Stress can be interpreted as a perceptual phenomena arising from a tension between the demand on people and their ability to cope. The term stress also refers to reactions within us that include thoughts, feelings and physiological reactions which occur as result of stressful events.
However, stress is not always harmful. Sometimes it is good and many people actively seek it out. It is important to make the distinction between acute stress, such as that experienced during sky diving or bungee jumping, and chronic stress caused by, say, long-term economic hardship.
Chronic stress is almost certainly bad for you, but acute stress actually enhances immune function and improves the ability of the body to respond to infection or immunization. So, the thing that most affects your long term health is not dramatic life events but on-going day-to-day problems.
“Eustress” – Good stress
What is stress (CC) by Bernard Goldbach
Stress is not always bad. Stress helps people attain difficult goals and perform their best, since some degree of stress enhances performance. Contemporary psychologists indicate that stress is inevitable and actually beneficial, which leads to a new definition of good stress – “Eustress”, in other words a pleasant or curative stress.
As my students on our Human Resource Management and Development course know – we can’t always avoid stress, in fact, sometimes we don’t want to. Often, it is controlled stress that gives us our competitive edge in performance related activities. Think about athletes who have to perform at big competitions, speakers who have to give a speech in front of large audiences, see Human Performance Curve by David McQuillan:
The Stress Curve diagram illustrates the concept that, for any performance-related activity, there is an optimal amount of stress.
If you are involved in an oral interview for a job, you will benefit from a certain amount of stress. It is stress that provides you with focus and gives you your “competitive edge” that will help you think quickly and clearly and express your thoughts in ways that will benefit the interview process.
However, some stressors can cause both good and bad stress. Radiation, left uncontrolled, may cause cancer, and yet, if the radiation is controlled and pinpointed, it may serve to cure some cancers. On the other hand exercise is most often a good stressor, but over-training can cause injury and illness.
Unless you are dealing with chronic stress factors beyond your control, stress can also be your friend, if you work out how to manage it.
Stress vs productivity
This infographic by GDS highlights a typical day in the office for a person who works 9 to 5. One of the points it highlights is that stress is combated best in the morning and after lunch time. So, when planning your diary try and schedule the most difficult tasks for these times of the day.
Stress vs productivity (CC) GDS Infographics
Of course we are all individuals and our body clocks do work on various settings. So the best way for you is to observe your behaviour and see what causes stress and when. Some of the modern office stress sources are constant emails and social media – plan these into your day, don’t be always connected.
Setting yourself priorities for the day can also be a good way to deal with those things that are important and those that are important and urgent. There is nothing worse than a deadline to cause you more stress – unless you are using these deadlines as eustress every now and then, don’t over deadline your diary!
What is stress for you?
Do you have techniques to manage stress in a good way? Share your comments below.