Posts Tagged ‘lack of time’
Ancient Stress VS Modern Stress
August 2nd, 2008 | 
Author: 
Our ancient forefathers had to deal with poor sanitation, violent attacks upon their person, diseases for which there were no cures, in fact, everything that makes the modern man or woman shudder right down to the points of their little Gucci shoes.
The fact of the matter is that modern man and modern woman have to deal with stresses that were not really known to ancient or even not-so-ancient man. The stress that we have to deal with today are much more related to psychological factors than physical factors.
Stress in the modern world is primarily related to our self esteem and our sense of self-worth, and less with physical discomfort and threats. Up to about 60 to 80 years ago, work was seen as a necessary evil to provide for the basic necessities of life. People did not stress about their work and their careers (or at least, if they did, we don't really know about it!).
But in the past couple of years, work has increasingly started to be seen as a way to personal fulfillment. Job satisfaction gives a sense of purpose and meaning to live.
But this also means then that a large proportion of stress arises from work related stressors. We have to deal with a constant bombardment of information, forcing decisions upon us on a daily basis that tap our energies and cause us stress (which type of coffee to choose from a bewildering array of choices while the queue mounts up behind you, grumbling all the while), whether we really think so or not. Work relationships can add to workplace stress, as well as the one culprit that probably contributes the most to stress ? work overload.
New technology is forcing us to have to learn more and more, and to react faster to new developments almost on a daily basis.
More women now work than ever before, yet, the amount of responsibilities that they have in the home have not reduced correspondingly. This adds to a lack of time to relax and get rid of those bad stress hormones!
The problem is that people who are under stress does not perform well in the workplace. They make bad decisions and their health ultimately deteriorates. Workplace stress is therefore one of the biggest problems today faced by both the individual as well as the employer and it is endemic of the modern lifestyle and the information age that we live in.
Tags: ancient man, job satisfaction, lack of time, modern man, modern woman, necessary evil, personal fulfillment, physical discomfort, physical factors, psychological factors, sense of purpose, stress hormones, stressors, violent attacks, work overload, work relationships, workplace stressRelated posts
Posted in What Is Stress | 
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Managing Stress Tip - Just say ‘No’
One of the biggest causes of stress is not having enough time to do everything that you are responsible for - or that you feel you are responsible for.
The problem is that some people, especially if your personality type is such that you are a ‘people pleaser’, or if you have a slightly low self-image and therefore crave the approval of other people, just cannot say ‘no’.
This could range from anything from favors asked by relatives - to babysit your awful nieces and nephews, or to act as taxi for your old aunt Edna and take her shopping for hours; to extra work dumped on you by your boss or by your co-workers.
This can lead to a major source of stress. You might feel taken advantage of, and the extra tasks might just be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back, so to speak.
It is essential that you take a good look at the factors that are causing you stress, and if lack of time, or the feeling of being drained due to constantly having to pander to the demands of family and friends, are contributing to you feeling stressed, you just have to learn how to say no.
The funny thing is that you really do NOT need to explain your reasons, however, if you feel a bit daunted and feel that it would be incredibly rude to just say no outright, you could possibly try by saying that you cannot do XYZ right now, but you will think about it. That is a nice polite way of dodging the issue. The problem of course is that it has not really gone away and the persistent family member might just take you up on the ‘later’ bit, however, just be consistent and persistent in saying ‘no’ and they will soon get the message.
This might sound harsh, and believe me, I sometimes have difficulty in following my own advice, but lack of time and being over-committed on tasks are the major contributors to MY stress levels and mentally I realize that saying ‘no’ is one of the best ways of reducing stress levels.
Come on, be a bit selfish. It might just be the best thing for you to do sometimes.
Tags: Causes Of Stress, lack of time, Managing Stress, people pleaser, personality type, reducing stress, self image, source of stress, stress levels, stress tip