Everything you need to know about managing stress at work. Learn about: 1. How to Manage Stress 2. Strategies for Managing Stress at Workplace 3. Managing Stress in the Workplace (Models) 4. Stress Management Techniques 5. How to Manage Stress 6. Organizational Stress Management Techniques.
This article will also help you to learn about the following things:
- Strategies For Managing Stress In The Workplace
- Causes Of Stress At Work
- How To Handle Pressure At Work
- How To Handle Stress At Work Interview Question
- Work Stress Symptoms
- How Can Employers Reduce Stress In The Workplace
Stress Management at Workplace: Strategies, Techniques and Models
How to Manage Stress (Individual and Organizational Approaches):
When we look at stress from organizational point of view, management may not be concerned about the low to moderate levels of stress experienced by the employees. The reason is that some functional level of stress is necessary to improve employee performance. But high levels of stress and sustained low levels of stress are a cause of action by the management.
But when we look at stress from individual’s point of view even the low levels of stress are perceived to be undesirable. Keeping this in mind we can discuss the individual and organizational approaches towards managing stress.
Before discussing these approaches, we must keep in mind two points:
(i) Firstly, we must not make any generalization. Each of us have different limits, different optimum stress levels and will perceive the sources of stress differently. One person’s overstress may be another person’s challenge and optimum stress.
(ii) Secondly, we need to differentiate between what we can do to equip ourselves and to organise our environment to prevent us from becoming over or under stressed. We label this as Prevention. Yet, however, well, we prepare ourselves and try to control our environment from time to time we will still experience undesirable stress. It is then that we need to have developed Management Skills.
Now we discuss the individual’s and organizational approaches to managing stress.
I. Individual Approaches:
As we know that stress has got a number of negative consequences for the individuals that is why every individual should take personal responsibility for reducing his or her stress level. There are a number of ways by which a person can either avoid stressful conditions, change them or learn to cope with them. Stress can be managed by an individual, which will enable him to regain control over his life.
Some of the stress reducing strategies from individual’s point of new are:
1. Knowledge about Stress:
In the first stage, an individual should become knowledgeable about stress. He should know about the process and effects of stress. He must find out the major sources of his stress. He must anticipate stressful periods and plan accordingly in advance. He must be honest with himself and decide what he can cope with what he cannot.
2. Physiological Fitness:
Exercise in any form can help people in coping with the stress. Non-competitive physical exercise such as aerobics, walking, jogging, swimming, riding a bicycle, playing softball or tennis has been recommended by physicians as a way to deal with excessive stress levels. There is evidence to suggest that individuals who exercise are much less likely to suffer from certain types of stress related exercises.
With proper exercise, diet control and non-smoking habits, blood pressure and cholesterol become controlled and the body becomes more resistant to pressures. People are more likely to get physically sick or emotionally depressed if they are overweight or poorly nourished.
3. Time Management:
Most of the people are very poor in managing the time. They do not know that what must be done and when it would be desirable to do so. The result of poor time management is feeling of work overload, skipped schedules and tension.
A well organised person can often accomplish twice as much as the person who is poorly organised. Therefore, an individual must understand how to manage his time so that he can cope with tensions created by job demands.
A few of the well-known time management principles are:
(i) Preparing a daily list of activities to be attended to.
(ii) Prioritizing activities by importance and urgency.
(iii) Scheduling activities according to the priorities set.
(iv) Knowing your daily schedule and handling the most demanding parts of a job when you are most alert and productive.
4. Assertiveness:
An individual should become assertive. He should not say ‘Yes’ when he wants to say ‘No’. He should start saying No to people or managers who demand too much of his time. Being assertive is an important factor in reducing stress.
5. Social Support Network:
Every person should have people to turn to, talk to and rely upon. Good friends become highly supportive during times of stress and crisis. Social network includes friends, family or work colleagues. Expanding your social support system can be a means for tension reduction because friends are there when needed and provide support to get the person through stressful situation.
6. Readjust Life Goals:
Every individual must know what he really wants to do. This should relate to not only the major decision of the life but to all activities in our life. He must know what is important for his. Because of the severe competition in life to go ahead, most individuals set very high standards and goals for themselves.
These high expectations and limited resources to reach such expectations result in stress. Accordingly, every person must readjust his goals and make sure he has ability and resources to reach such goals. Perhaps the goals should be established after the resources have been analysed.
7. Relaxation Techniques:
Every individual at workplace must teach himself to reduce tension through relaxation techniques such as Yoga, meditation, hypnosis and biofeedback. 15-20 minutes a day of deep relaxation releases tension and provides a person with pronounced sense of peacefulness.
Deep relaxation condition will bring significant changes in heart rate, blood pressure and other physiological factors. Yoga is probably the most effective remedy for stress. Studies have revealed that Yoga has cured several stress related diseases.
8. Plan Your Life in Advance:
So many times, people create situations which induce stress because they either did not plan or did a bad job of planning. The traditional Indian attitude of “Whatever will be, will be” a way of accepting the unexpected difficulties in life.
This attitude may be relevant in those situations over which we do not have any control like death in the family, but for other events in life, it is better to plan in advance, so that we can confront them with confidence when they occur.
