Stress Management

(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia “Management Universe” at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)

Meaning of Stress

When you are under stress or you are stressed, you are experiencing one or more of the states of mind and/or body given below. That in simple words, is the meaning of stress.

• pressure
• strain
• anxiety
• constant worry
• nervous tension
• tension
• trauma
• hassle
• demands
• difficulty
• load
• burden
• effort
• mental strain
• uneasy
• complicatedness
• exertion
• troubled
• inconvenienced
• harassed
• irritation
• annoyance
• get on your nerves
• disturbed
• upset
• suffering
• pain
• distressed
• ordeal
• shocked

Why Stress or Strain? (Origin or Genesis of Stress and Strain)

People around you (your bosses, colleagues, subordinates, customers, suppliers, spouse, parents, brothers, sisters, your boy friend/girl friend etc and you yourself have some or certain expectations from you.

You wish to fulfill those expectations for many reasons like feel happy, to make others feel happy, for self esteem, to improve your image on others, not become a subject of ridicule, laughter, blame, rejection by others etc. Therefore, your expectation from yourself is one of success and not failure. You want your expectations to be fulfilled.

That is the trigger to stress or strain.

The expectations in themselves do not create stress but it is your concern about the outcome of not being successful. What will happen if I don’t succeed? What the people will think of me if I am a failure? Will I be seen as incompetent, will I become a laughing stock? Will people criticize me or blame me? Will some one shout at me? Will my relationship break? Will I lose money? Will I fail in examination? Will I fail in getting a job or a good job?

If you are sure of success, there in no tension and there is no stress. But when, in your own assessment of yourself, you feel that there are chances of partial or complete failure, stresses develop- the intensity and quantum vary.

You become successful when you assess that your capabilities (your knowledge, skills or competencies and your will power to succeed- in short your "human software (HSoftware))" are matching or exceeding the demands made on you by that particular stressful event or activity or situation. Then you meet those challenges and come out as winner. There is no stress or strain.

The links for details on HSoftware: http://humansoftware.blogspot.com/ or http://knol.google.com/k/shyam-bhatawdekar/management-in-life-profession-family/6txz9nck6g3/3#" .

However, when, as per you assessment, your capabilities (the HSoftware) fall short of those demanded by the stressful event, activity or situation and you assess that you may be a failure or are not sure to succeed, the stresses start developing. The intensity and quantum of stresses are directly proportional to the gap between your assessed capabilities and the ones that are demanded by the stressful event, activity or situation.

More Explanation: What is Stress?

• Stress has to do with demands, resources and uncertainties.
• Demands are expectation and desires of self or others to be fulfilled, obligations and duties to be carried out and responsibilities and pressures to be shouldered.
• Resources are your own resources like your physical strength, your knowledge, your talent and capabilities, your skills and competencies as well as any kind of physical/inanimate or human resources under your control or available for use as organizational support or social support.
• Then there are uncertainties of the outcome or results in relation to the expectations, desires, obligations, duties, responsibilities and pressures as well as there are uncertainties about the existence and potency of the resources within you and outside you.
• These uncertainties are then the main causes to trigger tension and stress in your mind.
• In short, when your perceive that your resources will fall short of tackling the demands on you and therefore, you perceive uncertainty in meeting the expectations or you actually do not meet the expectations demanded of you, you will experience stresses.
• When your resources can achieve the expectations demanded of you with certainty, there is hardly any stress. Since there may still be some uncertainty due to some unseen factors, there may still be a bit of stress but that stress will be somewhat positive type, good enough to boost adrenal level and your motivation to use your resources in the best possible manner to achieve the end result with certainty or near certainty. Such a stress is called challenge stress and it is good.
• Other type of stress that is negative in nature is called the hindrance stress. This is an outcome of the hindrances in the resources to achieve the desired results. These hindrances are: lack of your capabilities, knowledge, competencies, skills and red tape in systems, lack of family or social support etc.
• It is necessary to learn to manage this hindrance stress.

Causes and Sources of Stress

Demands made on you or changes happening around you making some more demands on you are the fundamental causes of stress. The list of causes and sources of stress is given below:

Environmental factors

• Economic uncertainty: changes in business cycle, recession, loss of job, unemployment
• Political uncertainty: impact of political systems like democracy, communism or dictatorship, instability of governments, wars, terrorism etc
• Technological changes: Obsolescence in knowledge and skills of people due to constant technological changes, impact of technologies on people in variety of ways

Organizational factors

• Role demands: pressures of job position, roles conflicts, transfers, promotions, job rotations, change of job
• Task demands: hazards, overload, working conditions, deadlines, targets
• Interpersonal demands: lack of support from bosses and colleagues, distrustful environment, politics

