If you have ever fallen victim to work-related stress, then you probably know that the feeling of overwhelm you experience from it doesn’t just disappear when you leave the office.

It follows you home.

If the pressure from your job is coming from a specific task or deadline, you may notice that the stress you’re experiencing goes away after a certain amount of time.

However, when work-related stress and overwhelm becomes chronic, then you might begin enduring its harmful effects — including to both your mental and physical wellbeing.

Six common sources of long-term work stress are:

Excessive workloads
Low or below-average wages
Lack of opportunity for advancement
Unclear, unrealistic, or ever-evolving job expectations
Little to no control over decisions
Co-worker conflict or no support from management and/or colleagues (1)

In this article, we want to delve more into the above situations. We will walk you through the data behind why these types of workplace conditions tend to affect us all so deeply and also provide you with ways you can combat your work-related stress.

1. Excessive Workloads

The expectation from many companies is that their employees are expected to still be at the top of their game, even after 40 hours worked. This may include nightly meetings, working weekends, or being on-call.

The response of many employees ends up coming from a place of exhaustion — with a demoralizing sense of being when the sheer overwhelm makes them feel as if they cannot realistically meet expectations.

A heavy workload — which almost always results in such unpredictable work schedules — causes one’s work-family balance to become disrupted, oftentimes resulting in home-related stress to develop, as well. (2)

2. Low or Below-Average Wages

The highest-contributing factor to workplace stress, according to the American Psychological Association (APA), is low wages. In fact, 56 percent of working adults place blame on their salary for the amount of stress that they feel from their employer. (3)

But how can you determine if you are being underpaid in comparison to the industry norm?

Indeed, the popular job-seeker site, says to look out for these signs:

Making less money than other colleagues in similar positions
Your workplace responsibilities have increased but your salary has not
You haven’t gotten a raise in two or more years
Management avoids any discussion around raises4

Some ways you can handle the situation of being underpaid:

Request a performance review
- According to a report from 2018, 68 percent of employers said they were unaware of employee concerns — including salary — until they held their annual performance review.
Negotiate
- Do your research and present to your employer industry averages for your position along with documentation of your performance.
Approach the topic of workload
- If your pay isn’t worth the amount of work you are doing and management is unwilling to provide you with a bump in salary, speak to them about cutting back on certain responsibilities to decrease your workload.
Consider other options
- Although salary is of utmost importance, keep in mind other aspects of your job that may or may not be a contributing factor. These may include flexibility, health insurance, and workplace culture. Once you determine what is important to you in a role, you can better gauge what you will require in your next role.
Know your worth
- Money is important. If it wasn’t, then you wouldn’t be considering other employment. However, feeling valued for your hard work is vital in workplace satisfaction. Should your employer not recognize your value, it may be time to consider looking for a new job. (5)

3. Lack of Opportunity for Advancement

Per the APA, 52 percent of employees say that the lack of opportunities for growth within their company is a leading cause of their work-related stress. These same employees claim that this has caused a lack of interest and motivation when attempting to complete day-to-day work activities. (6)

According to both the APA and CDC, this disadvantage causes low morale, which then stifles productivity — ultimately hurting the company as a whole.

4. Unclear, Unrealistic, or Ever-Evolving Job Expectations

It is no surprise that ambiguity has the potential to kill one’s job performance, due to the misunderstanding of what is expected of them.

The CDC also reports that rapid changes in job responsibility — whether in advancement or otherwise — are seen as problematic, as well. The steep and recurring learning curves are a cause for overwhelm and work-related stress. (7)

In a survey conducted by The Chicago Tribune, 31 percent of employees said that the most stressful part of their job is being unaware of what exactly their managers expect out of them. (8)

If companies are unwilling to be transparent about job duties and expectations, they are effectively killing the confidence of their employees and all but diminishing the confidence they have to perform and deliver in their role.

5. Little to No Control over Decisions

The small amount of freedom in workplace decisions has negative effects on an employee’s overall health, a study from Indiana University Kelley School of Business has found.

In their research, participants who had little or no control over their workflow are in worse physical and mental shape than their counterparts who enjoy having flexibility and self-goal-setting.

It is recommended that — instead of micromanaging — management has a two-way conversation with their subordinates regarding their personal goals and department decisions. Allow employees to be heard and express their concerns and desires. (9)

6. Coworker Conflict or No Support from Management And/or Colleagues

Colleague dissonance creates a superstorm of conflict, tension, and emotional distress.

Not to mention it also takes away from productivity and diverts attention away from the company’s mission.

Some of the most common scenarios that coworkers clash over are:

Differences in personalities
Unclear job roles — allowing others to step on toes
Placing someone without a supervisory role to be in charge of lateral colleagues

Receiving no attention from management may cause this internal office conflict to fireball into something more serious — such as harassment, dicrimination, or a hostile work environment

The consequences of not addressing this disconnect within the office include:

Chronic absenteeism
High turnover rates
Unionization
Litigation

The sooner things are addressed, the better the chances of an employer being seen as fair and unbiased — leading to higher job satisfaction. (10)

Combating Work-Related Stress

You may feel powerless over your work overwhelm and stress.

But you don’t have to be.

Try to take control by:

Identifying the specific triggers
- Is your overwhelm coming from long hours, wages, or colleagues?

Tackling your triggers
- Brainstorm ideas that will help you resolve the issues

Improve your time-management skills
- Talk with your manager about realistic goals, make a list of priorities, and time block for certain tasks

Keep perspective
- Get someone else’s point of view, take advantage of your break times, and create boundaries (11)

Resources:

What Is Causing You Work Overwhelm? 6 Leading Factors Disrupting Employee Wellbeing