Why It's Vital to Relieve Work Stress

Work-related stress is a common ailment for most employees, according to a recent survey from Deloitte. The resulting report, "The Stress Study: Business Chemistry," reveals that a significant number of professionals said they are stressed out often or all the time. Project and task errors are the leading source of these issues, but long hours, office conflict and urgent deadlines also contribute greatly. Fortunately, the survey also includes the most popular coping mechanisms for dealing with stress on the job. Some employees like to tackle a stress-generating issue head-on, while others like to give it some thought taking any actions. Whatever works, you should come up with your own coping plan—because you may run the risk of career-threatening burnout if you don't. Stress "may be one of the most talked about workplace topics of our time," according to the report. "Enter 'workplace stress' into a search engine, and you'll find thousands and thousands of articles outlining what's stressful, why it's stressful, how to cope, and the consequences if we don't. Increasingly, stress at work is acknowledged as an engagement-sapper, a productivity-stealer and a dangerous health risk." More than 23,000 professionals took part in the research.