Work Related Stress
Stress comes in many forms and sooner or later we all experience it. One common form is the anxiety we feel at work because of continuously greater career demands in a global market place.
Some people think that the easiest way to relieve stress is to change their life to something totally different, and while there is nothing wrong with altering your life, you first have to know what your greatest stress is. If you find that there is too much stress in your current working environment, you should examine the stress factors that are foremost. Your stress may be caused from what you think are ridiculous demands from your career, you’re your manager; are there too many tasks that need to be done almost simultaneously?
Some stress factors from your career can be overcome by learning new skills; other stress factors may need to be reduced by asking your boss to assign priorities. Not all stress issues, however, are caused by what others want.
You need to be honest and accept accountability for stress that you create yourself. Are you the type of person that seeks absolute perfection where your own expectations far outweigh what is required? Are you jeopardizing your ability to meet your obligations by spending time on non essential jobs and wasting valuable time; are you relinquishing your own time by helping others do their job when they should be finding their own solutions; are you engaging in office gossip thereby wasting your energy on needless matters?
And, you should also be aware that despite what others may say, not all stress is bad. We need some stress to inspire us to action. Take a hockey player, for example, if there is no demand to be the best they can, to excel in every game, to win the game, then there is no great inspiration for pushing harder, or exerting that extra effort, or participating in constant training. If there is no stress , or, in other words the expectation to do your best, what would ever be achieved in almost every facet of life? The same reasoning applies to your own career to change, to engage in continuous learning, to learn a new skill, to be the best at whatever you do.
The causes of stress are complex, but don’t succumb to taking the easy way out and blame everyone else for your stress , or use circumstances as your excuse, or work demands as the basic cause. Be honest with yourself and start to look a little deeper to see if you are partially to blame for your own stress . Be your own motivation in reducing your stress.