Comments on: Effectively Defusing Work Stress

By: ChiefPhilosophyOfficer

ChiefPhilosophyOfficer — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:40:48 +0000

Having worked in the information tech industry for 10 years, across multiple jobs, I began to realize that I could capture the sum of my experiences with work stress into a common theory, and I write about this theme on my own blog:

1. In a normal functioning group or society, in order to get something produced, people must “pay” something (ie. incur a cost) for that service or product.

2. When we agree to work for an organization as an “employee”, we agree to be paid more or less a fixed price, for an unspecified type and amount of labor.

3. In the workplace, the people who ask us to do work (ie. coworker, boss) do not actually pay us directly for completing that work.

Due to the above, we are frequently asked to:
- do things that are inefficient
- do things that are repetitive
- do things that are not well thought out
- do things at a moment’s notice

This is because asking people to do these things is “free” for the asker, so the short and long term “costs”, measured in time, do not need to be factored into the decision to ask for the work. What this means is that we, as employees, do not own our time. As a result, employees who are able to do more things, more capably, will be penalized for their abilities.

This is defined as “Time Slavery”.

I hold these truths as self evident.

By: Tom Von Deck, A Stress Management Guy

Tom Von Deck, A Stress Management Guy — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:18:18 +0000

One of the biggest workplace stress factors on all the sites I’ve worked at as an employee is environment. Dynamics with other employees always made a huge difference regardless of how much meditation and other stress management practice I’ve enjoyed throughout the years.

Putting that factor aside, workplace stress management can be easily taken care of both at home and at the workplace. I’m a meditation trainer and place a high emphasis on that.

All you need to start meditation is to find an “object of focus” that you love. A deep, loving absorption when you concentrate on that object of focus determines compatibility. The object can be a line of a song, a visualization of a serene memory, the breath and many other things. This is the first step in creating a mindfulness based stress management strategy.

There is concentration element and an equanimity element to meditation. The concentration part needs no explanation here. Equanimity involves being present with thoughts and emotions when the mind starts wandering. They are part of the present moment, so you take note of them without attraction or repulsion. Then, you bring attention back to the meditation object.

5, 20, 30 and 60 minutes of this every day are all good as long as it’s every day, preferably at the same time of day.

There are many ways to create a solid and customized stress management program for yourself. The tips above are just a good start.

By: Crispy Beef

Crispy Beef — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:16:52 +0000

Work stress is one of the worst forms of stress causes in my opinion. Not only due to it being very widespread, but also as it’s a very hard thing to beat with managers and others covering themselves and putting added pressure on workers.

Some great tips.

By: Stressless06

Stressless06 — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:01:38 +0000

Keep in mind that as long as you are organized in doing your work it could lessen the stress you feel at work. It has also something to do with your relationship among your co-workers as well.