II. Organizational Approaches:
Individuals at workplace may design their own strategies to reduce stress, but it is a must for the organizations to develop programmes that will help the employees in reducing their stress. This will lead to less employee turnover, absenteeism and as a result productivity will improve.
Some of the measures which organizations can take are:
1. Selection and Placement:
Individuals at workplace differ in their response to stress situations. We know that ‘Type A’ individuals are more prone to stress. On the other hand, in the organizations there are certain jobs which are more stressful as compared to other jobs. While doing the selection and placement of the employees, these factors must be kept in mind.
The individuals who are more prone to stress should not be put on jobs which are stressful. The individuals who are less prone to stress may adapt better to high stress jobs and perform those jobs more effectively.
2. Goal Setting:
Based on extensive amount of research it has been concluded that individuals perform better when they have specific and challenging goals and they receive feedback on how well they are progressing towards those goals. Goal setting can reduce stress as well as provide motivation. It will result in less employee frustration, role ambiguity and stress.
3. Improved Communication:
Sometimes due to lack of effective communication from the superiors, the employees do not know what they have to do and how they have to do it. This results in role ambiguity. Similarly, when two or more persons have contradicting role demands from an employee, it reads to role conflict if there is lack of proper communication. Effective communication with employees reduces the uncertainty by lessening role ambiguity and role conflict.
4. Redesigning Jobs:
Organizations should redesign the jobs in such a way as to give employees more responsibility, more meaningful work, more autonomy and increased feedback. This will help reduce the stress caused by monotony, routine work, work overload and role ambiguity. Job redesigning enhances motivation, reduces the stress among the employees and enhances “Quality of work life”.
5. Participative Decision Making:
If the organizations give the employees participation in those decision that directly affect them and their job performance, it can increase employee control and reduce the role stress. The main reason of role stress is that employees feel uncertain about their goals, expectations and how they will be evaluated. These uncertainties can be reduced by the management by giving the employees a right to participate in the decision making.
6. Building Teamwork:
The management should try to create such work environment in which there is no provision for interpersonal conflict or intergroup conflict. Such conflicts are the causes of stress, such should be prevented from building or eliminated if they develop.
Accordingly such team work should be developed that groups and the members are mutually supportive and productive. Members of the group should consider themselves as members of the same family and seek social support from each other.
7. Personal Wellness Programmes:
These personal wellness programmes focus on the employees total physical and mental condition. Organizations can provide facilities at their premises for physical fitness such as gyms, swimming pools, tennis courts etc. as well as psychological counseling. They should hold seminars or workshops to make the employees understand nature and sources of stress and the possible ways to reduce it.
These workshops should help those individuals who are already under stress. Moreover, a supervisor can improve personal wellness of his subordinates through positive example, encouragement and by practising the basic concepts and techniques of human resource management.
To conclude we can say that all these strategies or a combination thereof should be applied to make the work environment less stressful to a level which is positive and challenging.
Strategies for Managing Stress at Workplace:
Stress needs to be coped with or managed to effectively minimise its undesirable consequences. Two strategies can be used to cope with stress.
Stress can be managed if we understand the reasons that cause stress and the level of stress. We should also try to estimate if we could bring about any change in the environment that can subsequently reduce stress.
1. Become Aware of Your Stressors and You’re Emotional and Physical Reactions:
Notice your distress. Do not ignore it. Do not gloss over your problems.
Determine what events distress you. What are you telling yourself about meaning of these events? Determine how your body responds to the stress. Do you become nervous or physically upset?
2. Recognize What You Can Change:
Can you change your stressors by avoiding or eliminating them completely? Can you reduce their intensity (manage them over a period of time instead of on a daily or weekly basis)? Can you shorten your exposure to stress (take a break, leave the physical premises)?
Can you devote the time and energy necessary to making a change (goal setting, time management techniques and delayed gratification strategies may be helpful here)?
3. Reduce the Intensity of Your Emotional Reactions to Stress:
The stress reaction is triggered by your perception of danger…physical danger and/or emotional danger. Are you viewing your stressors in exaggerated terms and/or taking a difficult situation and making it a disaster? Are you expecting to please everyone?
Are you overreacting and viewing things as absolutely critical and urgent? Do you feel you must always prevail in every situation? Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something you can cope with rather than something that overpowers you.
Try to temper your excess emotions. Put the situation in perspective. Do not labor on the negative aspects and the “what ifs.”
4. Learn to Moderate Your Physical Reactions to Stress:
Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart rate and respiration back to normal. Relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension. Electronic biofeedback can help you gain voluntary control over such things as muscle tension, heartbeat and blood pressure.
Medications, when prescribed by a physician, can help in the short term in moderating your physical reactions. However, they alone are not the answer. Learning to moderate these reactions on your own is a preferable long-term solution.
5. Build Your Physical Reserves:
Exercise for cardiovascular fitness three to four times a week (moderate, prolonged rhythmic exercise is best, such as walking, swimming, cycling, or jogging). Eat well-balanced, nutritious meals. Maintain your ideal weight.
