Stress and the ways to fight it
We’ve all have it, it’s a natural part of life. It is, I feel, the cause of most martial problems, fights, anxiety related disorders and the general unhappiness that people feel. I’ve dealt with it myself. I once worked in a high pressure office environment. Requests for changes, new projects, and fixes to existing infrastructure were constantly being made. Add to that the aggressive nature of most of the staff, lines waiting outside my office with people with questions and a sense of urgency from being a start-up company, it was a recipe for stress. The levels of stress were compounded by a nearly 2-3 hour daily commute. By the time I got home, walked the dogs, fed the dogs, fed myself, I’d have maybe 2 hours to myself before going to sleep and starting over again. Compound that with arguments at work about what direction the technology should go and I was at the end of my rope.
There are many out there that would say to use yoga, deep breathing, or some other technique to lower the stress level. I whole heartedly disagree. Stress is not a symptom that can be treated. Stress is the result of an unfavorable situation or combination of situations. Treating the stress with deep breaths will provide a temporary relief, but if the source that is causing the stress isn’t removed, you’ll just start hyper-ventilating yourself.
My advice to you, remove the source. If your job is the source of the problem, get a new one. Yes, I am saying quit, find a job that’s better, less stressful. They are out there. They do exist. Now, you may be thinking I’m crazy, that this is impossible. You can’t just quit your job, the economy is tough, you have to stay. Again, I disagree.
What is the most important thing to you in your life? Is it the job? You may think so, but I doubt it. Now, the job is important, sure, a career is important. But guess what, one day you’ll retire. Doesn’t matter what job you have, in a certain amount of years, you’ll retire to live a quiet life. All that matters is earning enough money to provide yourself a comfortable retirement and give your children a boost in life. I personally think the most important thing in your life, and most people’s , is your family and your friends. Why do we work after all? Isn’t it to feed, clothe and provide for our children and families. We often take stressful jobs so that we can provide more money. But those stressful jobs wear on us a good deal, and usually we take that stress home and it makes for unpleasant evenings, fights with the spouse and kids, etc.
Remember, the goal here is to make money. The goal isn’t to please your boss so that you have job security. The goal is to make money, save for retirement, provide for your child’s education and if lucky enough, make enough to pursue your passions.
Ok, so how do you do it. How do you find another job that’s less stressful. First, figure out where the stressors are. Is it the commute? Ok, simple, find a closer job. Is it a bad boss? Try to talk to them. Doesn’t work? Talk to HR. Still no? Do not hesitate to look for another place to work. It’s just a job. Other’s have benefits as well.Don’t have enough skills to get that other job? Learn them. Yes learn them. This is the 21st century. There are online video’s, tutorials, training materials in just about everything. I recently saw where most major universities are video taping classes and providing them free online, with materials for study. See one of my earlier posts, how much education do you need? Honestly, none. If you know your material, are not working in a profession that requires it like law or the medical industry, then all you need is knowledge. Take my industry, if you know your stuff in the IT world, doesn’t matter what your education is.
Find more revenue streams is another way to lower stress. If money is the big issue, and lets face facts, it is THE issue, and having a stressful job is required because of the money, look for alternative revenue streams. If you are in the IT industry, go to guru.com. Like to write? Start a website or blog and get traffic to it, then sell advertising. You’ll not be a millionaire but a little extra cash never hurts.
The real point here is, determine what is the most important thing to you, for me it is family and friends. Once you have that, find the best job to allow you to live happily with them. To me, it doesn’t make sense to work work work, get stressed out, and then don’t enjoy the time you spend where you really want to spend it, at home.
For me, I quit the stressful 2 hour commute job and found work at a not for profit. It is a zero stress environment, and though a little boring at times, the benefits, ability to work from home, and increased time I can spend with my family more than make up for it. Is it the most challenging work? Not even close. Is it the best job i’ve ever had for spending at home with my family? Absolutely.
My advice to you, change your goal like I did. Don’t look for the best job for your career. Look for the best job for you family. It may sound bad for you in the long run, but actually, I think it’s the best strategy and will lead to a stress free and enjoyable life. Isn’t that the goal?
