Stressed or Burnt Out? Need some help to get back on an even keel?

What is stress and how can it affect you achieving success in your life?

Stress can be defined as the demands that you place upon yourself which exceed your capacity to respond. Staying late at work every night to solve business problems only  creates more problems. Stress manifests itself by causing a feeling of continual exhaustion; the sufferer often feels irritated, overworked, depressed, tense, and disappointed.

People who are stressed waste a great deal of time. They are generally unable to organise, plan and control to the degree necessary to lead successful lives.

The latest Government figures show that stress is going to cost British Industry £3 billion this year and around 17.6 million working days

Stress is caused by physical or emotional exhaustion, usually caused by stress at work; more generally apathy, disillusionment or low morale. The “burnout” syndrome, which is thought to be a direct result of the high stress lifestyle of the past two decades, was first identified in the mid seventies. It is no longer just those in jobs which require a high level of emotional commitment, and it can affect management and almost anyone in a responsible position.

Stress causes you to become over-sensitive to feedback and your sleep pattern can be seriously affected and you may have bad dreams. Your productivity will most certainly reach a very low level. To ensure your time management is effective, you must get your stress levels under control. Negative stress can take over your life. However, it is possible that some of the symptoms listed are not apparent to you but they will have a dramatic affect on the people with whom you are in close contact.

The first step is for you to become aware that you are stressed. Many people do not recognise the symptoms; only when they perhaps suffer a complete nervous breakdown do they become aware of the seriousness of their problem.

Stress can be defined as the way your body responds to the demands that your work/lifestyle makes on it – how your body responds to the “wear and tear” of daily life. Stress is not a mental state, but largely a physical condition.

The positive aspects of stress are vital to our lives.

It is essential to our performance. Whatever our activity, stress plays an important part in our achievement of goals which leads to success.

Take the example of a top athlete. World records would not be set by an athlete who was totally relaxed and laid back. You only need to watch a world class athlete in action to see that considerable stress is present in the effort being made to achieve a record. So the same is for you, the effort required to be successful is considerable.

Awareness is 90% of the solution.

How then do we maintain our stress level so that we are always at the peak of physical fitness and thereby in control of our time? By continuous expert planning, organising and control.

Here are some examples of the effects of being over-stressed. Do you suffer from any of these problems?
1. Short temper
2. More frequent mistakes
3. Less flexibility
4. Loser behaviour
5. Bad smoking, eating and drinking habits
6. Reduced concentration
7. Increased forgetfulness
8. Poor judgement
9. Feeling of tiredness

You now need to identify what is causing the stressful behaviour. Perhaps you are already aware and are taking action.

Here are some activities which will be within most people’s resources to bring stress under control: take up some form of physical exercise if it is not already being done; join a class on relaxation techniques at your local college; start a study course in a subject our activity you have always wanted to do. If that is not possible, seek advice or help from a professional counsellor or coach.

Identify your particular stress factors and set yourself some new objectives and a time scale in which you will reduce the effect of them on your performance.

The methods you can use to reduce stress are numerous, but the most important is the use of time management principles. Check that your goals conform to the “SMART” rules, as unrealistic goals can lead to an “over-stressed” situation.

Organise some leisure activities in the evening. Success in many people can be attributed to what they do and how they spend their leisure time. There is a definite link between success and having out of work interests, be they outdoor pursuits, indoor hobbies or attending a non-work related course at a college of further education.