Handling Stress in Customer Service

Spare a thought this morning for those poor souls on the frontline of customer service.  Day after day they have to often put up with abuse and awkward situations.  It can be a stressful job so this morning we are giving out some top tips for coping with stress.

If even one of these tips is used and results in less stress for a customer service operative then we will be pleased.

We will run this section across two days so be sure to check back tomorrow for the rest of the tips.

1. The first step is deciding that something must be done about stress.Ask yourself:

   •   What are my stresses?
   •   What needs to be done about them?
   •   What is stopping me from doing something?

2. Avoid the need to please by rewarding yourself – start thinking of yourself in terms of success rather than failure.  Be more realistic in your self-expectations.
3. Humour:  stand back and see the funny side of things.  Choose to laugh instead of eg get angry.
4. Learn to delegate more.
5. Plan and organise your time realistically.  Know where it goes. Ask:  were the activities necessary?  Did they take too much time in relation to the outcome?
6. Let go of the unimportant things:  eg leave the dusting or car cleaning for one day and read a book instead.
7. Be patient with yourself.
8. Give yourself permission to develop your other interests.
9. Prioritise your tasks.
10. Manage details – put them in your diary, write them down then forget them until you have to do them.
11. Commit yourself to exercise – of any sort for three hours a week.
12. Commit yourself to relaxation – 15-20 minutes a day.
13. Stop over-identifying with any one or all of your roles in life – ask yourself:  ‘who am I?’ as many times in a row as you can then check to see if any one role dominates the list of answers too much.  Redress the balance by widening your interests.
14. Regularly use visualisation to ‘attack’ or ‘diminish’ your stress.  Close your eyes – see it as it is, then see it getting smaller and less significant until it vanishes altogether.  See yourself feeling calm, relaxed in a pleasant place.  Decide how you like to react then see yourself doing it successfully.
15. Stimulate your creativity – take up painting, music, sketching, design, sewing, etc.
16. Make dates with those you live with and stick to them – even if it’s just to talk about the day without doing something else at the same time.
17. Talk things over with a confidante / best friend.
18. Give yourself permission to experience emotions – to be angry, afraid, joyful etc.  If necessary let go in private – have a good shout, cry, temper tantrum, skip around the room.  If you feel self-conscious banish the internal disapproving parent that is making you feel like that.  Tears help you release emotions and the tension they cause.  They help you to get to the bottom of your real feelings and to acknowledge them.
19. Practise assertiveness.
20. Focus on the relevant work not the ‘busy work’.
21. Learn to live with trial and error.