Thursday, November 8, 2007

Work Related Stress and Your Health

Is work related stress making you old?

Research over the past decade has proven that stress impacts our health in drastic ways. Insomnia and cardio-vascular disease have been tied to working in chronicly stressful environments. Stress in small doses can be tolerated by the body, but living in a state of ongoing elevated tension can rob you of your health.

There are multiple means of improving work related stress and the tolls it takes on your body and life. These means can be divided into two broad categories: changing the work environment and changing the way you handle stress.

Changing the Work Environment

Does your workplace function poorly and result in unecessary stress? Is this something that can be improved through your efforts or the efforts of coworkers? Odds are that your coworkers are also feeling unecessary stress. If that is the case then you can take a united approach to improving the workplace environment to reduce stress. Take the iniative to lead change. This may require more energy on your part for a time, but the resutls will be well worth the effort. Many people find that having more power over the work environment gives a new purpose and sense of wellbeing at work. Instead of being along for the ride, you take charge of the things you can change. This is a very health and positive approach.

However, if your workplace or type of work is naturally high stress then maybe it is time to consider a change of scenery. Staying too long in this type of environment will take a toll on physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, not to mention the damage it will do to the people you love.

Think about making a move to another company or possibly another aspect of your field. Look at the work-life balances of people in that environment. Closely examine alternatives and see if the environment will provide you with a healthier workplace. Afterall you spend over 1/4 of the hours in a year in the work environment so it should be a priority to the quality of your life.

Changing the Way You Handle Stress

The second means of improving workplace stress is to tune-up the way you personally process stress. Are you taking care of yourself outside of work? If not, then you may not be shedding off stress from the workplace as well as you could be. Taking time to "decompress" or unwind through personal pursuits is an important part of wellness. While Yoga has gotten a lot of media attention lately, this is only one possible stress reliever. Personally I find that relief in outdoor pursuits such as cycling or having dinner with good company is much better for me. Search until you find the activity that works for you and don't let it be time in front of the television, that wreaks havoc on health too!

Additionally, you can process stress during the workday differently. Try to evaluate why you are feeling anxious or tense when it happens. Look at the situation objectively and decide if your stress is really warranted. Will the matter take care of itself? Many times matters resolve on thier own with a little time. Will your anxiety do anything positive for the situation? The answer to this is probably "no". Instead of carrying the weight of stress in your body, try making a positive action plan for fixing the problem.

Finally, ask yourself will this matter to me in one month, one year, one decade? You will probably find that the answer is no. Much of our workplace stress is passing but constant new stressors keep popping up, resulting in a chronic and ongoing condition.

Do not let yourself, your health and well being, fall victim to things workplace stress. Work will go on long after you are gone.

A final closing thought: "Health care expenditures are nearly 50% greater for workers who report high levels of stress".
-Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Retrieved fromhttp://www.cdc.gov/Niosh/stresswk.html#f

Career and Wellness Life Coaching Available at http://www.envisagelife.com/

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