Official figures show that women aged 25-54 are more stressed than their male colleagues with this pressure peaking for those aged 35-44, when many women are juggling family responsibilities, such as caring for children and elderly parents.

Women face additional workplace pressures, such as having to prove they are as good as men, not being valued or promoted, unequal pay, and being expected to “look the part”

Female managers/business owners in male-dominated fields sometimes find the strain intolerable, and their stress levels are also rising because families are more reliant on their income. Workplace sexism, lack of support, and the difficulty of balancing work and family life are also major stressors.

We asked Gail Page from Positive Pathways to share with us her 7 top tips to break the Stress Habit.

1. Take care of yourself – You matter! Do things that make you feel good. Stop putting everyone else’s needs before yours. How can you look after other people’s needs if you’re feeling frazzled?
2. Breathe – when we get stressed we take shallow breaths. Deeper, ‘belly breathing’ not only helps calm you down, it also prevents you from having ‘foot in mouth’ disease!
3. Find new options – Ask yourself these three questions: What has worked in the past? What would someone I admire do? What would someone objective do?
4. Do the tough stuff first – Breaking things down into manageable parts feels more doable and easier to complete. Remember – if you eat a frog first, everything else that follows tastes good!!
5. Say NO – saying yes when you mean no only creates more stress. Tell your boss if you’re at capacity. Ask them which tasks are the most urgent. Give yourself some wriggle room with time. Under promise then you can over deliver.
6. Resolve conflicts – nip things in the bud. What you can do to resolve it. What part might you have played in the conflict? How might the other person be feeling and what do they need from you? Basically, the key is to take a problem-solving approach and try to fix what’s within your power.
7. Clear out clutter – both physical and emotional. Keep your workspace and desk tidy. It’s amazing the impact this can have on you. Clear out negative thoughts, old beliefs and emotional baggage. It drags you down. So DUMP IT!! You’ll be surprised at how good you feel and how much ‘head space’ you’ll have.

If you need to further learn how to reduce your stress levels then join us at our “Building Resilience and Mental Toughness” workshop on 23rd February. To register or find out more click here.