Although it is only the beginning of the year, stress is once again becoming an issue. It is perhaps in the workplace that we feel its effects most keenly, and the stress that we experience in this environment can have quite an impact on other areas of our lives.
It is an inescapable fact that without some stress, our motivation levels would drop to the extent that nothing would ever get done. There is thus a differentiation between positive stress and negative stress.
The idea of stress coming with the job may be cold comfort to those who are putting in a 70-hour working week and feel continually under strain.
Jill Hamlyn, MD, People Business
There has been a significant amount of attention given to stress in the past couple of decades and there has been a vast amount of research concerning the adverse consequences of work-related stress. There is no doubt that too much stress has a severely negative impact on the quality of a person`s life. Many illnesses are viewed as being stress-related, and much productivity is lost through the effects of stress and the inability to cope with it. Alcohol and drug use also rises in situations of stress as a method of coping, and too much stress has been found to have an adverse effect on relationships.
It is therefore not surprising that the majority of people perceive stress as being a bad thing, and that our lives should be as free of stress as possible. To this end, there has been a proliferation of stress management seminars and there are literally thousands of articles that deal with the topic of stress, its impact and how to confront it.
The term "stress" has multiple meanings depending on its context. In its purest and most mechanical form, it refers to a situation in which some type of pressure is put onto an object and which causes it to change or adapt in some way. When applied to the human realm, however, the definition has assumed a negative connotation that is associated with feelings of being unable to cope or feelings of emotional distress.
It is true that we live in a climate in which stress is prevalent. Issues around crime, the economy and work, or unemployment, are just a few of the stressful consequences of our current situation. Stress tends to have its most negative impact when stressful events are unexpected, or when lots of little stressors build up, creating a situation of pressure. However, our perception of the environment and our coping skills will also alter our reaction to what happens.
Some stress is inevitable in daily life, and based on the stresses of current and past life in SA, we could possibly assume that South Africans could well be viewed as the champions of stress. It is also true, however, that human beings are remarkably adaptable, and as such, we are able to adapt to a stressful situation and simply get on with living. The pressure of what we face in any given day has created a situation in which the definition of stress in engineering terms is as applicable to us as the more psychological definition.
Enormous pressure
However, I would argue that it goes deeper than simply adapting to whatever stresses life throws your way. There seems to be a situation now where on the one hand, we are told not to stress, while on the other hand, there are certain areas in which a lot of stress is unavoidable. This is especially true of the IT industry where there is enormous pressure to keep up with all the rapid technological changes. Other areas in which stress is almost a given can be observed in many job classifieds or in the executive appointment pages of newspapers and magazines.
There are very few jobs that simply require a body with the requisite skills or qualifications to fill an opening. Reading through the wording of many of these advertisements, many list almost superhuman requirements. Many of the requirements of the job are now described along lines of "dynamic go-getter", "motivated people-person" and various other superlative adjectives. The inherent requirement of the job is now for someone who is significantly above average. The good news is that in such jobs, the salary is also usually significantly above average. The bad news is that the amount of stress that comes with the total package is significantly above average too.
When you are earning a salary totalling more than the average salary of five people in jobs at the lower to middle-end of the salary spectrum, it is almost by implication that you are being paid to stress. It can almost be seen as coming with the territory.
The idea of stress coming with the job may be cold comfort to those who are putting in a 70-hour working week and feel continually under strain. However, there comes a time in everybody`s lives when priorities change. If a 70-hour working week and a huge salary no longer seem worth the consequences, it is within your power to change the outcome. If, however, there is some satisfaction to be gained from the situation, it is also within your power to stay. This is when the stress may be viewed as earned.
Although probably seen as the scourge of the past few decades, it is likely that stress is here to stay. The proliferation of multiple-roles, multi-tasking and multi-skilling, coupled with rapid changes in the business environment and economy, are indications that we are in for a rough ride, and levels of stress are no doubt going to rocket. However, it is worth bearing in mind that many of us are not entirely powerless to either change the situation, or our perception of it. The choice, of course, is yours.
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