| Stress - How we might be able to cope? |
Stress is the bete noire of many of our lives, it can cause us to lose our health and our sanity if we let it do so. So what is stress? In our world of cuts and pressures we are all exposed to such a variety of work demands- some short and some long - our e-mail in boxes overflow with information and demands and we must try and cope. Some form of pressure is desirable for everyone -- we do need to be challenged with new and interesting work -- doing the same groundhog day job all the time also becomes stressful as people become bored and lose hope in their futures - stress is a reaction to the pressures and challenges we face. When there is a gap between our ability to handle a situation and the tools we possess to handle it, then that results in physical and mental stress. Our perceptions of people and events are also very crucial to the stress process and need to be managed.
The categories of our stressful existence can be characterised as follows;
1. Time stress -- Getting yourself worked up about time deadlines for specific job
2.Anticipation stress -- Worrying about the outcome of an event which has not yet happened
3. Situational\Encounter stress - Being in a situation where you feel pressurised by the situation itself or by an individual or group of people's behaviour towards you.
The causes of stress include the following but I don't want to go into them too much as guess what -- it will become too stressful:
- Working conditions and workload
- Role conflict and ambiguity
- Coping with change
- Relationships with subordinates and colleagues
- Work and family life balance
- Job accountability,status and security
- The culture of the organisation in which you work.
What can we try and do to cope
1.Build good relations with your boss and your work colleagues as much as you are able
2. Read e-mails three times a day; morning, lunch and evening time-- E mail is not an instant messaging system -- people will ring you if they need you.
3. Use the phone more.
4. Clarify your job role and objectives with your boss -- iron out ambiguities.
5. Make time for yourself and your partner and family.
6. Exercise more and find a hobby you enjoy doing.
7. Do not agree to loads of new tasks and extra work - focus on priorities and offer to help later when your time is freer. "I'm really glad you asked me but at the moment I have a designated project I must finish, perhaps we can discuss this later."
8. Plan your working day using time management
9.Be realistic about your job goals and abilities - work on your weaknesses
10. Prioritise your work and delegate tasks to others (but not your strategic decision making role)
11. Accept that you will be unable to change everything -- just change the things you can change -- often very difficult to accept.
12 Build alliances and friendships that will help you through any issues.
13. Try to be optimistic and take time out to relax and reflect
This may need you,me and everyone to adapt their behaviour to achieve this and we do need to plan that adaptive change.
Something that is stuck on my wall from Paul McGee the Sumo Guy - is always important to me, regarding any stress issue\challenge you might face and the points are as follows;
1. How important is this issue on a scale of 1 to 10?
2. How important will it be in 6 months time?
3. Is my current response appropriate and effective?
4. How can I influence or improve the situation?
5. What can I learn from the situation?
6. What positives can I draw form the situation?
7. What will I do differently next time?
One other thing, please ensure that the way you try to cope with stress does not become as stressful as the initial stress itself. That would only be self defeating and of course very stressful.
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