Avoid nicotine, excessive caffeine and other stimulants. Mix leisure with work. Take breaks and get away when you can. Get enough sleep. Be as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible.
6. Maintain Your Emotional Reserves:
Develop some mutually supportive friendships/ relationships.
Pursue realistic goals that are meaningful to you, rather than goals others have for you that you do not share. Expect some frustrations, failures and sorrows. Always be kind and gentle with yourself – be a friend to yourself.
Managing Stress in the Workplace (Models):
1. Transactional Model:
Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman suggested in 1984 that stress can be thought of as resulting from an “imbalance between demands and resources” or as occurring when “pressure exceeds one’s perceived ability to cope”. Stress management was developed and premised on the idea that stress is not a direct response to a stressor but rather one’s resources and ability to cope mediate the stress response and are amenable to change, thus allowing stress to be controllable.
In order to develop an effective stress management programme it is first necessary to identify the factors that are central to a person controlling his/her stress and to identify the intervention methods which effectively target these factors. Lazarus and Folkman’s interpretation of stress focuses on the transaction between people and their external environment (known as the Transactional Model).
The model conceptualizes stress as a result of how a stressor is appraised and how a person appraises his/her resources to cope with the stressor. The model breaks the stressor-stress link by proposing that if stressors are perceived as positive or challenging rather than a threat and if the stressed person is confident that he/she possesses adequate rather than deficient coping strategies, stress may not necessarily follow the presence of a potential stressor.
The model proposes that stress can be reduced by helping stressed people change their perceptions of stressors, providing them with strategies to help them cope and improving their confidence in their ability to do so.
2. Health Realization/Innate Health Model:
The health realization/innate health model of stress is also founded on the idea that stress does not necessarily follow the presence of a potential stressor. Instead of focusing on the individual’s appraisal of so-called stressors in relation to his or her own coping skills (as the transactional model does), the health realization model focuses on the nature of thought, stating that it is ultimately a person’s thought processes that determine the response to potentially stressful external circumstances.
In this model, stress results from appraising oneself and one’s circumstances through a mental filter of insecurity and negativity, whereas a feeling of well-being results from approaching the world with a “quiet mind,” “inner wisdom,” and “common sense”.
This model proposes that helping stressed individuals understand the nature of thought—especially providing them with the ability to recognize when they are in the grip of insecure thinking, disengage from it and access natural positive feelings—will reduce their stress.
Stress Management Techniques:
There are several ways of coping with stress. Some techniques of time management may help a person to control stress. In the face of high demands, effective stress management involves learning to set limits and to say “No” to some demands that others make.
The following techniques have been recently dubbed “Destressitizers” by The Journal of the Canadian Medical Association. A destressitizer is any process by which an individual can relieve stress.
Techniques of stress management will vary according to the theoretical paradigm adhered to, but may include some of the following:
i. Autogenic training
ii. Cognitive therapy
iii. Conflict resolution
iv. Exercise
v. Getting a hobby
vi. Meditation
vii. Deep breathing
viii. Zen Yoga
ix. No tropics
x. Relaxation techniques
xi. Artistic Expression
xii. Fractional relaxation
xiii. Progressive relaxation
xiv. Spas
xv. Spending time in nature
xvi. Stress ball?
xvii. Natural medicine
xviii. Clinically validated alternative treatments
xix. Time management
xx. Listening to certain types of relaxing music, particularly-
a. New Age music
b. Classical music
c. Psychedelic music
Measuring Stress:
Levels of stress can be measured. One way is through the use of the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale to rate stressful life events. Changes in blood pressure and galvanic skin response can also be measured to test stress levels and changes in stress levels. A digital thermometer can be used to evaluate changes in skin temperature, which can indicate activation of the fight-or-flight response drawing blood away from the extremities.
Stress management has physiological and immune benefit effects.
Effectiveness of Stress Management:
Positive outcomes are observed using a combination of non-drug interventions:
i. Treatment of anger or hostility,
ii. Autogenic training
iii. Talking therapy (around relationship or existential issues)
iv. Biofeedback
v. Cognitive therapy for anxiety or clinical depression
How to Reduce, Prevent and Cope with Stress:
It may seem that there’s nothing you can do about your stress level. The bills aren’t going to stop coming, there will never be more hours in the day for all your errands and your career or family responsibilities will always be demanding. But you have a lot more control than you might think. In fact, the simple realization that you’re in control of your life is the foundation of stress management.
Managing stress is all about taking charge- taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment and the way you deal with problems. The ultimate goal is a balanced life, with time for work, relationships, relaxation and fun – plus the resilience to hold up under pressure and meet challenges head on.
Stress needs the following:
i. Identify sources of stress
ii. Look at how you cope with stress
iii. Avoid unnecessary stress
iv. Alter the situation
v. Adapt to the stressor
vi. Accept the things you can’t change
vii. Make time for fun and relaxation
viii. Adopt a healthy lifestyle
ix. Related links
Identify the Sources of Stress in Your Life:
Stress management at workplace starts with identifying the sources of stress in your life. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Your true sources of stress are not always obvious and it’s all too easy to overlook your own stress-inducing thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Sure, you may know that you are constantly worried about work deadlines. But maybe it’s your procrastination, rather than the actual job demands, that leads to deadline stress.
