Stress - Change before change is forced upon you

Life and work is more stressful today than ever. Technology and gadgets that were supposed to make life easier have only made it faster. A worrying statistic released by the World Health Organisation predicts that by 2020, five of the top 10 medical problems worldwide will be stress related. The EU estimate that work related stress costs member states €20 billion annually and this figure is growing.

However, some stress, known as eustress is positive. Eustress fuels ambition and generates satisfaction when challenging objectives are achieved. Negative stress occurs when the demands of a situation exceed our ability to cope with (or control) that situation.

So how do you know if stress is an issue? The psychological symptoms include problems sleeping, anxiety, difficulties concentrating and irritability. Physically it can include back or shoulder pain, heart problems, and a depressed immune system. Behaviourally, substance abuse, using alcohol regularly to relax, bullying, and excessive anger are symptoms of stress.

In the workplace, underlying stress is evident in high rates of absenteeism, high staff turnover, poor time-keeping, bullying and low levels of motivation. Do any of these symptoms sound familiar?

The main causes of stress in the workplace are work overload; having responsibility for others; poor work surroundings (cramped, untidy, dirty); inadequate control over one’s work; poor communication; poor support, a lack of training and guidance; commuting and relationships with the boss or colleagues.

Below are a series of questions designed to highlight the possible causes of stress in businesses. To answer these questions effectively, put yourself in your staff’s shoes and to test each answer, ask yourself how do I know this, what is the evidence?

• Do staff know what is expected of them?
  How healthy is the work environment in terms of space, tidiness, cleanliness?
• Do staff suffer from conflicting demands or a lack of clarity about what they should be doing and their priorities?
• Are some staff members suffering from work overload whilst others are under utilised?
• Is there adequate job training? Are employees anxious about employment status or changes that are taking place?
• How would you assess working relations between staff members and between you and your staff?
• Do staff know when they are doing a good job? Who tells them and how often?

Honest answers to these questions will provide clues as to the cause of work-related stress in your business. For example, if employees do not feel valued at work, they will view themselves as easily replaceable, resulting in lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of stress which will manifest itself in symptoms like absenteeism and poor time-keeping.

Realising and admitting that work-related stress is an issue, is of course just the first step. Stress is the symptom and to reduce or eliminate it, the underlying cause or causes need to be identified and addressed. See the sidebar to this article for tips on how to tackle stress.

If you are suffering from work-related stress and it's beginning to impact on your health, remember life is short enough and commit to change before change is forced upon you.

5 practical ways to manage stress

• Don’t try to control the uncontrollable
  Take an objective look at the issues you are responding to in a stressful way. We always have a choice about how we respond to stimuli. Focus on what you can control, including your response to the uncontrollable!

• Know what’s really important
  Distinguish between what is really important to you in the bigger scheme of things and the trivial issues that you are allowing to bug you and which over a period of time will be forgotten.

• Exercise.
  Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, stimulates the nervous system and produces endorphins that positively effect how we feel. Even a quick walk around the block at lunch time will make a difference.

• Stop trying to be perfect
  Trying to do everything perfectly creates stress. Aim to do your best, but if it is good enough, it is good enough!

• Remember to breathe
  When we are stressed our breathing is high and fast in our chests. Consciously lower and slower your breathing.
  

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