{"id":69141,"date":"2019-09-23T18:41:37","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T02:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=69141"},"modified":"2019-09-23T18:41:40","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T02:41:40","slug":"how-to-overcome-work-stress-with-resilience-tactics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-overcome-work-stress-with-resilience-tactics\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Overcome Work Stress with Resilience Tactics"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Stress is good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You won\u2019t hear that on\nmost productivity blogs. We\u2019re usually obsessed with finding ways to decrease<\/em>\nour level of stress. Buy a stress ball! Do some yoga! Get one of those kettles\nwith the long spout and chant an ancient hymn while pouring organic\ncoffee! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But since we\u2019re both\nhere, it seems likely that neither of us are totally satisfied with that kind of\nadvice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is, stress\nis a little more complicated. Not all stress is bad. And a little stress can\nmake you feel amazing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider the word\n\u201cstress\u201d without any associations attached \u2013 without your talkative colleague,\nwithout your job insecurity, without the construction near your house. Think of\nit in a purely physics sense. Stress is merely the force acting on an object;\nand that\u2019s what makes the object move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stress in your life is trying to make you move as well. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Stress is neutral; it\ncan drive you to achieve big things, or it can send you spiraling \u2013 but not\nbecause of the stress itself, but because of how you cope with it. And this is\nwhere the yoga and the balls and the kettle come into the picture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stress in the\nworkplace can be our best friend, if we handle it right. We can develop\nastounding resilience if we change a couple of things about our perception of\nthe world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crisis vs Challenge <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our brains are experts\nat survival. And when they encounter some amount of stress, they will flip into\neither a crisis mode, or a challenge mode. In the crisis mode, oxygen flow to\nthe brain lowers. In a challenge mode, exactly the opposite<\/em> happens \u2013\noxygen flow to the brain increases. If we can view stress as an exciting\nchallenge, an opportunity, then our brain will become more creative, more\nrational, more resilient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PR6, a resilience\nmeasurement test, defines this as the domain of Tenacity<\/em>. Using and\nimproving the skill of tenacity will change your mindset, make you more\nresilient, and help harness stress for powerful action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An example<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your boss gives you a\nlarge project. You already have heaps of projects lined up, children that need\nyour attention, and another coworker is angling for a promotion that you want.\nStressful, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A <\/strong>crisis<\/strong><\/em> view<\/strong> of this situation sees the project as another big stress on top of other stresses. How will you get it done? What if you can\u2019t get the promotion? You may be tempted to shut down. Or buy a stress ball. Or quit. Either way, you will feel all the negative effects of stress handled poorly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A <\/strong>challenge<\/strong><\/em> view<\/strong> of this situation sees it as an opportunity. Your mind starts to generate ideas about how to squeeze this project in. Maybe this is a big opportunity to impress, to grow in your efficiency, or even to sit down with your boss and discuss workload. Perhaps this is the perfect time to knuckle down and show off your skills and gain that promotion. You\u2019re inspired, ambitious, determined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if you have stress\n\u2013 some kind of force acting upon you \u2013 and you know you need to move<\/em>,\nsit down and make a list. Ask yourself: how could this be a good thing? Even if\nall angles seem negative, keep asking until you have something solid. What\u2019s\nyour game plan? Write down possible steps. Get inspired. Get excited. Get that\noxygen in your brain and make stress work for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work vs Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

People will tell you\nthat in order to not feel stressed at work, you need to find the very elusive\n\u201cwork-life balance\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work and life were\nexactly the same thing for all human history until the industrial revolution.\nSuddenly the spheres shifted; people were travelling to work, and the\ngeographical separation resulted in conceptual differentiation. Suddenly work\nwas not part of life \u2013 life was not part of work \u2013 and no guesses as to which\nis better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, work and life\nwere never meant to be separated. If we consider work as a part of the sphere\nof life and vice versa, we\u2019ll thrive in both. If all your needs are met at\nwork, you don\u2019t need to retreat to \u201clife\u201d to be content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s translate this\ninto action. Instead of aiming for a certain trade off of work and life hours,\nthink of it in terms of needs and responsibilities instead. For example, I\ncan\u2019t wait to go to work because our team are all good friends. I\u2019m not\ncounting down the minutes until I can leave; my needs are met at work. And when\nI\u2019m at home, I\u2019m not devoid of purpose; I\u2019m still working on my goals<\/a>, fulfilling my responsibilities \u2013 my needs are\nstill met at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can walk from\nsphere to sphere and be fulfilled in both. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PR6 resiliency\ntest defines this idea as Vision<\/em> \u2013 the ability to meet your needs in all\nplaces and keep your goals congruent across the different parts of your\nlife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To achieve a better\nharmony of spheres, get innovative on ways to bump up your needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some actionable tactics<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n