Let's Use Stress as Fuel - How to Convert Challenges into Achievements

Emergence of Stress and Effect on Work Life

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety defines work stress as “The harmful physical and emotional responses that can happen when there is a conflict between job demands on the employee and the amount of control an employee has over meeting these demands.” Also, stress could be described as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand placed upon it” (Selye, 1987, p.17).

In today's dynamic professional landscape, stress often feels like an unavoidable part of life. Stress, burnout, and low morale are most available highlighted points in high-pressure workplaces. Stress can be defined as psychological and physiological response to demanding or challenging situations. It can be caused by various factors, and it will create work pressures, relationship issues, or significant life changes. Stress can act in different ways, including feelings of anxiety, tension, or overwhelm, as well as physical symptoms like headaches, fatigue, or difficulty sleeping.

Stress does not only affect to employee well-being but also it impacts performance and overall company culture. As a result, many companies have to pay much attention how to create an environment where employees feel supported and productive. In today's dynamic professional landscape, mastering the art of thriving under pressure has become as the hallmark of success.

Is it possible to thrive, rather than flounder, in the work environment?

Impact on Employee and Organization

The relationship between the workplace and psychological, cognitive, and physiological responses to stress is complex and impacted by “a broad set of occupational and work demands as well as environmental stressors” (Quick & Henderson, 2016, p. 2).

Workplace stress may cause due to below reasons

• Job demands
• Poor Work Environment
• Poor Work-Life Balance
• Financial Concerns

  Major impact elaboration

    1. Exacerbate Mental Health

Workplace stress can lead to mental health problems like depression, anxiety and substance addiction. Also, Chronic work-related stress can lead to physical health issues, such as heart disease, as well as mental health problems like anxiety and depression.

 

   2. Performance Problems

Stress can negatively impact employees' performance, lower productivity, irritability with coworkers and customers, desire to quit their jobs and lack of motivation to perform their best. While some stress can enhance focus and motivation, excessive stress often leads to decreased productivity, increased mistakes, and lower quality of work.

 

   3.Increased Turnover

When an employee is in exacerbate mind, it may lead people to quit their jobs. Organizations suffer, both culturally and financially, when employees frequently leave.

 

   4.Work-Life Balance

 High levels of stress can blur the boundaries between work and personal life, making it harder for employees to relax and recharge

    Employee Impacts

1. Physical Health Issues
2. Mental Health Problems
3. Decreased Productivity
4. Poor Work-Life Balance
5. Absenteeism

    Organizational impact

1. Reduced Employee Engagement
2. Increased Turnover
3. Lower Productivity
4. Higher Healthcare Costs
5. Negative Work Environment

Strategies to Reduce Work Life Stress - Employee aspect

1. Prioritize Tasks: Follow mechanism to like to focus on the most important tasks first. Example: to-do lists or prioritization techniques like set reminders.
2. Set Boundaries: Get clear your job role, define work hours and personal time.
3. Engage in Physical Activity: Follow activities you enjoy. Example: yoga, sports, regular exercise
4. Time Management: Break tasks into smaller and allocate specific time slots for each.
5. Engage in Physical Activity: Regular exercise can significantly reduce stress levels. Find activities you enjoy, whether it’s walking, yoga, or sports.
6. Practice Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: Incorporate mindfulness, meditation, or deep-breathing exercises into your routine to help manage stress in the moment.
7. Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle: Prioritize sleep, nutrition, and hydration to support overall well-being, which can enhance resilience to stress.
8. Learn to Say No: Recognize your limits and taking only responsibilities that you can handle.

Strategies to Reduce Work Life Stress - Organization aspect

1. Set Clear Goals: Establish specific, achievable goals that align with employee personal and professional aspirations. Setting clear goals may cause to help stress productively.
2. Embrace Continuous Learning: Identify employee skills or knowledge specifically and this can be gained and pursue professional development opportunities
3. Maintain a Balanced Perspective: Practice gratitude and reflect on employee achievements. Celebrating and rewarding on employee successes can build confidence and motivate employee to tackle challenges.
4. Develop Resilience: Embrace challenges as opportunities for growth. Build resilience by spreading a positive attitude, practicing self-compassion, and learning from setbacks.
5. Leverage Stress Management Techniques: Set up stress reduction techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, or physical exercise to maintain mental clarity and emotional balance.
6. Stay Organized: Implement time management strategies to prioritize tasks effectively, which can help alleviate feelings of being overwhelmed and lead to increased productivity.
7. Seek Feedback and Support: continue proper KPIs and have proper evaluations openly with colleagues and supervisors about challenges. Constructive feedback can lead to improve employee weaknesses.

How Work Stress turns into Success

1. Get excited instead rather being stressed

“Let’s try” or “Let’s make this possible and see how it turns out!”. Develop a Positive Mindset and reframe your perspective on stress. View it as a challenge to overcome rather than a threat, fostering resilience. Understand what specifically causes your stress and awareness is the first step toward managing the stress effectively.

 

2. Channel your anxiety into hard work

Most employers believe that a little amount of stress is good for their employees as that pushes them to work hard and think in a different way. When you find a healthy way to channel your stress into being productive, you will be able to find best way to do tasks. Also set well-defined, clear and achievable goals that gives you direction which can use stress as motivation to pursue these objectives. Practice Time Management and organize tasks and prioritize them. Also break larger projects into phases to increase the efficiency and effectiveness.

 

3. Use your stress to become more creative

Don't allow stress to push you over the edge. Instead, allow it to make you more productive and you'll feel the change in your personal as well as professional life. you are bound to have several takers facing a similar predicament – that's a huge potential audience

REFERENCES

Selye H (1956). The stress of life, Mc Graw Hill, New York. Sparks Kate, Faragher Brian and Cooper Cary L. (2001), Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology,74,489–509, the British Psychological Society

Ongori, H, Agolla, JE (2008) Occupational stress in organizations and its effect on organizational performance. Journal of Management Research 8(3): 123-134.

Kotteeswari, M, Sharief, ST (2015) Job stress and its impact on employees’ performance a study with reference to employees working in BPOs. Research paper IJBARR ISSN No. 2347–856X.

Beehr, T.A. and NewMan, S.E (1978). Job Stress, employee health and organizational effectiveness: Facet analysis, Personnel Psychology, winter, pp 665–669.

Lazarus, R. S. & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal & Coping . Springer, Newyork.

Folkman, S, Lazarus, RS (1980) An analysis of coping in a middle-aged community sample. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 21(3): 219 239.

Welford, A (1973) Stress and performance. Ergonometric 16(5): 567- 575.

Department of Management, The University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19467, Arlington, TX 76019, USA; henderson@uta.edu