Change – How to Survive Tip 3
Whatever age you are, you will have already experienced a lot of change. Even if it’s just leaving school to your first job, or going to college, or moving house, or getting a new sibling, you have experienced change. And the older you are the more changes.
Managing Change Tip
List ten changes that have happened in your life, over which you had little control. For example, you probably had to leave school at a certain age. Or your firm downsized. Or your industry became flooded with new technology (print, photography). Maybe your personal life went into freefall. But don’t only focus on negative change experiences, look for the positives too.
Now, consider your list. You have survived all those changes and are probably much better at dealing with change than you may think. What skills and qualities do you have that have helped you in the past, and will help you in the future?
It can be really helpful to do this exercise with a friend and share stories and ideas. And please do share any of your own tips!
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Change – How to Survive Tip 1
Change is most definitely in the air at the moment. But actually there is rarely a time when change is not with us – thankfully, or we’d still be scratching our heads wondering if a wheel might be a good idea or not!
I work in a lot of organisations who are undergoing change and the initial response is nearly always the same. Employees feel threatened and anxious, sickness levels go up, productivity suffers. And the toll on individuals can be enormous.
That’s the downside. But don’t forget change can also be hugely positive! It’s hard to remember that when change is being imposed but you will probably have had as many positive experiences of change in your life as negative ones. It’s just that we remember the negative ones so much more clearly!
If you are experiencing a lot of uncertainty in your personal life, a change at work over which you have no control can be the final straw. The Holmes and Rahe stress scale is still a useful guide to thinking about the impact more change might have on you.
Managing Change Tip
My first tip is to take a look at it, see how you rate and then take steps to look after yourself. It might be that you join up with a friend to help and support each other, or make sure you are eating healthily and look after yourself physically. Or find out what is on offer in your organisation to help you – mentoring, counselling, even subsidised gym membership!
Resolve now not to be a victim of the changes but take some control where you can.
This is the first in a series on managing change. If you want to be certain of getting every post you can sign up for them simply by putting your email address in box at top of this page. And you can unsubscribe at any time.
Are You Working Too Much?
A recent study, reported in the European Heart Journal (May 2010), has followed the health of more than 10,000 civil servants since 1985.
And they conclude that working too much is bad for your heart (as well as a whole lot of other things I might add!)
Their research shows a 60% increase in heart related illness such as non fatal heart attacks and angina in those who work three hours or more longer than a normal 7 hour day. One or two hours overtime made no difference.
They cite several possible reasons why this might be so. It could be that people who regularly work longer hours are type As, classified as aggressive, competitive, and very time conscious; prime candidates for heart disease. Another factor could be psychological distress, such as depression, anxiety, lack of sleep, or not relaxing enough before sleep. They may also be the type to carry on regardless, even though they feel unwell.
The study was done exclusively on white collar workers in the public sector so may not hold true for everyone.
But the message is clear. Don’t let work run your life, rather let it be part of your life in your control. And if you find work is making you feel stressed and anxious on a regular basis , do something about it! Talk to someone at work, consider a different job, change your attitude towards to work, take back control. Don’t let your career run you, It’s YOUR career, take charge!
Measure Your Stress
We all need a certain amount of stress to keep us on the ball, motivated and performing at a high level. Give me one task and a whole day to do it in and you’ll probably find me thinking about doing it at 4.30pm! But give me ten tasks and one day and I’m a dynamo – all is done by 4.30! And I know I’m not unusual in this.
Workplace Stress
Workplace stress, when out of balance however, is harmful to both performance and health. Two reasons why good firms take it seriously. It often creeps up on us without us noticing. Ten important projects to complete to a deadline can be energising but if they are joined by two more they might just tip the balance for us.
Or maybe we’re cruising along happily managing our ten tasks when our partner becomes ill. Suddenly the stress levels rise, particularly if we work in an environment where discussion of personal issues is not the norm and is seen as a weakness.
And simply being around other people who are very stressed can also be debilitating. It’s like a virus. If an organisation is undergoing change, for example, sickness levels often rise as the virus of stress and uncertainty spreads, even among those who know they are not affected!
Measure Your Stress
Workplace stress is something that comes up time and time again in coaching. What follows is a simple chart I use with clients to help them work out what is causing them to feel stressed.
