscles of your body while holding your breath. Release and relax. Put your hand on your stomach just below your belly button and breathe slowly and deeply so your hand moves out as you breathe in. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. Repeat.
- Laugh and play more
Laughter is something we can all afford to engage in more regularly. The most stressful professions often use humor as a healthy coping mechanism. Additionally, a little playfulness even in the workplace will actually boost productivity and help staff stay happy and healthy. By lightening up you will not only live longer but, contrary to fears, get more done.
- Reframe your thinking and attitude
Often just changing the way you think about something will make it less stressful because stress really results from perceived difficulty. You can always change your own viewpoint to a more effective one and find ways to stay positive.
Now that we have addressed many tips to help any accountant holistically deal with accountant stress, we will take a look next week at the personal side of managing stress. We will address personal principles that, when practiced on a daily basis, can help you personally manage your stress and keep your distress at a minimum. If you need more assistance with increasing your accounting practice efficiency or other factors that may be influencing your stress, contact Beck and Company CPAs.