To identify your true sources of stress, look closely at your habits, attitude and excuses:
i. Do you explain away stress as temporary (“I just have a million things going on right now”) even though you cannot remember the last time you took a breather?
ii. Do you define stress as an integral part of your work or home life (“Things are always crazy around here”) or as a part of your personality (“I have a lot of nervous energy, that’s all”).
iii. Do you blame your stress on other people or outside events, or view it as entirely normal and unexceptional?
Until you accept responsibility for the role you play in creating or maintaining it, your stress level will remain outside your control.
Start a Stress Journal:
A stress journal can help you identify the regular stressors in your life and the way you deal with them. Each time you feel stressed keep track of it in your journal. As you keep a daily log, you will begin to see patterns and common themes.
Write down:
i. What caused your stress (make a guess if you’re unsure).
ii. How you felt, both physically and emotionalIy.
iii. How you acted in response.
iv. What you did to make yourself feel better. Look at how you currently cope with stress
Think about the ways you currently manage and cope with stress in your life. Your stress journal can help you identify them. Are your coping strategies healthy or unhealthy, helpful or unproductive? Unfortunately, many people cope with stress in ways that compound the problem.
Unhealthy Ways of Coping with Stress:
These coping strategies may temporarily reduce stress, but they cause more damage in the long run:
i. Smoking
ii. Drinking too much
iii. Overeating or undereating
iv. Zoning out foe hours in front of the TV or computer
v. Withdrawing from friends, family and activities
vi. Using pills or drugs to relax
vii. Sleeping too much
viii. Procrastinating
ix. Filling up every minute of the day to avoid facing problems
x. Taking out your stress on others (lashing out, angry outbursts, physical violence)
Learning Healthier Ways to Manage Stress:
If your methods of coping with stress are not contributing to your greater emotional and physical health, it’s time to find healthier ones. There are many healthy ways to manage and cope with stress, but they all require change. You can either change the situation or change your reaction. When deciding which option to choose, it’s helpful to think of the four as: avoid, alter, adapt, or accept.
Since everyone has a unique response to stress, there is no “one size fits all” solution to managing it. No single method works for everyone or in every situation, so experiment with different techniques and strategies. Focus on what makes you feel calm and in control.
Dealing with stressful situations- The four A’s:
a. Change the Situation:
1. Avoid the stressor.
2. Alter the stressor.
b. Change Your Reaction:
3. Adapt to the stressor.
4. Accept the stressor.
1. Stress Management Strategy- Avoid Unnecessary Stress:
Not all stress can be avoided and it’s not healthy to avoid a situation that needs to be addressed. You may be surprised, however, by the number of stressors in your life that you can eliminate.
i. Learn how to say “no”- Know your limits and stick to them. Whether in your personal or professional life, refuse to accept added responsibilities when you are close to reaching them. Taking on more than you can handle is a surefire recipe for stress.
ii. Avoid people who stress you out- If someone consistently causes stress in your life and you can’t turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person or end the relationship entirely.
iii. Take control of your environment- If the evening news makes you anxious, turn the TV off. If traffic’s got you tense, take a longer but less-traveled route. If going to the market is an unpleasant chore, do your grocery shopping online.
iv. Avoid hot-button topics- If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people, stop bringing it up or excuse yourself when it’s the topic of discussion.
v. Pare down your to-do list- Analyze your schedule, responsibilities and daily tasks. If you’ve got too much on your plate, distinguish between the “shoulds” and the “musts.” Drop tasks that are not truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely.
2. Stress Management Strategy- Alter the Situation:
If you can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Figure out what you can do to change things so the problem does not present itself in the future. Often, this involves changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life.
i. Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way. If you do not voice your feelings, resentment will build and the situation will likely remain the same.
ii. Be willing to compromise. When you ask someone to change their behavior, be willing to do the same. If you both are willing to bend at least a little, you all have a good chance of finding a happy middle ground.
iii. Be more assertive. Do not take a backseat in your own life. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them. If you have got an exam to study for and your chatty roommate just got home, say up front that you only have five minutes to talk.
iv. Manage your time better. Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you are stretched too thin and running behind, it’s hard to stay calm and focused. But if you plan ahead and make sure you don’t overextend yourself, you can alter the amount of stress you’re under.
3. Stress Management Strategy- Adapt to the Stressor:
If you cannot change the stressor, change yourself. You can adapt to stressful situations and regain your sense of control by changing your expectations and attitude.
i. Reframe Problems- Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective. Rather than fuming about a traffic jam, look at it as an opportunity to pause and regroup, listen to your favorite radio station, or enjoy some alone time.
ii. Look at the Big Picture- Take perspective of the stressful situation. Ask yourself how important it will be in the long run. Will it matter in a month? A year? Is it really worth getting upset over? If the answer is no, focus your time and energy elsewhere.
iii. Adjust Your Standards- Perfectionism is a major source of avoidable stress. Stop setting yourself up for failure by demanding perfection. Set reasonable standards for yourself and others and learn to be okay with “good enough.”
iv. Focus on the Positive- When stress is getting you down, take a moment to reflect on all the things you appreciate in your life, including your own positive qualities and gifts. This simple strategy can help you keep things in perspective.
