Section 2 – How well can you handle stress

How well can you handle stress:

Doctors, psychologists, counselors and others ho deal in the field of human behaviour tells us that we are going through a time of stress.

There are many things to worry about – job security, drug abuse, and wars in various parts of the world. The list goes on and on. For most of us, however, it is not the events themselves, which affect us, but how well we cope with the resulting stresses and strains.

 

This will give you some hints about how to live happily, calmly, even to be stimulated in a positive manner by the daily happenings of modern life.

 

Please select the answer nearest to your own with complete honesty.

 

(A)  My weight

• Is about right for my age, height, and bone structure.
• At least 5 kg more than I should weigh.
• At least 5 kg less than I should weigh.

 

(B)  I take medication to help me sleep

• Only if the doctor prescribes it for me.
• Most nights.
• On rare occasions when I am in pain or overwrought.

 

(C)  When it comes to hobbies, I

• Have one or more, which I enjoy and do well.
• Have one, which frustrates me, but I refuse to give up on it.
• Have more important things to do than to pursue a hobby.

 

(D)  Each day, I

• Leave time just for me.
• Is so busy with daily chores that there is no time left.
• Hurriedly snatch a few minutes for me when I can.

 

(E)  I feel that those around me, my family, friends

• Do not understand me very well.
• Are helpful and considerate of my feelings and needs.
• Fight my ideas, ideals, and aspiration.

 

(F)  As I evaluate my meals, I find that

• My diet consists primarily of junk food – chips, fizzy drinks and sweets, etc. which I gulp down while on the run.

• I follow a balanced, well-rounded diet.
• I rely heavily on vitamin pills to supplement and/or replace food.
  
  (G)  During the waking, I

• Am dependent on sound- people to talk to, TV, or radio.
• Take time off for silence at least three times a week, doing such things as yoga, meditation, or deep relaxation.

• Keep my wheels turning in order to accomplish the many things that need to be done.

 

(H)  During the week, I 

• Usually take at least 30 minutes of planned exercise.
• Exercise at least 15 minutes each day on a regular basis.
• Consider that my working activities make up for planned exercise.

 

(I)  My after – hours are

• Filled by more-of –the –same.

(I bring my work home or I continue my housework.)

• A time to relax or at least a time to do something different.
• Tense and unsatisfactory because I don’t know what to do with myself.

 

(J)  When I am on a vacation, I

• Don’t really enjoy it because I know things are piling up at work or at home.
• Can put home and work in the background and enjoy the change of pace and location.
• At times miss my home and friends.

 

(K)  In my daily life, I have established

• A satisfactory work pattern to accomplish those things that must be done.
• No pattern but work according to impulse.
• A balance between work and relaxation.

 

(L)  When I see beautiful things in nature – such as a flower, animals, a sunset or rainbow.

• I stop and admire it unless my presence creates a safety risk or inconvenience to others.
• I dash on because of time pressure.
• I give it a fleeting glance and sometimes later regret my haste.

 

(M)  I consider tears

• Is a safety valve to be used by men, women, and children during times of stress or sadness.
• Permissible for only women and children.
• To be a sign of weakness in any adult.

 

(N)  I consider myself to be

• A practical materialist rather than spiritual person.
• A person with a high degree of spiritual awareness and sensitivity.
• A person who sympathises with the problems of others.

 

Use the sheet on the next page to calculate your results

Scoring:

 

(A)     a = 6     b = 2     c = 4

(Most doctors feel that being overweight is more dangerous than underweight.)

(B)     a = 6     b = 2     c = 4

(C)     a = 6     b = 4     c = 2

(D)     a = 6     b = 2     c = 4

(E)     a = 4     b = 6     c = 2

(F)     a = 2     b = 6     c = 4

(G)     a = 4     b = 6     c = 2

(H)     a = 4     b = 6     c = 2

(I)      a = 2     b = 6     c = 2

(J)     a = 2     b = 6     c = 4

(K)     a = 6     b = 2     c = 6

(L)     a = 6     b = 2     c = 4

(M)    a = 6     b = 4     c = 2

(N)    a = 2     b = 6      c = 4

 

TOTAL:

 

What you’re scoring may mean:

70 – 84  Your answers on this quiz indicate that you can cope with stress well. You have a physical and emotional calm that helps you to sort the important from the unimportant and to make the best moves during times of pressure. The inability to react coolly is only for the hazard spots during stress periods.