Personal factors

• Family problems: death of loved ones, separation, divorce, marriage, pregnancy, childbirth
• Economic problems: insufficient earnings, loss of job, over expenditure, debts, retirement
• Personality problems: pessimism, submissive, aggressive, loner
• Illness: Not well, injury

Early Warning Symptoms of Stress and Consequences of Stress

Physical symptoms

• Nagging tiredness and continuous sense of exhaustion
• Frequent illness
• Sexual problems
• Excessive worrying of real and imaginary problems

Behavioral symptoms

• Escapist tendencies like shirking or avoiding responsibilities and work both at office and home
• Personal negligence in terms of appearance, hygiene, safety
• Extremism at work, in spending, alcohol, gambling

Emotional or psychological Symptoms

• Metal fatigue
• Lack of concentration
• Restlessness
• General apathy towards life
• Irritability
• Unnecessary argumentation
• Excess of aggressive or submissive or defensiveness
• Insecurity
• Low self esteem or low self worth
• Suspiciousness

Possibility of Ailments Due to Stress

• Hypertension
• High blood pressure
• Heart attack
• Migraine
• Hay fever
• Allergies
• Asthma
• Peptic ulcers
• Colitis
• Constipation
• Indigestion
• Diarrhea
• Nervous dyspepsia
• Diabetes mellitus
• Tuberculosis
• Overactive thyroid gland
• Intense itching
• Skin disorders
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Menstrual difficulties
• Depression

Tackling Stress

Prevention is always better than cure. Given below are certain tips to manage stress:

• Resource sufficiency: One must continually work towards improving one’s thinking patterns, knowledge, competencies, skills and will power.
• Plan (goal/target setting and time management): Set your personal, family related and professional plans properly on time line and muster the resources to achieve them accordingly. Your plans should be realistic and you should review them from time to time and modify them if necessary. Refer: (Goal/Target Setting) http://goal-target-setting.blogspot.com/ and (Time Management) http://time-life-management.blogspot.com/
• Balance: Balance you personality. Your personality should not be extreme “A” type or extreme “B” types. Try to achieve a balanced personality. Refer the explanation of type “A” and type “B” personality given in the next paragraph.
• Physical exercises: Get into habit of doing some or the other physical exercises for around 30 minutes to 1 hour every day. Learn to play some outdoor game. Gardening can be a good exercise. Walking is the excellent exercise. (Refer the paragraph given below titled A to Z Mantras of Stress Management").
• Relax: Take a few minutes out and learn to relax by listening to good music or meditate or lie down and practice relaxation through auto-suggestion, take deep breaths several times a day.
• Entertain: Entertain yourself alone or in company by enjoying concerts, dramas, movies, games and sports etc.
• Social Interactions (fellowship): Invite or get invited at social gatherings like parties, weddings, dinners. In case of any stressful problem, talk it over with someone you trust.
• Take a break: Move away from your family and professional settings for while, take vacation and go for an outing, excursion or travel.
• Refrain from smoking and alcohol: If you are habituated to these, stop.

Personality Types

People can be classified having three types of personalities from the view point of stress management: type “A”, type “B” and “balanced”. One may feel least stressed after achieving “balanced” personality.

Type A

• Urgency
• Walks/moves quickly
• Competitiveness
• Eats quickly
• Hates delay
• Guilty when relaxing
• Impatient

Type B

• Relaxed
• Walks slowly
• Lots of relaxing hobbies
• Good listener
• Patient
• Thoughtful
• Takes time to make decisions

Balanced Personality

• It will be a good idea to lead a balanced life by moderating extreme Type A or extreme Type B personalities.
• Balanced personality can manage stresses well.

Action Plans For Type A & Type B Behavior to Achieve Balanced Personality

For Type A

• Take a step back
• Set attainable goals
• Plan how to achieve your goals
• Delegate
• Aim to relax more
• Make time for people
• Say “no”

For Type B

• Set quantitative goals
• Stop procrastinating
• Become more assertive
• Assess appropriate level of quality

Therefore, "A to H Mantra" of Stress Management

Take Care of…………

A….. Anxiety: No (improve capabilities by improving competencies and skills: the HSoftware: refer URL http://humansoftware.blogspot.com/)

B….. Bottle (Alcohol): No

C….. Cigarettes (Smoking): No

D….. Diet (balanced diet): Yes

E….. Exercise: Yes

F….. Fellowship: Yes

G….. Good values and core beliefs: Yes (not necessarily associating with any religion)
H….. Humor: Yes

(Originally posted at http://managing-stress-strain.blogspot.com/ Saturday, April 11, 2009 authored by Dr Kalpana Bhatawdekar and published here with the author’s permission).

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