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Stress on the Job:
Perhaps it’s
due to a boss who seems to be making unreasonable demands. Or it’s
the result of a co-worker who seems to routinely pass her work onto
you. Or maybe you’re in a profession where tension is great,
such as medicine or law. While a little bit of stress on the job can
be healthy, too much can be a killer—literally. It’s been
shown that there appears to be a direct correlation between stress
and heart disease.
As a result of this, it is important that you learn to deal effectively
with stress on the job. This can be difficult, because a number of
stress-inducing factors may be out of your control. For instance,
you have no say in who your boss is or who your customers are. You
may not be able to determine when you start your day, or how much
time you have for lunch. However, it is important for you to recognize
that job stress is a serious health problem.
The statistics tell the story. A study conducted in 1999 discovered
that we are working longer hours. In fact, the average number of hours
on the job have increased eight percent in just one generation---to
47 hours a week. One out of five of us works as much as 49 hours a
week. We are a nation of workaholics. This can cause a great deal
of stress, not only on the job, but on the homefront as well. A number
of divorces are attributed each year to the workaholic syndrome. To
put things in perspective, consider this: the average American works
three months more each year than workers in Germany. The U.S. leads
the industrialized world in the number of hours worked. The workplace
has become so competitive in the U.S. that some employees compare
it to the reality TV program known as “Survivor.”
In order to help reduce your stress on the job, you need to make a
realistic assessment of your hours. Is it possible for you to cut
back and still perform your duties? Are you wasting time on the job
that would be better spent at home? Can you delegate some of your
duties to someone else in the office? If you design a more workable
work schedule, you might find your job-related stress decreasing significantly.
It is entirely possible that you will actually become ill working
those extra hours. Over a four-year period, from 1996 to 2000, the
proportion of employees taking sick time due to stress rose by three
fold. Each day, as many as a million American workers have called
in sick because they are under too much stress. This absenteeism is
costing American companies money—and making workplaces less
productive.
Americans are also feeling stressed out because they no longer think
they’re jobs are secure. Over a ten year period, the number
of employees who were afraid they would become unemployed doubled.
And a survey conducted in the year 2000 discovered that half of all
workers worried that they could lose their jobs. The dot.com burst,
corporate bankruptcies, and massive layoffs have scared the American
workforce. With little job security, workers live in fear of being
tossed onto the unemployment line. A number of people have come to
realize that they cannot expect to retire from the company for which
they are now working. Therefore, they may have little allegiance to
their companies, resulting in stress for both bosses and employees.
It would be wonderful if the economy could be changed so that long-term
employment at a single company was still possible, but that may be
wishful thinking. As a result, workers need to try to lessen their
stress—knowing that they may be in a volatile position. For
many workers, this might mean making sure that they contribute to
a 401-K plan so that they have money socked away for retirement. For
others, it might mean starting their own businesses so that they do
not have to rely on someone else for their employment. If you try
to be proactive, chances are you will lessen your stress level. You
have to realize that you are ultimately responsible for your own fate.
If you are in the driver’s seat, you will feel a sense of control
which could lessen your stress level considerably.
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