Use it to identify your stress levels within your current job. Scores at the two ends of the scale will tell you if the job is not entirely satisfactory and you can begin to look at strategies for improving your life.
Take two coloured pens and in one colour mark a point on each of the scales that represents what is desirable for you. Using the other pen, mark the point that is the reality of your job at the moment. It should show you the areas where you might need some additional help.
Job is predictable & secure——————————————— Job is insecure
Too few demands ——————————————————– Too much to do
Tasks too easy ————————————————————Tasks too difficult
Environment too quiet—————————————————-Too noisy
No variety/bored———————————————————–Too many projects
Stuck at desk————————————————————- Too much travel
No progression————————————————————-Career fast track
Little or no influence——————————————————Too much responsibilty
Micro managed———————————————————— No management interest
No interest in job———————————————————–Work is all consuming
Completing this will focus your attention on what you find desirable in a job and what is stressful for you.Very few of us have our dream job, and even dream jobs have their moments! But the first step in tackling signs of stress within ourselves is awareness of what is causing our stress and this exercise will help you do that just. Let me know how you get on!
Stress – What is Causing It?
Once you have done your mini audit and identified that you are feeling stressed, as well as alleviating the symptoms of stress (more on that in a later post) you need to try and determine what is actually causing you to feel stressed.
It’s easier said than done but do take a few moments to recap the last few months. Can you pinpoint when the changes in your behaviour started? If you can’t ask your partner or close friend if they noticed anything.
It might be they tell you something you hadn’t spotted, like your alcohol consumption went up when the new boss started! Or that you became much harder to live with, so brace yourself if you want an honest answer.
Work & Stress
When I’m coaching work comes up as a frequent cause of stress but people don’t always know what it is about work that is stressing them. Try answering these questions:
- Have there been changes at work recently?
- Has your workload changed (up and down, too little work can be stressful)
- Have you had a change of manager or personnel?
- Is there an individual you find difficult to be with?
- Is the work you do at odds with your own personal value base?
- Do you find it difficult to delegate so take everything on yourself?
- Do you think you are the only person who will do it properly?
- Does your partner or family value the work you do?
- Do you want something else but don’t know what it is?
- Is your time management causing you stress?
Naming the beast is halfway to taming the beast! Once you know the causes you can start to manage your stress!
Stress – And How to Manage It
This is the first in a mini series of posts on how to cope with stress. I hope you find it helpful; please share your own stories and tips too!
Recognise Your Signs
What you find stressful may be the breath of life for someone else, and vice versa. You can’t compare. And some days things will cause you stress which wouldn’t on another day; it depends what else is happening in your life right now. All of us feel stressed from time to time and it needn’t be a problem unless we fail to recognise and take remedial action. Then it can cause us no end of problems and unhappiness and potentially long term ill health.
Here are some commonly agreed symptoms of how stress might show itself in you:
- Do you feel on verge of being angry a lot of the time, as if the anger might burst out unbidden? (Indeed, it may, often at the person least due it)
- When you wake up in the morning do you feel as tired as if you hadn’t slept? Is your sleep pattern different from normal?
- Do you feel tired most of the day, generally below par?
- Maybe you are getting a physical sign like a flare up of eczema (When I was doing social work with abused children I would often get patches of painful eczema in the centre of my palms – a sure sign I was under stress.)
- Are you suffering from more than your fair share of headaches?
- When you get in from work do you feel too tired and flat to do anything other than slump? (I mean regularly feel like this; we all experience this from time to time.)
- Has your appetite changed, either eating compulsively or having no appetite for food at all?
- Is your concentration less good than it was? Do you find yourself spending ages on one task and never really finishing it (again, a common occurrence from time to time for all of us! But if it’s happening regularly, it may be telling you something)
- Have your lost your sense of humour, your ability to make light of situations?
- Is your decision making faculty less good? Do you dither about the simplest of things?
We all experience all of the above from time to time but you will know if it is out of the ordinary for you. Stop and take stock from time, do a little stress inventory on yourself. Recognising the signs is the first step to tackling it.
In the next post I’ll be looking at some of the ways we can help manage our stress at work. Don’t forget to share any of your own ideas and suggestions!
