There’s no need to feel ashamed about admitting that you are struggling right now. Almost 50% of us will suffer from some sort of mental health issue over our lifetime. And with the lockdown 3.0 easing, it may trigger for many of us, even more anxiety and work related stress.
What is work related stress?
But what is work related stress? Isn’t it just having too many plates spinning and poorly prioritising? Doesn’t having some stress get you motivated to ‘get out of bed’ by keeping the fires of the imagination burning. According to Dr Susan Hill at UCC, some stress is actually good for us. Phew! It’s the ‘Negative Stress’ that causes us problems. She defines this as having ‘negative physical or psychological health effects, especially if prolonged or excessive or unrelieved.’ The issue seems to stem from the body’s response to stress – which is activated by the nervous system and specific hormones – which speed up the heart rate, blood pressure and metabolism. Prolonged exposure to the body’s ‘fight or flight’ natural impulse reaction leaves us excitable, tense and anxious. And over time can lead us to feel ‘burnt out’ with no amount of sleep or down time able to refresh us.
Achieving A Good Balance
So how do we balance our work pressures so that we stay in the ‘Positive Stress’; energised focused and all systems operating seamlessly without drifting into feelings of chronic fatigue and depression. It seems it can be a hard one to manage and can take us to the knife edge….
Stay in ‘The Positive Stress’ Zone
One of the key ways to stay in a positive relationship with stresses at work, according to Dr Susan Hill is to ‘Build Your Emotional Resilience’. She picks out the following as key to our resilience:
* Challenging perfectionism
* Building strong relationships at work and in your personal life
* Responding to challenges by positive action rather than self‐pity or blaming others
* Accepting that life will change‐and that life will be stressful. Some things are out of our control and worrying about them excessively will not help
* Keeping things in perspective ‐ is this really as bad as it seems?
* Looking after yourself
Take Action Against ‘The Negative Stress’
She cites three important Actions: ‘Accept, Alter and Avoid.’
And four ‘D’s: ‘Do. Defer. Delegate. Dump.’
Over and over again, Dr Susan Hill cites taking positive action in response to ‘Negative Stress’ which includes; being aware of what its doing to you in the first place, acknowledging the issue and then seeking help from either Self Help Forums (online/from Books), Family & Friends, Occupational Health, Counselling or your own GP.
The HSE has developed six areas of work that if not properly managed can lead to work related stress and points these out as the following:
- Change
- Demands
- Control
- Support
- Relationships
- Role
As our environment changes again this week, and we gradually ease out of Lockdown 3.0, many of us will be juggling harder than ever to adjust and pivot our Business as we accommodate the ‘new normal’. Some of us might look to review how we are working and our workplaces and decide we need to move offices – perhaps looking at coworking spaces for the first time and considering Hot Desking or moving to a serviced Private Office.
The Tara Building, Dublin’s premium coworking space is perfectly located in Dublin city centre on Tara Street (opposite the Irish Times) and designed for those looking to Hot Desk or work from a serviced Private Office, with all the benefits of a fully serviced Office Building. We are renowned for our warm and friendly nurturing Community with our own Private Social Media Groups for Members to share content and ideas, bright and quirky artwork on our walls inside and out to stimulate and inspire as well as our top notch facilities including; shower rooms, bike racks, refreshment stations, fully furnished Kitchen, Reception Desk and 24/7 access and more.
Perhaps now its time to make a change in terms of where you work and experience the joy of meeting new people in a safe and friendly environment. Being a Member of The Tara Building opens the door to new possibilities and collaborations and lets you take positive action towards a healthier work/life balance.
For more, please email us at hello@thetarabuilding.com or book in your LIVE Virtual Tour on our Enquiry Form or give us a call +353 1 567 6699.
