Stress in the Stress in the WorkplaceWorkplace

Some Practical Strategies Some Practical Strategies for Coping More for Coping More

EffectivelyEffectively1,21,2

A Presentation for Portsmouth City A Presentation for Portsmouth City SchoolsSchools

Kendall L. Stewart, MD, MBAKendall L. Stewart, MD, MBASeptember 4, 2007September 4, 2007

Why is this important?

• Stress is one of the most often-cited problems in the workplace.1

• Almost everyone who feels stressed believes—and strongly believes—that stress is something that someone or some thing causes.

• But given the same circumstances, people differ widely in how stressed they feel.2

• This observation gives us great hope.

• We can do something about the stress we feel in the workplace—and in our lives.

• After mastering the information in this presentation, you will be able to– Identify three of the

common things that “cause” you to feel stressed at work,

– Describe three ways that feeling stressed “makes” you feel and behave,

– Name three practical strategies that will allow you to decrease your stress in the workplace,

– Explain why you should adopt these strategies, and

– Clarify how to deploy these strategies successfully.

What “causes” you to feel stressed in the workplace?1,2

• Conflict• Negative coworkers• Rumors• Criticism• Meaningless work• Perceived slights• The failure of leaders

to hold problem people accountable

• Perceived unfairness• Excessive sensitivity

• Time pressure• Information overload• Unclear expectations• Unreasonable

demands• Slackers• Troublemakers• Incompetent leaders• An uncomfortable

environment• Faulty equipment• Inadequate training

How does feeling stressed affect you?

• You feel – Irritable– Preoccupied– Upset– Resentful– Tired– Angry– Apprehensive– Anxious– Depressed– Hopeless

• You behave– Impulsively– Reluctantly– Absent-mindedly– Dangerously– Self-destructively– Revengefully1,2

– Passively– Distractedly– Hurriedly– Prematurely

What are some practical strategies for decreasing your stress in the workplace?• Focus on yourself.• Avoid negative

people.• Seek out positive

people.• Focus on providing

exceptional quality and service.

• Stop longing for people to change.

• Busy yourself with what you can do instead of what you can’t do.

• Draft a position letter, but don’t send it.

• Label and manage your difficult colleagues.

• Reframe challenging situations.1

• Increase your physical activity.2

Focus on yourself.

• Why should you?– You are the only

person you can change.

– This decision put you in charge.

– This perspective means you are no longer dependent on how others behave.

– When you focus on pleasing yourself, pleasing others no longer matters as much.

• How can you?– Write down exactly

what happened.– Write down exactly how

you felt.– Write down exactly how

your feelings “caused” you to behave.

– Write down how you might have behaved.

– Practice behaving that way so you can go on autopilot when it happens again.

– Become the organizational expert at something.1,2

What have you learned?

• Stuff happens at work.• The degree to which you are stressed by

it is up to you—at least to some extent.• This simple but profound insight should

give you great hope.• Changing your instinctive reactions to

others and your environment is not easy.

• But it can be done.• You can do it by “becoming the CEO of

you.”• And decreasing the amount of stress in

your life is a very good thing.

Where can you learn more?1

• Review some of the causes and antidotes to stress in the workplace at http://health.discovery.com/centers/stress/stress.html.

• Identify some of the factors that lead to job stress at http://www.helpguide.org/mental/work_stress_management.htm.

• Read a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health publication on Stress at Work at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/stresswk.html.

• Explore a variety of resources available for dealing more effectively with stress in the workplace at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/stress/.

1Please visit www.KendallLStewart.com to download related White Papers and presentations.

SafetySafety QualityQuality ServiceService RelationshipsRelationships Performance Performance

Are there other questions?

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