Many people believe that they have no choice but to work all the hours
available. This belief may be reinforced if work is used to escape from other
problems. Be aware of your needs, and try to develop a fulfilling private life
as well as a career.
Forming close bonds
Building a happy family life and establishing a close circle of
friends can prove to be a successful way to avoid stress.
Dealing with change
Life events can suddenly disrupt a happy balance between work and
home. A change of job is an obvious example; events such as marriage or the
death of a parent may also undermine this balance.
When stressful changes occur, take time to reassess your lifestyle.
Draw up a list of your priorities. You may know what is important in your life,
but you may have difficulty in accepting or seeing the implications. “My
children are the most important thing in the world to me”, says many a
manager who sees them on just one night a week. Use change as a positive way to
reorder your life.
Measuring stress
Research has revealed that the death of a partner is top of the
list of life’s most stressful events. Even positive events such as marriage can
cause tremendous stress. Experiencing a number of major life events in a short
period of time greatly increases the risk of stress.
Coping with life events
Aside from death and divorce, there are a number of other life
experiences that can cause high stress levels. These include moving house,
having a baby (for both mother and father), taking a job in a foreign country,
and retiring from work. Such events all involve major change, a break in daily
routine, and often a series of goodbyes.
To minimize the stress caused by such an event, do not pretend that
it has not happened, but try to reduce the uncertainty involved. Visit the
foreign posting before you go. Take retirement gradually by working two days a
week initially. Take at least a week off work to move house. Use up any paid or
unpaid leave. Take time and care to say goodbye.
Commuting to work
Our daily journeys to and from work are among the most stressful
regular events in our lives. Worries about punctuality, traffic jams, and
overcrowded trains and buses are experienced on a repeated basis, and over
weeks and months can lead to an accumulation of stress.
Think carefully about whether you can postpone your journeys so that
they occur outside the usual “rush hours”. If possible, work at
home for an hour or two in the morning. Arranging flexible working hours allows
you to avoid peak travel times by arriving at work late or early, and reduces
the stress linked to time pressure and punctuality.
Commuting by car
If it is important that you arrive somewhere at a specific time,
do not travel by road. Today’s traffic jams make the car the least reliable
form of transport – as well as the most anti-social. Use an alternative
method of transport where possible.
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Arrange to have lunch with your partner or a close friend once a
week.
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Listen carefully to what your children say to you.
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If you live near your work, walk or cycle to work a few times a
week.
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Learn to talk openly about your emotions and feelings with close
friends and confidants.