Adjusting Your Attitude:
How you think can have a profound effect on your emotional and physical well-being. Each time you think a negative thought about yourself, your body reacts as if it were in the throes of a tension-filled situation. If you see good things about yourself, you are more likely to feel good; the reverse is also true. Eliminate words such as “always,” “never,” “should,” and “must.” These are telltale marks of self-defeating thoughts.
4. Stress Management Strategy- Accept the Things you cannot Change:
Some sources of stress are unavoidable. You cannot prevent or change stressors such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession. In such cases, the best way to cope with stress is to accept things as they are. Acceptance may be difficult, but in the long run, it’s easier than railing against a situation you can’t change.
i. Do not try to Control the Uncontrollable- Many things in life are beyond our control— particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems.
ii. Look for the Upside- As the saying goes, “What does not kill us makes us stronger.” When facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes.
iii. Share Your Feelings- Talk to a trusted friend or make an appointment with a therapist. Expressing what you are going through can be very cathartic, even if there’s nothing you can do to alter the stressful situation.
iv. Learn to Forgive- Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world and that people make mistakes. Let go of anger and resentments. Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.
5. Stress Management Strategy- Make Time for Fun and Relaxation:
Beyond a take-charge approach and a positive attitude, you can reduce stress in your life by nurturing yourself. If you regularly make time for fun and relaxation, you’ll be in a better place to handle life’s stressors when they inevitably come.
Healthy ways to relax and recharge:
i. Go for a walk.
ii. Spend time in nature.
iii. Call a good friend.
iv. Sweat out tension with a good workout.
v. Write in your journal.
vi. Take a long bath.
vii. Light scented candles
viii. Savor a warm cup of coffee or tea.
ix. Play with a pet.
x. Work in your garden.
xi. Get a massage.
xii. Curl up with a good book.
xiii. Listen to music.
xiv. Watch a comedy
Do not get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to take care of your own needs. Nurturing yourself is a necessity, not a luxury.
i. Set Aside Relaxation Time:
Include rest and relaxation in your daily schedule. Don’t allow other obligations to encroach. This is your time to take a break from all responsibilities and recharge your batteries.
ii. Connect with Others:
Spend time with positive people who enhance your life. A strong support system will buffer you from the negative effects of stress.
iii. Do Something You Enjoy Every Day:
Make time for leisure activities that bring you joy, whether it be stargazing, playing the piano, or working on your bike.
iv. Keep Your Sense of Humor:
This includes the ability to laugh at yourself. The act of laughing helps your body fight stress in a number of ways.
Learn the Relaxation Response:
You can control your stress levels with relaxation techniques that evoke the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the stress response. Regularly practicing these techniques will build your physical and emotional resilience, heal your body and boost your overall feelings of joy and equanimity.
6. Stress Management Strategy- Adopt a Healthy Lifestyle:
You can increase your resistance to stress by strengthening your physical health.
i. Exercise Regularly:
Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventing the effects of stress. Make time for at least 30 minutes of exercise, three times per week. Nothing beats aerobic exercise for releasing pent-up stress and tension.
ii. Eat a Healthy Diet:
Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress, so be mindful of what you eat. Start your day right with breakfast and keep your energy up and your mind clear with balanced, nutritious meals throughout the day.
iii. Reduce Caffeine and Sugar:
The temporary “highs” caffeine and sugar provide often end in with a crash in mood and energy. By reducing the amount of coffee, soft drinks, chocolate and sugar snacks in your diet, you all feel more relaxed and you’ll sleep better.
iv. Avoid Alcohol, Cigarettes and Drugs:
Self- medicating with alcohol or drugs may provide an easy escape from stress, but the relief is only temporary. Don’t avoid or mask the issue at hand; deal with problems head on and with a clear mind.
v. Get Enough Sleep:
Adequate sleep fuels your mind, as well as your body. Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally.
Stress can drain and ruin your life. These stress management articles will put you in the right perspective so as to improve yourself. Have that mind power perspective. Balance work life, improve decisions and reduce stress. If you want to reduce stress, then know the three easy ways of recognizing stress.
If you feel that you reached the end of your rope, then try brainwave entertainment as a technique of stress management. Effectively deal with frustration by singing and counting.
Manage Stress, Don’t let it Mess up Your Life:
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How to Treat Panic Attacks Naturally:
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Managing Stress through Meditation:
Managing stress through meditation is increasing in popularity. Since stress is a part of our daily life, it must be carefully handled. In every decision we make, stress has something to do with it. Every aspect of our life has a relation to stress be it physical or emotional. So stress is not bad altogether. It is a matter of how we react to it. Those who can handle stress quite well have greater chances of leading a well-balanced life.
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Control Your Anger by Adjusting Your World View:
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Take a Midday Nap for a Less Stress and a Better Mind:
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How to Eliminate Severe Anxiety:
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The Healing Power of Mindfulness Meditation:
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Shift Work and Stress – Are You Tired and Up To Your Eyeballs in Debt Too?
