Even if you have your dream job, challenges are inevitable. Whether it’s a demanding schedule, a stressful project, or pressure from co-workers or management, hard times at work can seep into other areas of your life and start to drain your capacity for positivity. Luckily, better days are usually not far off. These 10 steps can help you strengthen your emotional resilience when times get tough.
1. Set Boundaries and Prioritise Self-Care
Thanks to today’s mobile devices like cell phones and smartwatches, everyone is more accessible than ever. This comes with benefits, but it can also make leaving work at work harder. Co-workers can text you about office drama, or your manager can check in about your progress on a project.
Customise your phone settings to allow communication only from people like friends and family after business hours and on weekends. Turn off work email notifications to mark the end of your day. These tips are helpful for anyone, but especially for remote staff. While they experienced less stress in 2024 than their hybrid or in-office counterparts, working from home can make it more challenging to maintain boundaries between work and recreation.
Whatever your relationship to work, create boundaries to prioritise your mental health and stick to them. You could also positively influence workplace culture by empowering others to do the same.
2. Build a Support Network
Staying positive starts with knowing you’re not alone. If challenges at your job intertwine with or stem from gender bias, consider leaning on family and friends who can relate. Advice from people you trust can be valuable, and sometimes, just getting something off your chest is enough to lighten your mood.
If your negative feelings persist or adversely affect other parts of your life, consider contacting a therapist or counsellor. Talk therapy can provide excellent strategies for weathering workplace stress and an environment that lets you share your authentic feelings without fear of retaliation.
3. Practise Mindfulness and Self-Compassion
Explore the cause of your current mindset. Are you placing unreasonable expectations on yourself to perform at a high level? Is the energy at your workplace stressful because of something beyond your control, like high turnover or economic changes?
Stress from economic downturns can harm your physical and mental well-being. Take advantage of workplace wellness programmes if your company offers them, and prioritise health in and outside the office through physical activity and healthy eating to reduce stress.
If external factors create hard times at work, release ownership of the pressure that’s not yours to carry. You are part of your employer’s team and therefore impact the culture and performance, but you are also one human being. Doing your best may look different every day, so practise self-compassion by acknowledging your capacity and where your responsibilities begin and end.
4. Plan Future Fun
While hard times don’t last forever, believing that is easier said than done when you’re going through them. If it feels like there’s no end in sight to your work challenges, give yourself things to look forward to. It could be as simple as planning a virtual catch-up with a friend after work or taking yourself on a coffee shop date with a good book over the weekend.
Making bigger plans can be fun, too. Daydream about where you want to go on your next vacation or which of your long-distance friends or family members you’ve been meaning to visit. Looking up things to do, eat, and see can help you weather the storm and create your rainbows on the other side.
5. Limit Your Exposure to Negativity
Staying positive during stressful work times is an uphill battle if you’re surrounded by negativity. Whether it’s from your colleagues or your social media feeds, it can be contagious and lead to negativity bias, which is when you take in negative stimuli more easily than positive. It also often means you dwell on the negative longer.
For example, you may receive 10 compliments for a work accomplishment, but your brain will endlessly mull over the one point of critical feedback you received. If you and your co-workers bond over complaining, try to infuse conversations with positive observations to shift the mood. If you don’t see any change, consider distancing yourself from those relationships.
You can also infuse more positivity into your life outside of work to retrain yourself. Follow uplifting social media accounts, listen to positive audiobooks while doing post-work chores or list the top five good things that happened in your day — no matter how small — before going to bed each night.
6. Take Breaks in the Great Outdoors
A healthy perspective shift and some fresh air can do wonders if you’re experiencing a tough time at work. Getting outside offers many benefits, from improved physical wellness to an enhanced mood and reduced anxiety.
Whether you work from home or in person, you can incorporate a short midday walk into your day. Seeing others going about their lives and witnessing the natural cycles of plants and wildlife can make the world feel larger and your problems appear smaller. Getting outside can also improve your focus and creativity, which might be the perfect recipe for better productivity and performance.
7. Create Work-Life Balance
A healthy work-life balance is key, whether things at work are great or not so great. There are several ways to balance the scales between work and play.
Create easy-to-maintain rituals that signal the start and end of your workday. Commutes can naturally bookend the day, but if you’re remote or tend to take work home, there are other things you can do. Drink a cup of your preferred caffeinated beverage at the same time every morning to tell your brain it’s time for work mode. Read or do yoga for half an hour when your shift ends to close the door on work until tomorrow.
If you need a more high-energy way to shake off the day, put on some upbeat music and dance it out. Engaging in new or old hobbies is also a great way to achieve work-life balance. You can do so alone for some peaceful rejuvenation time or find groups in your area that let you connect with others. Remembering your many skills and interests can reduce the space work takes up in your mind and help you realise what a whole, complex person you are beyond your 9-5.
Maintaining Positivity Through Workplace Challenges
People spend a lot of time at work, which can have a big impact on their moods. Learning to reduce the mental load and stay positive during challenging times can help you take control of your mindset. You’ll likely come away with habits that will serve you well throughout life’s stresses, inspiring other people in the process.