Washington DC: Roberto wont admit it upfront. In these recession-hit times, as he desperately hangs on to his own job, he is forced to pull the weight of three of his colleagues who have retired within the last year and not been replaced.
In the deepest privacy of his home, the suave web designer will sometimes blurt out the tabooed S word: he feels like a stressed out rat on a treadmill that's going nowhere all. What Roberto needs is not a change of job but a change of pace or a break from the burden of pushing what seems like a gigantic load up the company ladder. But like 85 out of 100 working professionals, he has not used all the vacation time he's entitled to and may even loose some of the leave if he doesn't use it by the end of the year. He feels going out of sight is tantamount to going out of the boss's mind, something that is likely to send wrong signals up and down the hierarchy, no matter how small a organization. Nor will he consider seeking treatment for stress for fear of being branded as weak and vulnerable. So he continues to suffer silently, under a fake smile and weight of the super alpha male armour he puts on at work.
Professionals like Roberto need to recognize that stress is like a ball of snow, once it's set a rolling it must increase. You can blame it on the economy, the gas prices at the pump, paying the bills, or the new 24/7 routine or whatever. But the stark fact is that stress levels around this country are at record highs.
According to Taylor Clark, author of Nerve, a new book on stress, the increase in stress levels is part of a long-term trend in the U.S.: “Over the last several decades, both through good economic times and bad, the United States has transformed into the planet’s undisputed worry champion.” According to his figures, 18% of the population suffers from anxiety disorders, while sales of anti-anxiety medications like Valium and Xanax are at record levels – and rising.
According to the American Institute of Stress recent surveys and studies confirm that occupational pressures and fears are far and away the leading source of stress for American adults and that these have steadily increased over the past few decades. The number of people who called in sick due to stress has tripled in the past four years. 42 per cent of employees think their co- workers need help managing stress.
A survey taken by Northwestern National Life Insurance Co, Princeton Survey Research Associates, St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co., Yale University and The Families and Work Institute reported that:
- 40% of workers reported their job was very or extremely stressful;
- 25% view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives;
- Three fourths of employees believe that workers have more on-the-job stress than a generation ago;
- 29% of workers felt quite a bit or extremely stressed at work;
- 26 percent of workers said they were "often or very often burned out or stressed by their work";
- Job stress is more strongly associated with health complaints than financial or family problems.
Take a Break
So how does one take a break without losing one s place at work? Try shutting the office door and closing your eyes for 15 minutes. Lean back and breathe deeply. You'll be surprised at how this changes your perspective. Exercise, another winner, gives your mind brief vacation while sending a surge of endorphins through your body.
It's important to realize that taking short time-outs to refuel and refresh doesn't mean you are goofing off, according to Robert J. Kriegel, author of the book, How to Succeed in Business Without Working So Damn Hard . When you take a break, your brain doesn't shut off. The ideas you have been considering shift to a back burner where they incubate. The problems you have been working on make an unconscious shift from the left (logical) to the right (intuitive) brain. Then, boom! When you least expect it, the lightning strikes and you have resolved a problem that had been bothering you.
Breath in... Breath out
The wisdom of stress relief through deep, even breathing is hardly new. Alena Bowers, writing for Livestrong.com, explains that "although it is unclear just exactly when the practice of deep breathing began, the Buddha was said to have taught the important of sitting and going within to experience the breath." Akira Hirakawa and Paul Groner write in their book, "A History of Indian Buddhism," that it is thought the Buddha lived around 80 years old and died sometime between 460 and 490 B.C.E.
Experts tell us that deep breathing exercises clarify the mind and increases will power and constructive emotions. Another method, according Mr Davis, is to perform all your duties with your hands; let your heart be with god.
Many modern gurus liken being with god to a change of perspective, a shift away the egotistical stance to a universal one. What you definitely should do is take thinking time. People in some of the high- pressure occupations, like sports for instance, take time-outs. Why? To regroup, re- energise, rethink and restrategize. Discussing the importance of this type of creative break, Horst Schulze, the president of the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain, spends a half-hour every morning meditating on better ways to provide great customer service. Stepping back from the action provides you with a different perspective, allowing you to see the big picture.
Other tips include:
Set realistic goals for yourself - Reduce the number of events going on in your life and you may reduce the circuit overload.
Don't overwhelm yourself - by fretting about your entire workload. Handle each task as it comes, or selectively deal with matters in some priority.
Don't sweat the small stuff - Try to prioritize a few truly important things and let the rest slide.
Do something for others - to help get your mind off your self.
Avoid extreme reactions - Why hate when a little dislike will do? Why generate anxiety when you can be nervous? Why rage when anger will do the job? Why be depressed when you can just be sad?
Selectively change the way you react - but not too much at one time. Focus on one troublesome thing and manage your reactions to it/him/her.
Get enough sleep - Lack of rest just aggravates stress.
Avoid self-medication or escape - Alcohol and drugs can mask stress. They don't help deal with the problems.
Try to "use" stress - If you can't remedy, nor escape from, what is bothering you, flow with it and try to use it in a productive way.
Try to be positive - Give yourself messages as to how well you can cope rather than how horrible everything is going to be. "Stress can actually help memory, provided it is short-term and not too severe. Stress causes more glucose to be delivered to the brain, which makes more energy available to neurons. This, in turn, enhances memory formation and retrieval. On the other hand, if stress is prolonged, it can impede the glucose delivery and disrupt memory." All Stressed Up, St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch, p. 8B, Monday, November 30, 1998
Most importantly: if stress is putting you in an unmanageable state or interfering with your schoolwork, social and/or work life, seek professional help.
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