If you’re a shift worker then you would know that shift work and stress certainly goes hand in hand with one another. Just getting up at 3 a.m. to go into work is stressful enough! But having just returned from a financial education conference in Sydney recently, one of the guest speakers announced something that absolutely shocked me to the core.
How to Manage Stress:
Stress cause nervous system agreed to release stress hormones during the fight or flight response. These hormones must be in balance. When introduced in. Pre continuous chronic stress can affect your nervous system.
A simple way to control this. When you feel stressed a deep breath! Using efficient. Breathing exercises can help reduce the impact of stress on your body. Activate your nervous system, parasympathetic how?
You can Relax Sitting or Lying this Exercise:
Take a deep breath. Breath in and Breath out.
Parasympathetic Nervous:
The system will help our body relax from the fight or flight response active sympathetic nervous system. Therefore, by breathing deeply, you will communicate with your body to your brain.
Breathing exercises are healthy for the body. When we have a bad habit of breathing, it steals our energy needs, and impairs your concentration. Lead to muscle stiffness. This is because you know depriving the body of the correct amount of oxygen. Breathing exercises are very popular. Since the effectiveness of stress. Relief and you have the ability to do this almost every! That you work sitting at a table or view the movie with your children can do this easy.
Truth in life is that we have all types of stress. Recent clinical studies show that stress affects health. Put into practice the basic management techniques to alleviate stress. Stress you feel from the pressure of life.
Individual Coping Strategies:
Individual strategies are based on ‘self-help’ or ‘do yourself approaches, some specific techniques that individuals can use to effectively manage their job stress are-
(i) Physical Exercise:
Exercise in any form, be it walking, jogging, swimming, riding bicycles or playing games help people combat stress. Without going into the sematics about the exact relationship between exercise and stress, it can safely be said that atleast some side effects of exercise such as relaxation, enhanced self-esteem and simply getting one’s mind off the work for a while help people better cope with stress.
(ii) Behaviour Self-Control:
Behaviour self- control refers to ‘self-management.’ A conscious analysis of the causes and consequences of their own behaviour helps employees achieve self- control. In ultimate sense, the self-control strategy implies employees controlling the situation instead of letting the situation control them. Accordingly, one way to avoid stress is to avoid people or situations that will bring employees under stress.
(iii) Networking:
Psychological researches have confirmed that people need and benefit from social support. Developing social support, therefore, can be used as a strategy for reducing job stress too. Doing so would entail forming close associations with trusted co-workers and colleagues who are good listeners and confidence builders.
These co-workers at times help the stressful employee get over stress. Such alliances deliberately sought out and developed in the organizations are called networks or networking.
(iv) Counseling:
Counseling is yet another strategy widely used in organizations for dealing with stress. Employees are given counseling in the matters like career planning to provide them clarity to their career goals and opportunities. This helps reduce uncertainly in this regard which is a major source of job stress.
Employees can be helped through counseling to identify their own strengths, weakness and response pattern and change their behaviour accordingly. In India, certain organizations like Canara Bank, for instance, have started stress counseling centre to mitigate the effects of job stress.
Organizational Stress Management Techniques:
Over the years, many techniques have been advocated by stress researchers to manage stress. Practising managers can use some of these techniques to prevent or reduce stress.
Some of the important techniques used by individual managers are discussed hereunder:
Individual Techniques:
1. Time Management:
Time management has gained momentum with industrial growth and the economy. It has become important to find ways of performing impending managerial functions efficiently within the limited time that is available. Here, time management is a useful device.
All the functions are ranked according to their importance and maximum available time is divided to perform these functions, providing enough time for each function depending upon their importance. Thus, more time may be spent for important work and less time for routine and unimportant work. This predetermined schedule can reduce stress that the manager faces with the pile of work that awaits him when he enters into his office.
2. Work Home Transition:
This is comparatively a new concept that advocates love and consider affection of family life as best medicine for stress. It is very relaxing to spend time with spouse and children after a day’s long hectic work. Evenings should be reserved to spend at home.
It is advised not to carry office work home. Nothing from office should be carried home, not even thoughts. A useful tip is to spend with light and routine work at the end of office hours and to prepare mind for total relaxation. Relaxing at home in the evening, playing favourite game at club or swimming can help in next day’s work.
3. Work-Life Balance:
Work-life balance is balancing the priorities of career goals and family goals. Career goals include ambitions, promotions, employment status, monetary earnings and the like. Family goals include spending more time with family members for spiritual activities, pleasure leisure, health, education and careers of family members. This concept reduces the gap between work and family in the process of balancing the demands of both.
Need for Work-Life Balance:
Work and life demands need to be balanced in view of the following reasons:
i. Increased competition due to globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation enhanced work pressures on employees;
ii. Increase in stress levels of employees due to high demands of jobs in terms of targets, high productivity, high quality, customisation and better customer relationship management;
iii. Increase in personal ambitions for higher level salary, status and power;
iv. Increase in pressure of family obligations along with the accelerating pace of living standards;
v. High performance culture eroded the long-term loyalty and a “sense of corporate community”;
vi. Managements expect more and more from their employees yet offers little job security in return;
vii. Job targets and attractive performance-based pay results spending more than 18 hours a day on the job and neglecting the normal family life including interpersonal and sexual relationships.
