Good resolutions are not an exclusive story for the New Year. Even at the end of the holiday season, noble intentions are in demand. However, they relate less to the vicious life that is often renounced during a hearty New Year's hangover, but rather to its hectic variant: stress. A few weeks off can open your eyes to ingrained mechanisms in everyday office life that cause stress. “From now on I'll take things more relaxed,” is a common resolution after vacation - which usually can't be kept. Because stress is often the product of ingrained faulty processes within the team - and no amount of good intentions can get rid of such bad habits. The solution is to come up with an effective strategy for dealing with stress. To be able to do that, you should know how it is created. In a series called “Ways to Coping with Stress,” we take a closer look at the so-called illness of the present. Part one clarifies the basics: What actually is stress?
If we take a closer look, we realize that stress can occur in a wide variety of forms and situations and can both motivate us to perform exceptionally well and put a strain on us physically and mentally. It is therefore crucially important how we feel the stress and how we deal with it. And that inevitably leads to WHERE we encounter stress. While we can usually easily avoid stressful situations in our private lives, we find it much more difficult to reduce stress at work. Questions arise such as:
What exactly is stress?
“Know your enemy” is a common saying in the Anglo-Saxon world: “Know your enemy”. It is attributed to the Chinese general and military strategist Sun Tzu, who wrote a book called “The Art Of War” in the 6th century BC. To this day it is considered a standard work on the subject of “strategy” and is read not only by military strategists but also by managers. According to the common translation, the general writes: “Know your enemy and know yourself, then you will not be defeated once in a hundred battles.” The first step in an effective stress management strategy must be to face stress in its unstable face.
First of all, stress is not a good or bad thing, but rather something fairly neutral. According to the definition, stress - the word is derived from the Latin "stringere", meaning to tense, and stands for "pressure" and "tension" in English - is a psychological and physical reaction in living beings caused by specific external stimuli. It enables you to cope with special requirements. The word also stands for the resulting physical and mental strain.
Stress is important for survival
In evolution, stress plays a central role in the survival of humans and animals. What happens in the face of an acute dangerous situation is the following: The adrenal hormone adrenaline is released and thus triggers a vegetative chain of effects that increases blood sugar and blood pressure as well as the general state of tension in the muscles. As a result, the relatively slow processing of the cerebrum takes a back seat and the schematic decision-making pattern of the brain stem is used with priority. In other words: The living being makes decisions more quickly, but with a higher error rate.
Which in ancient times was of course not given a damn, to put it bluntly. Let's imagine the average caveman who is enjoying the day in front of his cave with a southern plateau and suddenly sees something strikingly striped scurrying through the bushes. The fact that he can run for his life in a stress reaction or, in the face of being eaten, release seemingly superhuman strength to put the marauding saber-toothed tiger to flight with a club ensured his survival. The same is true for the forest and meadow squirrel or the field hamster that suddenly finds itself confronted with a predator: the rodents can, even if panicked, seek salvation in flight and do not lose valuable and life-critical seconds thinking about where they should flee to.
STRESS CAN HAVE MANY CAUSES.
There is the completely normal stress that occurs when you are faced with a situation and see no way of dealing with it: for example, deadlines at work that are too short, the workload required is too high, general overwhelm or a job that requires a lot of time but does not pay enough money. But stress can also be of a physical nature: cold, heat, noise, exhaust gases or sunlight - of course with no possibility of escape. No matter how: If stress occurs regularly or over a long period of time without the opportunity to recover, it can have a negative impact on your health. Doctors agree that the immune system suffers from stress and, in the worst case, can even lead to cancer.
The reason for this is in the nature of things: Because most people these days hardly have to react physically to stress and on that Office chair If people go into battle less often against wild animals than against factors that they have to face mentally, the stress hormones are not broken down. In other words: The body doesn't need the extra energy boost - as a result, it can become ill. For example, constant stress results in increased susceptibility to infections, migraines, depression, high blood pressure, headaches, digestive problems or an increased risk of heart attack.
The positive and negative consequences of stress
For this form of stress, which is well known to most people, there is an expression that is used in other languages. While in German there is no distinction made between negative and positive stress, in the Anglo-Saxon world we speak of “distress” (permanent negative stress, the Greek prefix “dys” means “bad”) and “stress” as neutral stress. Because a stressful situation can also be a good thing. Then we speak of “eustress”, according to the Greek prefix “eu”, which means “well” or “good”. This is generally understood as a stress that increases alertness in the short term, but does not put any further strain on the organism.
The best example of this is probably the long-distance runner who is preparing for a marathon even though he has not yet run much more than a few hundred meters. A time of deprivation, stress and sometimes even physical and psychological strain awaits him. The difference: He is not caught off guard by the situation, but rather knows exactly what he is getting into. What's more: he has a firm will to achieve his goal. Similarly, there are patients who can cope positively with an illness if they have had the opportunity to prepare for the coming events with an appropriate coping strategy.
And once again, closer examination leads to a well-known result: it's all in the measure. Too much stress can be negative, but short-term or expected stress can have a positive effect and even lead to feelings of happiness. The enemy described at the beginning is negative stress, “distress”. While there is little you can do about unexpected events such as illness, the death of a loved one, fear of losing your job, long-term arguments within your circle of friends or family, or a natural disaster or its consequences, they definitely have a stressful effect. Knowing yourself and having a few strategies at hand to better cope with stressful situations not only increases the quality of life, but may even increase your lifespan.
What are the causes of stress at work?
MANAGING STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE – DETERMINING THE CAUSES
Stress never arises without a reason. The biochemical processes that are triggered in the body during a stressful situation are always based on a cause that triggers stress - which can ultimately become a problem for the body and soul. What applies to general illnesses applies to stress in particular. A medication can anesthetize an acute pain (e.g. headache), but lasting healing can only occur if the cause of the headache is found. First of all, the problem area in the workplace is divided into two groups:
- Problems related to the job (e.g. organization, workload, qualifications, excessive/under-challenging).
- Problems with the working environment (e.g. ergonomics, working atmosphere, superiors, colleagues, customers, suppliers).
What can I do to combat stress in the office?
STRESS MANAGEMENT – METHODS THAT REALLY HELPS
Even if it may sound succinct at first. The best approach to managing stress at work is to prevent it from getting to that point in the first place. The longer we bind ourselves to habitual behavioral patterns, the harder it is to break out of them. Therefore, make your workplace stress-free right from the start. With the matching office chair and Desk ensure that prolonged sitting does not become torture. The ergonomic sitting posture on the office chair is particularly important (seat height, seat inclination, spinal support, armrest position). Otherwise they should Office furniture with shelves, compartments, drawers, etc. to ensure an uncomplicated workflow. Further stress prevention in the workplace includes a background noise that is not perceived as disturbing, structured work right from the start and a reasonable workload.
Which methods really help to manage stress in the workplace?
STRESS MANAGEMENT – METHODS THAT REALLY HELPS
A major stress factor is completing the work in the allotted time. Structure and efficiency help here. A few tips: Don't be constantly distracted by emails (and possibly open and read them several times). Create “time windows” in which you can process emails immediately (either complete them or set them to follow-up). Also involve your colleagues in this efficient work (bundle inquiries and not constantly call about small things, create common time slots and only contact them immediately in really urgent cases). Another major stress factor is based on health problems caused by tension. Just a few exercises in the office chair are enough to reduce stress at work. It's important to play the role of "fidget" more often instead of just staring at the screen. Use the tilting mechanism of the office chair, move from your waist and stretch vigorously every now and then. And don't forget to ventilate the room even in winter, just breathe deeply. After that, the work becomes easier again.