Work pressure has been defined by many people as “The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or any type of demand placed on them at work”. Work pressure results in stress. Stress is the worst enemy any one can have. It brings you down both professionally and personally. No one can ever escape stress. Every individual has to go through this stage at some point of time in his/her life. There is no avoiding it, there is only dealing with it. It all depends on how you can fight stress and how you cope with it.
Stress targets every individual with no partiality. It mainly targets the health of the workers thereby affecting the health of the organization. Stress mainly occurs when a situation of high demand has to be handled within a short time period and the worker has no control over it.
Symptoms of stress caused by work pressure can be negativism, boredom, anxiety, low self-esteem, inferiority complex, frustration, anger, depression, loneliness, headaches, feel of insecurity and fatigue.
Two main causes of work pressure are:
1. Difference in individuals: It depends on each individual as to how they cope with certain things and what kind of matters cause a pressure on them.
2. Working conditions: Certain working conditions like fear of loss of job, overload of work and inflexible working hours.
To overcome such causes, you can draw a sketch in your mind and flip through it whenever necessary. Let’s have a look at the contents of the sketch that will help you fight work pressure!
Don’t like it? Change it!
If your job doesn’t suit you, then you always have the freedom to get another job. If you don’t like it, then change it. You can always find a new job, but if you do not deal with work pressure properly, then you will have to risk your family and friends. You can afford to lose your job but not you family, friends, health and peace of mind.
I know that many of you are asking me how it is so easy to find a new job with such a rate of unemployment. But, everything is in your hands. You can always work in the same company until you find a new and better job that suits you. If you could qualify to make this job yours, then why not another? Always remember, you have to be in a perfect state of mind to do any job and maintain a perfect work life balance. What job you do is secondary, whether it is comfortable and suitable for you is what matters.
Make yourself comfortable
The most important thing in a job is whether you feel comfortable or not. Do you like the job you do? Do you like the company and the employer you work for? Still having work pressure problems? Then the best thing you can do is to compromise with your employer. Explain to your employer that you love the work you do and the environment you work in. Tell him what makes you feel uncomfortable. Excessive work load, inflexible work hours or the inability to balance work and life? Are you not happy with the work environment? Ask for a transfer.
Whatever the problem is put it across your employer in an understandable manner. If you are lucky enough to have an understanding employer, then you can have changes made to your schedule. Only when you feel comfortable, you will be able to do the work properly. Maintain a healthy relationship with your employer so that things can be worked out smoothly.
Distract yourself
If the situation is becoming too stressful, then move out of that place. Distract yourself from whatever is causing the stress. Go for a short walk in the office premises itself. Sit out in the cafeteria or spend some time with nature. Listen to some music or play your favorite sport. Or, even write in a journal. This is a big factor of stress relief. Putting down your thoughts as words will help you feel light and relaxed.
Do something you like. You have plenty of options to choose from:
- Read
- Paint
- Dance
- Play an instrument
- Listen to music on your iPod
- Play your favorite game
- Watch a cartoon or movie
- Consider getting a massage
Anything will help you unload your work pressure. It all depends on how you are willing to handle things.
Organize yourself
Make it a point to keep a notebook or diary or at least a notice board on your desk where you can write down all the tasks you have to do. Note down the deadlines that you have to meet. Keep a countdown for the important ones. Cross off the ones you have completed. Don’t keep files and papers piled up on your desk.
Keep only the ones you have to complete first in front of you. Put away the rest and take them out only when you have to work on them. Keep your desk neat and clean. When you look at your desk you should feel warm and happy to work there. You should not feel stressed by looking at all the piled up files on your table. Not only you, but anyone looking at your desk should feel that you are happy working there.
So be as organized as you can and always keep the to-do list updated so that you don’t forget anything. This will help to reduce work pressure that can be caused by an unorganized work load.
Open up
Speak for yourself. Always make it a point to share your feelings with someone. If not the happiness, at least the sorrows. Let it be your family or your friends, just say it out to somebody. Open up yourself. Let your mind lose and pour out everything that is bothering you.
The best person to understand you will be your life partner or your mother. Just tell them how you feel. The troubles you are going through. The pressures that lie on you. Ask them for help. Get suggestions from them. Give them a chance to work with you on your projects at home. Some ideas they give might help you solve the problem and feel out of pressure. Make them your working partner at home. Sharing some of your workload might make it easy in you and you can both be happy.
Put yourself at ease. Nothing can make you feel more relaxed than speaking out your problems.
Offer to help
Help others. Talk to your co-workers about the work pressure they face. Ask them what they do to cope with the pressure. Talk to them about the issues that create work pressure for them. If you have anything in common, sit down and work out a solution where you all can benefit from it. Don’t think that you are alone.
Every single individual will be under work pressure for some reason or the other. You can all organize events together that will take your mind off work for some time. You can make it a point to take off on the last Friday of the month or something. You can all go on a picnic, watch a movie or spend some time with all the families of your co-workers. This will help everyone reduce their work pressure.
LOL
Laugh out loud. This helps to solve many problems in life. It is the best treatment that applies for all sickness. When the situation at office is getting too serious and worked up, say something funny. Crack a joke to make everyone laugh and ease the situation. This is the best way you can put away work pressure. It not only helps you but also everybody who work with you. Try this quite often.
Try hard, don’t die for it!
It is your duty to give the best you can but that doesn’t mean you have to be perfect or too perfect in some cases. Do the best you can, don’t stress yourself. Being too perfect once in a while is healthy but not always. When you try to do more than what you are capable is when the work starts becoming a pressure. So, just do what you have to do and stop at that point. Don’t always try to be over perfect and don’t die for it.
Self motivation
Whenever your mind tells you that you are stressed and cannot perform a particular task, self-motivate yourself and keep saying that you are the best. Think that only you are capable of doing that task. Remind yourself that you have all the capabilities of giving the best in that task. Think that you are the right person to do a great job. Self-motivation never lets you down. It inspires you to try new things and achieve more.
Follow a healthy diet and good habits
Eat properly. The time you eat, the food you eat and the way you eat all matters a lot. Eating healthy food can prepare you to cope with any amount of stress. My mother always tells me that you should always have the breakfast that of a king, lunch that of a minister and the dinner that of a beggar for a healthy lifestyle. Drink plenty of water and try to reduce the amount of caffeine and sugar intake.
Do not adopt yourself to drinking, smoking, drugs or being a loner. Don’t over or under eat. Maintain proper sleeping habits. If your work pressure is too much and you are stressed out, don’t take it out on others. Follow only the healthy ways of coping with work pressure.
Exercise
Do regular exercise, it will keep you fit both physically and mentally. Do yoga. It does miracles in your life. Do Pranayama, a breathing exercise that helps you to relax yourself in just a few minutes. People with breathing problems should consult a physician before doing this. The best medicine for everything is meditation. Close your eyes and focus on your soul. Don’t think about anything else. Keep your mind clean and blank. It kicks out stress and pressure in the fraction of a second.
Think positive
Work pressure and stress do not necessarily have to be negative. It can help to bring out the best in you. It may lead the worker to find out new and innovative ways of doing the work. But, this happens rarely and only one in ten thousand think of it this way.
Work can be a pressure for most people and a pleasure to others, a pleasure of innovation and achievement. Do you want some pressure or a pleasure? You decide!