 

50  This is about a normal score. Each of us has his/her breaking point, which can range from some such simple cause as a dog that barks all night to the tragedy of death. If you can locate the causes of your stress, you may be able to eliminate them. If that is not possible, then it is up to you create internal calmness, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Look to silence as being a major solution. It perhaps will not be easy at first to cut out the sights and sounds of the busy world, but a vast number of medical professionals are now agreeing that meditation is a key to physical health, disease resistance, and the capacity to handle stress.

 

28-48   You are probably a “bundle of nerves”. Every little thing upsets you and stress is your constant companion. As has been suggested elsewhere in this quiz, your approach must tri-pronged: physical, mental, and spiritual. Decide where you are weakest and approach that first. Take some time for yourself, try to be good to yourself.

 

How to cope with executive stress.

Introduction:

In the work system and particularly in our managerial population, it is almost taboo to admit that you are experiencing stress due to your job. Admitting to stress is a way of saying that you cannot cope with the job demands and the inference is that you are failing not man enough for the job, not fit for further promotion. Consequently, our reaction is to deny to ourselves and others that we are under stress, anxious and worried in certain work situations.

 

All executive experience stress, periodically, severe or mild – and while we don’t admit  to it openly, we show it in any case by drinking a little too much, by smoking a little too much- we become irritated or withdrawn, we develop an ulcer or suffer a heart attack.

 

No matter what our specific reaction, our job performance suffers, and we do in fact become less able to cope, unfit for our job or further promotion. Our various failings, however, is more often than not rather result of maintaining secrecy about stress. This secrecy actually handicaps us in managing our stress effectively- you rarely do something to improve a situation when you deny its existence.

 

Stressors intrinsic to the job:

Stress can be caused by too much or too little work, time pressure and deadlines, fatigue from physical or mental job demands, excessive travel, long hours, having to cope with changes at work and the consequences of making mistakes.

 

Categories of stressors.

(A)  Role in the organization:

Stress can be caused by factors such as:

• role ambiguity
• role conflict
• responsibility for people and things
• no participation in decision making
• not enough authority –or too much
• lack of management support

 

(B)  Relations within the organisation:

Stressors in this category are:

• poor relations with boss
• poor relations with colleagues and subordinates
• not being able to call on others for help to solve problems
• difficulty in delegating responsibility
• lack of trust
• lack support

 

(C)  Career development:

Some of the significant stressors are:

• over promotion
• under promotion
• lack of job security
• frustrated ambitions
• loss of status
• feeling trapped

 

A ten – point plan for dealing with stress.

 

1. Learn to recognise when problems are developing and what the early warning signs of stress are for you. Do you get a headache, have difficulty sleeping, feel irritable?
2. Be prepared to limit your exposure to stress. Cut back your commitments, reduce your workload, and resign from a committee or two.
3. Remember that your life has four cornerstones – family, work, leisure, and friends. When planning changes to the structure of one, be careful not to make any changes to another area.
4. Learn to plan your life a little more efficiently. Make lists. Think of the things that annoy you most and try to work out how you can solve the problems before they develop.
5. Learn how to relax your body when you are under pressure. By learning to relax your muscles in private you’ll be able to relax them in public when you’re under pressure.
6. Learn to relax your mind. Sit with your eyes closed and daydream.
7. Keep yourself physically fit as possible.
8. Take a break at least once a week and take a weekend off every now and then. When you have a holiday, make sure it is a proper holiday.
9. Don’t always hide your feelings. Frustration is a major cause of stress, so make your voice heard.
10. Remember that you need a little bit of stress in your life. Problems arise when the amount of stress in your life becomes excessive. Learn what your breaking point is and you will be able to cope better with stress, and enjoy life.