Stress in the Workplace

The issue of stress is a huge problem for the employer as well as the employee as stress related absenteeism grows in response to the increase in job stress (as every stressed employee can attest.) In 1995, stress accounted for six percent of workers staying home while in 2000 that number grew to 19 percent. In fact, most experts feel that job stress is at all time highs.

But, if stress is bad for us and our employer why, then, are we literally killing ourselves?

Culturally, we tend to be highly competitive and tend to feel that "who we are is what we do" which means that in order to be good men... good women... good people we need to do what we do really, really well - in fact, better than everybody else. Now compound that with our society not valuing age for its wisdom, and you end up with aging and older workers putting in more and more hours to maintain their competitive edges. So, we stop "working to live" and end up "living to work," a scenario that has been colorfully and accurately termed as a "sprint to the death." Unfortunately, that obsessive devotion to our jobs comes at the expense of our personal identities (when was the last time you heard anyone talking about their hobbies?) our friendships, our families and, of course, our health. The real problem with these work compulsions, however, is that true productivity, genius, epiphanies and the like emanate from rested minds - not overworked ones. As Robert Kriegel, author of "How to Succeed in Business Without Working So Damn Hard" found, the "best ideas people ever get are when they're away from work." Need further proof? Consider, then, that MRI scans of tired brains look just like those of brains that are sound asleep! (Try telling that to your boss the next time you get yelled at for the quality of your work.)

So, how can we unwind our stress "spring"?