There was a report on the radio this week on how more and more people are taking long-term leave from work due to stress. The commentators are speculating that this stress is probably due to people worrying about the recession and how long they will have a job. It’s particularly pronounced in the public sector where there are plans for many job cuts in the UK.
So you don’t end up taking time off work for stress it’s always best to deal with it before it gets out of control.
Recognising Stress
There are many signs of stress and here are some sites that give you more details on recognising and dealing with it:
Stress Symptoms: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Stress/Pages/Symptoms.aspx
Work Related Stress Signs and Symptoms: http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/furtheradvice/signsandsymptoms.htm
BBC – Health – Stress: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/emotional_health/mental_health/mind_stress.shtml
If You’re Worried Get A Health Check
My doctor explained stress to me when I went to see him last week to have a health check. He said that in the work place stress can help increase people’s performance, but there is an optimum level of stress where the top level of performance peaks and plateaus out. But if you have too much stress then performance starts to fall.
So, if you feel that things are getting on top of you, you’re having physical symptoms like light headedness or chest pains – get them checked out to make sure it is stress and not something even more serious. The symptoms themselves can just add to your worry. Once you know you’re suffering from stress you can then deal with it appropriately.
Managing Your Time can help you Manage Your Stress
Often stress is caused because we have so much to cram in to our day – both at work and home. This means we have to plan and manage how we use our time carefully. If you’d like to know more on how to do this we have a fantastic course Effective Time Management – making life less stressful, which I highly recommend.
Goodbye Steve Jobs
This week also brings us the sad news of the passing of Steve Jobs – unarguably one of modern times’ greatest innovators. His loss will be no surprise to his colleagues at Apple and I’m sure they are well prepared. But, non-the-less his successors will feel great pressure to do the impossible and try to fill Steve’s shoes. I just hope they can maintain his passion for quality, style and innovation and find a way to keep alive the spirit that has made Apple what it is today.
