All stressed out and nowhere to go
Over the years I have become very good at dealing with stress at work. I think domestic stress is much harder to deal with – less agreement on how to behave and much harder to walk away.
At work, nothing would get done without a degree of stress, but the worst kind is outside our control, often the result of managerial incompetence.
So if the pressure’s on, here’s how to deal with it.
1. It’s not you, it’s them. You were perfectly all right before all this stress came along and you’ll be all right afterwards. This is a temporary situation.
2. But it’s up to you to make sure it stays temporary. If the stress is likely to be long-term, such as a restructuring with new job responsibilities, get cracking and start using the words ‘trade union’ and ‘rights’. And if you’re not in a union, don’t expect me to feel sorry for you.
3. On the other hand, short-term stress that’s under our own control can be exhilarating. If you’re given a new piece of work that’s going to stretch you, for example, try to make sure that you can get on with it without interference, or work in a team with colleagues you respect (er, you do respect at least some of the people you work with, don’t you? – if not, see 7).
4. Nowadays, flatter management structures and budget restrictions mean it’s not easy to delegate or outsource to help with the workload. But if you have too much to do, there’s no point in creating a bad atmosphere by moaning about it to colleagues who have no power. Talk to the person who can resolve it or keep quiet.
5. Distraction has its place, but don’t let it get out of hand. The odd glass of wine, bar of chocolate or night out on the town may help in the short term, but don’t go for a major avoidance exercise. Instead, book a holiday for the week after your deadline.
6. Don’t assume health problems experienced during a stressful time are psychosomatic. Get your doctor to examine the possibility of a physical reason for your symptoms. Inoperable cancer will play havoc with your holiday booking.
7. Know when to take the money and run.
4 comments:
For me the two are linked, Jenny - procrastination and stress as I tend to be the author of my own misfortunes.
Your points are well taken, I particularly like 7. :>)
I've been trying to dream up a place to go to for my "mad week", a week I'd like to take in May before heading back down to NL.
it gives me an incentive to work like a dog in spite of the stress....
XO
WWW
Yes, 7 is really important! I'm very lucky in my job at the moment because I have a lot of control over my working hours and can (usually) use stress productively. But I do think people put up with far too much at work when they could at least start looking for another job, if not actually walking out. I'm arranging a trip to England for May, but so afr it doesn't seem to have helped me to get through that overdue conference paper.....
It's funny you should write this. I had academic work to do over Easter and I kept putting it off. In the end it sort of spoiled the holiday, but because I finally got down to completing the task I was able to partially salvage it. And I think this links into what www mentions in her comment. Procrastination is the real enemy. If I'd just done the work initially all would be fine... but no...
All sounds very familiar! I'm beginning to wonder if I need the pressure of a deadline to make me do anything, though. I did finally get the previous conference paper done, but now I'm late starting another one for next week!
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