Stress in the Workplace

Introduction • Stress in the workplace

– The Effects• Good Stress• Bad Stress

– Difficult Situations (The Causes)– Managing Difficult Situations– Outside Influences – (Unreasonable People) – Anger Management (Outside Influences)– Disappointment & Disillusionment – (Stress Factors) – Dealing with Stress – (Illness)– Self Management

• Recovering from Stress– Recovery Plan– Getting Back to Work

• Positives & Negatives of Stress

– Day to Day Actions

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Stress in the workplace• The Effects

– Stress is one of the most unforeseen illnesses that any person can experience it can strike without warning and turn your life upside down.

– The Effects can be mild and in extreme cases catastrophic … to the point is can be the cause of a irrational behavior, people suffering extreme stress have been known to attempt to end there lives just to get out of the ‘rut’ they find themselves in.

– An effect of stress that is all too common to us is usually work related.– High Pressure from management to get the job done– Outside pressure by Customers and irresponsible people that ‘pile on

the pressure’ just so they are seen to be ‘on top’ is all too common these days.

• Statement: I know the effects of stress … having been ill with stress!

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The Effects … Continued• Good Stress

– Excitement • The thrill of the chase • Wanting to Win & Winning• Marriage & Having a family, buying a new home, new car .. All good

• Bad Stress– High pressure to reach a goal, e.g. - Business deals

• Peer Pressure • Pressure of work – Miaking the first million is exciting for yourself but for another company the

pressure & stress is high and can cause illness

– Conflict• The Feeling of being worthless• Fear of Failure• Being Bullied • Insecurity

– Overwork • Lack of contact with family • Working away from home & living in hotels for extended periods of time• Loneliness

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Difficult Situations - The Causes – The common causes of stress are in the home also.– Mostly today ‘Peer Pressure’ that revolves around your work can and

in some cases does compound stress levels in people.– The ‘Daily Grind’ of scheduling work for others and not seeing results

– • Placing stress and pressure on yourself• Not meeting your own expectations

• Performance – How your valued– Other peoples opinions over how we work adding to the stress factors

that are around us constantly.– The way you work – for example:

• Peer Pressure is always a factor• Failure … Your peers treat you as a nobody• Performance is poor even when you have done your best; Never good enough,

these are factors to making you feel worthless, sick and stressed out • Expectations; Always High

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Stress in the workplace

• Performance – How your valued … (continued)– Expectations from Management

• Expectations on Performance are always high adding to stress levels to improve

• Family Influences• Family in general• Pressure to keep a good home together• Meeting your commitments at home & the workplace

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Identifying & Managing Difficult Situations

– Lack of confidence can lead to placing yourself under duress and is a cause of stress

– Being placed into difficult situations– Working with unreasonable people– Bad Manners, unruliness, people who are difficult– Unnecessary pressure from your Peers and Management lines to

deliver unrealistic deadlines

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• Identifying & Managing Difficult Situations …. Continued – Lack of confidence can lead to placing yourself under duress and is a

cause of unnecessary stress

• Managing a lack of confidence – For some people this is difficult to do, for others relatively easy in fact looked at as part

of the normal way of life by some people; such as CEO’s, High Profile Managers : A remedy to manage this is.

1. Ensure your not placed into conflicting places, or situations2. If threatened in any way, Loss of your position, redundancy etc; ensure you have the

confidence and self assurance to manage the situation calmly avoiding conflict. 3. Avoid Ill mannered, unreasonable people where possible4. Don’t be pressured in any way & avoid being ‘stressed out’ & unable to perform your work

correctly5. Manage your workload so that you do what you can over a certain period of time 6. Take regular breaks away from your work, for example : 2hours work 20 minutes break over

an 8 hour day is the norm and should be ok with your employer!7. Most importantly to bring yourself confidence to a level where you feel confident within

yourself 8. Showing a Lack of Confidence in business meetings and other work related area’s can harm

you and cause unwanted stress that leads to illness. 9. Ensure that your in surroundings that are Calm & Peaceful where your able to relax!

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• Managing Difficult Situations – Being placed into difficult situations where you have little or

no control• Never volunteer to be in the limelight unless you are certain & confident

enough to do so

– Unfamiliar people• Avoid people who have their own agenda to keep and are self important• Avoid conflict with self important & opinionated people

– Tip ! … Winning these sort of people over never works stay calm in meeting situations with these sorts just be yourself and this will be okay,

– Unfamiliar Work Methods• Familiarize yourself with what is expected, what the requirements are to

succeed• Be confident in your ability - do not overstretch yourself this can be stressful

& destroy your self confidence if your peers assess your performance. • Bad performance = Unwanted Stress

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Recovering from Stress• Recovery Plan

• What do you think we need to do to recover from Stress? • Visit a doctor - a good idea! … but a Psychologist is best

– Talk to a psychologist – this helps to relieve the pressure that causes unwanted Stress & the illness that ensues if not treated

– There are no medicines for stress apart from rest and relaxation, and time to heal with the support of Family.

– A slow build up of your self esteem to increase your confidence – Slow return to work to build your confidence up– Avoid Peer Pressure – Say ‘No’ and mean what you say – be confident but not overpowering– Time is great healer – take the time to heal do not run, rush and do as

before …. The stress will return if you do too much too soon!R. Stringer 2009

Stress Positive & Negatives

• Positive Stress • Negative Stress

++++• Good Concentration• Alert & Energetic• Inventive • Creative• Positive Outlook• Physically Strong Feelings• Self Assured• Able to relax following exertion

• Unable to Concentrate• Always Tired and Sleepy• No Thoughts - Thoughtless• Always Negative - Depressed• Feeling Weak – Not Positive• Unable to remember things – Forgetful • Unable to rest and relax • Hypertensive

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Stress … Closure

• Closure– If no help is taken to relieve the symptoms of stress then eventually

you get worse, no matter how hard you try to get better and pull out of the hole your in!

– Depression can set in causing the symptoms to get worse, you may become reclusive, constantly restless, not able to sleep properly, listless and lack motivation, want no contact with others …

– If not treated at all and taking into consideration that you have fallen deeper into a hole where you begin to believe you’re never going to get well then the only way out is ‘Death’ .. A little strong I know but once the stress has turned to depression, deep depression then .. Too late!

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Questions

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