Stress is the body’s response to a fight or flight situation. Often it subsides once the problem decreases; but ongoing stress can not only affect you emotionally, but also physically. It can manifest itself into illness, and even affect how you behave.
How can you reduce stress?
Get a job that YOU care about
Results from a study into workplace spirituality found that if the person feels like they are undertaking meaningful activities, they are less stressed.
Get involved in your community
Personal issues can impact stress levels. A study into Chinese migrants in New Zealand found that building networks in a new community was one of the factors which helped to reduce strain.
Take a break
You know the feeling – you’re busy at work and you’re counting down the days until your holiday or vacation. One of the main stressors during this period is fitting in your holiday planning, preparation and your workload. Be careful that you don’t stretch yourself too much as it has been found that trip, travel and destination stressors can also increase stress.
Address problems head on!
In some situations, stress can be a good thing; but this could pivot, to a large degree, on your boss’s response to it. If managers ignore their own anxiety, complacency is more likely to flow down to and through individuals that they manage. Second, if managers allowed stress and anxiety to overwhelm them, these feelings are likely move down the chain.
Make friends at work
In a study of police officers (who are more likely than many professions to be involved in highly physical and mentally stressed environments), it was found that those who were included in a subculture (friendship groups and after work events) experienced less occupational stress in comparison to those who perceive themselves as ‘out’ of it.
Watch out for stress spending
During stressful times, it was found that all teens were more likely to turn to compulsive buying behaviour as a coping strategy - behaviours that are likely to transcend generations.
Fact box
“…it was found that the four work-related dimensions, i.e., work routinization, role clarity, social support, and the lack of promotional opportunity have significant direct effect on job stress.”
"The mediating effect of job stress in the relationship between work-related dimensions and career commitment", Journal of Health Organization and Management, Vol. 30, Issue: 3.w
Cyberloafing = to use work time and electronic devices for non-work related activities. According to a study from Management Research Review, people are more likely to cyberloaf if they are experiencing stress.