Impact on Women and Men Employees:
The impact of work-life balance is relatively more on women employees compared to men employees. This is because; women employees are more responsible towards taking care of children, old parents in addition to home maintenance. However, it is felt that with the breaking down of joint families even male employees need to spend more time on family responsibilities and interests.
Employers are interested in bringing balance between family and personal life and work life of employees as the imbalances affect workers’ health, quality and productivity. In addition the long run contribution of employees towards quality, quantity, innovation and customer care is severely affected.
In addition, the employees prefer to stay with those organisations which take care of their work and family life balance. Some organizations to be a model employer prefer to invest on work life – family life balance initiatives. Without any loss of performance, employers can introduce some initiatives like flexible working arrangements in the form of part time, casual and telecommuting work.
Methods of Balancing Work and Family Life:
The methods of balancing work and family life include:
i. Flexible working hours and flexible working place;
ii. Telecommuting;
iii. Introduction of stress releasing measures;
iv. On-the job training for imparting skills to do the job in a smart way;
v. Introduction of employee-assistance programmes;
vi. Conducting frequent surveys to understand the work-balance issues and designing appropriate measures to reduce the imbalances;
vii. Introduction of job-sharing mechanisms;
viii. Providing benefits for additional time consumed by the job;
ix. Encourage the employees to avail recreational leave and sick leave by designing paid leave programmes;
x. Introduction of special leave programmes for women like fully paid maternity leave that provide them job security while on leave also;
xi. Don’t encourage employees to take work home often as well as large quantities;
xii. Allow employees to take leave for community service, legal issues and other specific issues of employee;
xiii. Design the programme of getting the family members including the children to work place at least on Sundays.
xiv. Organise social and community programmes like family oriented picnics, amusement parks, fishing, religious programmes, and birthday parties;
xv. Conducting the work-family balance programmes throughout the year as well as during the busy work schedule seasons.
4. Physical Exercises:
For those who do not have time or taste for outdoor games is physical exercises for a few minutes in the morning and evening help a lot. These exercises relax the body which becomes rigid due to the day long stress in the office and prepares the body for another day.
5. Yoga and Meditation:
Physical exercises can relax only the body but yoga and meditation help both body and mind. Both are used traditionally to keep body and mind fit. Some organisations have successfully introduced yoga and meditations as a technique of stress management.
6. Humour:
Humour to a large extent contributes to relaxation, reducing mental stress and tension. Stress should not continue for long to affect the body. Those who are blessed with sense of humour and take issues in a positive sense, experience less stress. Reading humour stories or jokes and watching comedy shows also help to some extent in reducing stress.
7. Change in the Food, Drinking and Smoking Habits:
Spicy food, junk food, fat foods and meat cause stress. Therefore, people experiencing stress should avoid these foods. A well balanced diet is crucial in preserving health and helping to reduce stress. Certain foods and drinks act as powerful stimulants to the body and hence are a direct cause of stress. This stimulation, although quite pleasurable in the short-term, may be quite harmful in the long run.
Consuming too much of coffee, tea, coke and chocolates causes the release of adrenaline, thus increasing the level of stress. It is suggested that there is a link between caffeine intake and high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. When taken in moderation, coffee can increase your alertness, increased activity in the muscles, nervous system and heart. Consume more stress-free foods.
Like caffeine, taken in moderation, alcohol is a very useful drug. It has been shown to benefit cardiovascular system. The irony of the situation is that most people take to drinking as way to combat stress. But, in actuality, they make it worse by consuming alcohol. Alcohol and stress, in combination, are quite deadly. Alcohol stimulates the secretion of adrenaline resulting in the problems such as nervous tension, irritability and insomnia.
Excess alcohol will increase the fat deposits in the heart and decrease the immune function. Alcohol also limits the ability of the liver to remove toxins from the body. During stress, the body produces several toxins such as hormones. In the absence of its filtering by the liver, these toxins continue to circulate through the body resulting in serious damage.
8. Playing with Kids:
Playing with kids is really a pleasant situation to those who experience stress. In fact, the former Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi used to play with her grandchildren Rahul and Priyanka when they were kids particularly when she faced critical situations during the emergency period. The Human Resources Manager of TELCO used to play with his grandsons when there were strikes during 1986-87 led by Mr. Nair. The pure and creative minds of kids work as a great stress reliever.
9. Hobbies:
Practising favourite hobbies in leisure times help in relaxing the mind, which in turn reduces stress. Many forget their hobbies after joining their professional careers. Hobbies can pull us out from the materialistic world. A good painting or a beautiful handicraft can give a person great satisfaction and keeps his spirits high. Depression and frustration that result from stress can be reduced through hobbies.
10. Take Measures to Shift Personality from ‘A’ to ‘B’:
Individual employees possessing personality ‘A’ traits should shift to personality ‘B’ type in order to reduce the effects of stress.
11. Acquire Emotional Balance Skills:
Handling relationships effectively under awkward circumstances makes you emotionally intelligent. By delaying the gratification of reacting to the situation instantaneously, you may come out a winner.
