Stress and change are a given in today’s workplace. In fact, employees are experiencing on-going change. They’re asked to take on new responsibilities, learn new skills, and do more with less. Many workers today have bigger workloads requiring more and more hours.
Highly resilient workers have stress-resistant personalities. They are able to manage the day-to-day stressors, and also cope well with high levels of on-going, disruptive change.
How stress-hardy are you? Here are five attitudes of resilient people. Review these characteristics to see how stress-hardy you are.
A strong sense of purpose. Resilient people have a strong sense of purpose and meaning for why they are doing what they’re doing. They are guided by a vision that gives meaning to their work and lives.
A healthy sense of control. The emphasis is on “personal control”. Stress-hardy people focus their energy on those events that they have influence over, rather than situations beyond their control. They accept circumstances that cannot be changed. Entrepreneur, Tim Baumgartner, an independent sales rep who sold electronics to Circuit City, was blind-sided when the company filed for bankruptcy. Within months, however, he launched an online consumer electronics store. “Whining and complaining about how you find yourself here doesn’t help,” Baumgartner says. “I’ve refocused my energy on the start-up.”
See change as a challenge or opportunity. Resilient people tend to see change as a challenge to confront and overcome, rather than an unbearable problem or a stress to avoid. They also see change as an opportunity for self-reflection, learning and growth.
Optimistic. Maintain a hopeful outlook, expecting good things to happen. People with an optimistic outlook do better at managing stress and chaos. When you catch yourself thinking negatively, challenge yourself to reframe the situation more positively.
Have a good sense of humor. Research shows that humor can lessen the impact of stress. Stress-hardy people are playful and curious. They find the humor in rough situations, and can laugh at themselves.
By developing these attitudes you can become more stress-hardy, which will not only help you survive, but thrive, in today’s workplace.
To learn more about managing stress, listen to Managing Workplace Stress CD.
You’ve had a tough day at the office. All you want to do is go home, have a nice glass of wine, and relax. But the moment you open the door, the kids are shouting, “Mommy’s home!” and clamoring around you. Your daughter starts in on the argument she had with her sister, and how her sister is being unfair. They immediately pull you into their argument. You’ve gone from the frying pan to the fire. What’s a working mom to do?
After a long, hard day at the office, it’s helpful to have some transition time between work and home to help you leave behind the issues at work, and get prepared to tackle the daily activities at home. We need a little time to recover and relax – even 15 minutes can make a tremendous difference in our outlook and attitude. How can you ease that transition from work to home? Here are a few tips:
Before you Leave Work
At the end of you work day, close out your day by reviewing your accomplishments. Anything you didn’t get done, then transfer to the next day as a “To-do” item. Take just five minutes to plan out your next work day. This helps you gain closure. Then when you go home, you don’t need to think about work anymore.
During Your Commute
Commuting can be stressful, especially when you need to fight traffic on the way home. Why not forget about the traffic, and enjoy the time alone in your car? Listen to some music or an audio book. This helps you relax and takes your focus away from both work and the traffic.
When you get Home
Take about 15 minutes to unwind once you get home. After the initial “hellos” and hugs, then ask your spouse to keep the kids occupied for 15 minutes so you can have some personal time. Change into more comfortable clothes, read the paper or a magazine, or listen to soothing music. This will help you unwind after a busy day. If you don’t have the luxury of having someone occupy the kids for a short while, then have the kids watch a video. This will likely keep them busy once you start cooking dinner too.
Having this transition time will help you to relax and refresh so that you can then focus on activities at home, like reading the mail, cooking dinner, cleaning up, and helping the kids with homework. By following these tips, you’ll ease the transition from work to home, and your evening will run more smoothly too.
Please share with other readers. What helps you ease the transition from work to home?
I love quotes and often use them in my presentations. Here are some of my favorite quotes on work-life balance. Some of them are quite profound. They get you to think about priorities, choices, boundaries, and the importance of taking time for yourself. Sometimes a quote will impact you in a way that really helps. As you read them, think about your own challenges in balancing work and the rest of your life. See if there’s one quote that really resonates with you. Then write it on a 3×5 card and put it in a place where you’ll see it often. This can serve as a daily reminder.
Here are the quotes:
“Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management. Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices.” – Betsy Jacobson
“Work, love and play are the great balance wheels of man’s being.” - Orison Swett Marden
“Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away.” - Barbara de Angelis
“We have overstretched our personal boundaries and forgotten that true happiness comes from living an authentic life fueled with a sense of purpose and balance.” - Dr. Kathleen Hall
“I’ve learned that you can’t have everything and do everything at the same time.” - Oprah Winfrey
“A well developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life.” - William Arthur Ward
“The Gift of Balance in Your Life – May you find the balance of life, time for work but also time for play. Too much of one thing ends up creating stress that no one needs in their life.” - Catherine Pulsifer
“You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.” - Charles Buxton
Please share your favorite quote with other readers.