Top Tips for Identifying the Physical, Emotional, Behavioural & Organisational Signs of Stress
April is Stress Awareness Month and Top Tips Thursdays are devoted to the impact of stress on individuals and workplaces.
Here are your 20 Top Tips for Week One:
- Notice tight shoulders, neck or jaw — early physical signs of tension.
- Shallow or rapid breathing often indicates rising stress levels.
- Look out for headaches or eye strain after long periods of concentration.
- Disrupted sleep may signal stress.
- An unsettled stomach or nausea can be a physical stress response.
- Feeling overwhelmed, irritable or easily upset.
- Emotional numbness or “switching off”.
- Struggling to focus — stress reduces information-processing capacity.
- Increased worry or worst‑case-scenario thinking.
- Feeling tearful or unusually sensitive.
- Withdrawing from friends or colleagues.
- Forgetfulness or mistakes.
- Changes in eating patterns.
- Rushing/multitasking without productivity.
- Reduced motivation.
- Hesitation or indecision
- Silence/withdrawal in meetings.
- Rising conflicts or misunderstandings.
- Presenteeism (unwillingness to take time off work).
- Reduced creativity/problem‑solving.
Do any of these symptoms feel familiar to you? If so, make sure you keep a record over the next week of any of the symptoms above. Reflect on whether there are patterns and what might be triggering these symptoms. Awareness is the first step to taking control.
Next time, we’ll explore Top Tips for Creating a Life-Work balance – and yes, I deliberately put the work life first, because sometimes it is our secondary focus.
Discount Offer
During Stress Awareness Month I’m offering a 10% discount on my course Managing Stress and Promoting Wellbeing. The course provides practical tools and techniques to help people regain control of their life–work balance.
The discount is available throughout April, and the course can be delivered on any available date up to 31 July.
Book a Discovery Call for an informal, no obligation chat about your organisation and how I can support you
Over to You:
Release Your Potential
These are my thoughts and perspectives (I’m not necessarily right or wrong, simply starting a conversation).
So, what about your thoughts? What is YOUR perspective?
- Do any of these things ring true for you and can you picture yourself putting these tips into action?
- What would it look, sound and feel like if you put some of these tips into action – for you and others?
- What barriers might you come against when putting these tips/ideas into action? How might you overcome them?
- Who could give you support and how?
- Have you tried these tips and ideas out and, if so, what have you learned?
I’d love to hear your thoughts, reflections, gut reactions, perceptions, experiences and wisdom.
Remember that sharing our experiences can help others, so your thoughts and comments are always welcome.