12. Be Philosophical:
Listen to philosophical lectures and discourses.
Time management can be used to prevent stress. Stress management is not only managing stress after it has occurred, but also for prevention of stress. This can be best achieved through organisational means rather than by an individual. This is because, individuals are either reluctant or find no time to follow the above explained devices to cope up with stress.
Other individual stress coping strategies include:
i. Stress is messenger — Listen to it,
ii. Pressures are challenges — increase copings,
iii. Meet, greet and beat your stress successfully,
iv. Don’t worry of the future,
v. Don’t feel ego,
vi. Don’t think of revenge,
vii. Life is short—Try to Enjoy,
viii. Manage your time properly,
ix. Think positively = positive attitudes,
x. Think from others’ point of view,
xi. Develop ‘Can do attitude’,
xii. Change/shift your attitudes,
xiii. Discuss/share with others,
xiv. Use open/free communication,
xv. Use detailed communication,
xvi. Communicate to all concerned,
xvii. Develop ability/willingness to communicate,
xviii. Update communication,
xix. Negotiations/face-to-face discussions,
xx. Hand-shake,
xxi. Wash your eyes and face with cold water, ..
xxii. Comb your hair with fingers,
xxiii. See beautiful pictures,
xxiv. See attractive sceneries,
xxv. Drink at least three litres of water a day,
xxvi. Divert your attention on to other topic/issue, and
xxvii. Develop hobbies like painting, dancing, and singing.
Organisations also started employing various strategies to help their employees in reducing their stress.
Organisational Strategies:
The organisations are in fact the worst affected, due to stress experienced by their employees. This realisation paved the way for organisations to take steps to prevent stress.
These measures include:
i. Establishment of health clubs in the organisations itself, where all the employees are supposed to be checked up regularly. Different health plans are devised by experts for different people depending upon their needs which are to be followed strictly. The employees have to undergo light exercise every-day before actually entering into work as physical exercises are the best means of sweating out stress and prepare for day’s work.
ii. Organisations are also taking steps to create supportive organizational climate so that employees can feel secure and show their abilities.
iii. Efforts are also being made to make working conditions pleasant, as bad physical conditions could be potential sources of stress.
iv. Many organisations are providing with counseling facilities to support its employees psychologically and morally.
v. They also devise career plans to remove any ambiguity as to their career development.
Other organizational coping strategies include:
i. Employee assistance programmes,
ii. Wellness programmes,
iii. Less controls,
iv. Flat structures,
v. Employee empowerment, and
vi. Stress management training.
Mild Stress- Conducive for Organisational Effectiveness:
There is always the other side of the coin and so is stress i.e., the positive aspects of stress, which is called mild stress. Mild stress is very essential for effective and efficient working. The concept of mild stress holds good especially in the Indian context, where mostly government employees at clerical grades are employed in routine jobs which do not pose any stress. In due course, the employee becomes a lazy day-dreamer.
A clerk’s job is only making entries or some simple calculations. The employee however starts his job with great zeal and works with enthusiasm and care. But this behaviour lasts only for a few months. As the employee realises that there is no stress accompanying the work, develops disinterest towards work and spends his time otherwise.
Stress need not be caused by assigning heavy work to be done within a short time. If done so, it may again lead to fatigue and depression in the employees.
But moderate and desirable level of stress i.e., mild stress can always be caused through the following methods:
i. Time Frame:
Determining the fixed time for each task results in mild stress. But care should be taken to provide sufficient time to get work done efficiently.
ii. Time and Motion Studies:
Time and motion studies are very important devices that can be employed to find out the required time to perform each job. Time specification can pose some stress which will yield positive results.
iii. Job Rotation:
By rotating the employees among various jobs, they are made to undergo mild stress, apart from other benefits. Learning a new job and putting it into practise also result in mild stress.
iv. Variations in Job Methods:
Change in methods of doing the job from time to time leads to mild stress to the job holders. But it helps the employees to adapt to any kind of changes comfortably in the future.
v. Incentives:
They are the best means of achieving mild stress. To avail of the incentives, the employees are under stress to perform the jobs in time and efficiently.
vi. Proper Channel of Authority, Clear Cut Powers and Duties:
These should be established. The superiors should be made responsible to get things done from his/her subordinates and he/she should be delegated with proper authority, so that the boss may put his subordinates under stress. The boss should plan the work, co-ordinate employees and control them.
Resistance can be expected from employees initially for all these changes. But after some time, they come out of monotony in work and start enjoying their jobs. Human resources cannot be kept idle especially in developing countries like ours whose major asset is human resource. But to one’s distress, this type of problem appears mostly in developing countries.
Below optimum level of stress is mostly experienced by middle level managers with paper work. The lower level workers with physical effort experience mild stress and top level managers experience distress with their pressing mental activities. The human resources of employees who do not experience any stress at all can be better utilised by causing mild stress, with the help of the above measures.
Two extremes of stress need to be balanced and an optimum level is to be arrived at. Organisations today are becoming more and more stress conscious. With the co-operation of employees, the organisations can effectively manage stress.