Even if we can all relate to stress, most of us do not really understand what it is. We are ill equipped to recognize it or take steps to minimize the negative effects of pressure.
Learn how to cope with pressure
Most people don´t realize when they are under stress. We are used to it. But 20 – 40 % of us are stressed a big part of the workday. Pilots and people working with violent patients at hospitals got the highest levels of potential stress. They are not allowed to fail. Not all workplaces are like that, but most workplaces suffer a high amount of pressure.
According to Katarina Gospic, a Swedish doctor in Neuroscience, our workplaces are increasing pressure, not reducing it. People sitting in open spaces, talking in mobiles, to each other, and to you. You get more stimulation than your brain can handle.
According to Gospic, modern technology is one of the main sources of the big S. Mobile phones, for example. Mobiles are something we all can all relate to. Most people check their mobile phones at least 150 times a day. Even mobiles create stress. Our mobiles, our best friend. The messages we get stress us, and if we don’t get any massages, it gives us even more stress. Emails, social media, text messages, …..
Even if we can all relate to stress, most of us do not really understand what it is. We are ill equipped to recognize it or take steps to minimize the negative effects of stress. Working with other peoples’ wellbeing at the workplace since the 80´s I have seen how stress increase. Stress doesn’t have to be related to our work, but wherever it comes from, it has a considerable impact in the workplace. Through our energy test, we ask people to measure their energy level during the day. To measure stress is difficult; since people don´t recognize they are stressed. But, measuring the energy level shows if we have energy or not. You don´t have high amounts of energy at the same time as you are stressed. With our tests, you score your energy level three times a day. When you are stressed, you feel de-energised, and score yourself low in the test. Low energy doesn’t necessarily mean you are stressed, but stress makes you dehydrated of energy.
Stress does not just cause personal discomfort: when it’s connected to the workplace, it can cause organisations to lose millions of euros through high levels of absenteeism, long-term absence and a lack of productivity amongst staff. Tackling it on your own isn’t easy. To tackle it on an organisational level requires knowledge. We have the knowledge to help you, and your company to tackle the issue of stress in your workplace before it affects your company. Stress Management is a good safeguard. So, we suggest that you be proactive as opposed to reactive.
It´s not the pressure itself that´s bad. But when the pressure exceeds a person’s ability to cope, then that is when the problems starts. It follows, therefore, that we can tackle stress either by reducing pressure or by increasing coping resources – or a combination of the two. And reducing pressure isn’t easy. Anything you want to achieve creates pressure. Any attractive goal needs our focus and action. Pressure will rise at our workplaces. So, you can´t say NO, to pressure. The best way to minimize Stress at a personal level is to maximize job satisfaction and motivation.
That’s where Stress Management comes in, by giving people the resources they need to cope with the pressure of daily work life, and to reach their goals.
Mats Holmér, author of this weeks blog, is the founder of HMI and has been on the market for over 20 years. He started developing own programmes in 2004, working with major international companies, where he have had the opportunity to test the programmes in a number of different countries and continents. Mats’s programmes are based on cognitive and positive psychology and he and his team strive towards having everything based on science. Today there are more than 5000 executives who have participated in individual programmes and thousands more via seminars and workshops. Find more about Mats on www.holmermanagement.com
