Surviving stress and burnout

Everyone feels stress at times. A tight deadline, an interpersonal difficulty in the office or financial pressures – there are many things around us that contribute to feelings of stress.

Sometimes the stress is prolonged, or more severe and it really impacts our lives. It can affect relationships with our friends and family, can have health implications and of course, greatly impact your output at work.

It’s not hard to talk about stress – the challenge is to stay calm.

1. Understand what is really stressing you

When the cause of stress is obvious then we know exactly where the effort needs to be in making things right. It’s not usually the problem that causes the stress, it is the lack of perceived options and control over the problem that causes it.

A common workplace stress is too much work and not enough time. The simple solution is to do less work – but many would not see that as a realistic option, and the result is stress. Perhaps pressures in your home life are detracting from your enthusiasm for work, and this is creating a flow-on effect to your performance.

Understanding the chain of stress is so important to overcoming stress and preventing burnout. The underlying cause is often different to what is at the front of your mind.

2. How do you know if you’re stressed?

A certain level of pressure is expected in the workplace; in fact some people love the adrenaline rush of high-pressure jobs. Many crave further responsibility and challenges. So what is the difference between acceptable pressure and stress?

The first hint is showing signs of impatience with those around you. Often there are changes in appetite, sleep disturbances, an increase in the frequency of alcohol consumed or cigarettes if you’re a smoker. Another sign is that you are losing interest and getting less satisfaction out of free time activities that you would normally enjoy.

Perhaps the most telltale sign of stress is the feeling that you can’t switch off when you go to bed. If your body is tired and your mind is racing then you are definitely in a stressed state.

Or you go numb, get exhausted, feel tired all the time and have no energy to face what needs to be done.

3. How do you vent? When do you vent?

Just as pressure is an acknowledged part of working life, then so too must the release of pressure be acknowledged as an essential part of mental health. What really relaxes and recharges your battery? Is it a game of golf, some time with your partner, exercise, hobbies, time with the children or catching up with old friends? The answer is different for everyone.

Venting is the process of releasing the tension that arises from stressful situations. Unhelpful forms of venting include yelling at people, passive aggressive positions and road rage. Each of these things actually increases your stress levels and most likely increases the stress of those around you. It’s much more helpful to vent through talking through the situation with co-workers, your boss or perhaps later at night to your partner, family or friends.

3. Take a problem solving approach

When people say “this is stressing me out” there is a tacit acknowledgement that they don’t know how to fix their situation. Stress is a physical and emotional result of mental demands on your time, so it is a good idea to try and list everything that is causing stress. Unfortunately stress tends to make us think in erratic fashion, but if you write a list and take a “how do I fix this?” approach your mindset will shift from one of yielding to the pressure to one of trying to logically overcome it.
A simple tidy up of mess, garden weeding, clothes throw out or culling your piles of files – can be a great stress reliever.

4. Maintaining lower stress levels

If you’re lucky enough not to be in a state of heightened stress right now then you may want to make sure you maintain that healthy balance. The release of pressure in your life is an important part of offsetting the inevitable pressure that comes from work. You need to regularly speak about the things that pressure you. If you are the type that avoids complaining and sees it as a sign of weakness you could consider joining a group for personal development or even in some cases seeing a counsellor at regular intervals, perhaps once a month or maybe just once or twice at crisis times.

You need to understand the things that trigger high levels of stress with you. It may be working closely with a particular person, or perhaps you are someone whose workload intensifies dramatically at the end of the month. When you know these things in advance you can prepare for them.

Try to schedule something for the end of the stress period to look forward to.

You need to have things in your life to look forward to. If your life consists entirely of work and pressure you will burnout, there is no other possibility. (I say this at 5am after all night work and filming!)

Ideally you will have things in your working life (eg. finishing a project) and personal lives (nights out with your friends, sporting events, etc) that you look forward to, but if work is less than satisfying at least you have something after hours to raise your mood.

Eve Ash is inviting SmartCompany readers to de-stress with some comedy viewing. Eve is producing a short comedy program called Surviving Stress and Burnout as part of her new CUTTING EDGE COMMUNICATION COMEDY SERIES filmed in the US, and has agreed to allow SmartCompany readers private access for a short time only while the program is in final stages of post production. If you miss out, this DVD and many comedy titles or programs on stress and wellbeing are available at Seven Dimensions.