The pandemic has shaken everything up including the world of work. Although some things, like the advent of hybrid working, have no doubt changed things for the better, general levels of stress in the workplace are unfortunately heading in the wrong direction.

Here are five common stressors and some thoughts as to how you might be able to deal with them:

1. Misalignment between you and the job

Fundamentally, it's important to view your job in the same way you might review any meaningful relationship with another person. If it is going to survive in the long-term, it's important that the values you hold dear are also held dear in the company where you are working.

For example, if you are a raging extrovert who loves constant interaction with others, the buzz of banter and incessant corridor conversations, then you want to identify a culture where this is the norm.

Or if you are a person who always puts people ahead of profit, then you are going to struggle if you find yourself in a company where the push for profit always trumps a concern for people.

Once your core values have been compromised, it's hard to keep stress at bay for that long.

2. Lack of purpose and meaning

Sir Tom Moore was able to walk around his garden 100 times, aged 99, because he was doing so for a very good cause. The frontline workers at the NHS were able to work ridiculously long hours because they were saving lives, the noblest of all causes.

If the work you are doing, day-in and day-out, has little or no meaning or purpose, then it will be hard to find the resilience you need when the going gets tough. Find a job that is worth doing or at least identify some aspect of the job that is meaningful and you can be sure that your resilience muscle will come to your rescue when you need it most.

3. The pressure of workload

A never-ending heavy workload can have the same effect as the pain of water torture. The continual drip, drip, drip, drip of the daily grind will soon begin to wear you down both mentally and physically.

This pressure is amplified if:

• you don't enjoy what you are doing
• you do not possess the adequate skills to carry out the job
• you find yourself under time pressure to complete tasks. Deadlines and long to do lists do not work well in combination.