Managing Stress at work place

1. WITHSTANDING PRESSURE
(STRESS MANAGEMENT)
BY: SOFT SKILLS WORLD

2. What is Stress?
• Stress can be defined as our
mental, physical, emotional, and
behavioral reactions to any
perceived demands or threats
• Is a substantial imbalance
between environmental demand
(i.e., what you perceive is being
demanded of you) and response
capabilities (i.e., what you
perceive your capabilities are for
meeting those demands), when
you perceive success to be
important

3. What Makes Something Stressful?
• Situations that have strong demands
• Situations that are imminent
• Life transitions
• Timing (e.g., deviation from the “norm”)
• Ambiguity
• Desirability
• Controllability

4. Not All Stress is Bad…
• Distress
• Eustress

5. Misconceptions about Stress
• Misconception 1: Stress is high situational demand
(stress = accumulation of daily hassles)
• Misconception 2: Stress is an emotional response

6. Vulnerability to Stress
 Some people are more vulnerable to stress than others.
Determine your level of vulnerability to stress by
completing the following worksheet: VULNERABILITY TO
STRESS

7. Why Do We "Stress Out"?
• For two major reasons:
– We perceive a situation
as dangerous, difficult,
or painful.
– We don't believe we
have the resources to
cope.

8. Stress Warning Signals
• What are your "red flags," or
warning signs, that stress is
creeping into your life?

9. Harmful Effects of Stress
• Illness - infections, cancer progression, high blood pressure,
obesity from overeating, heart disease, ulcers
• Fatigue - that may lead to mistakes and injury or death
• Intoxication: Smoking, Alcohol, Drugs etc.
• Moroseness – Relationship breaker

10. EMOTION-MANAGEMENT
• Cognitive and behavioral techniques designed to
decrease emotional distress, even if the source of threat
remains unchanged, boosting morale through . . .
– emotional social support,
– relaxation,
– reappraisal and positive thinking,
– wishful thinking,
– self blame and isolation, and
– mental and behavioral withdrawal.

11. POSITIVE APPRAISAL EMOTIONS
• Self-confidence – a positive belief or expectation of success
• Excitement/readiness – physical activation of the autonomic
nervous system that is interpreted as effective physical
preparation.

12. NEGATIVE APPRAISAL EMOTIONS
• Cognitive anxiety – a negative belief or expectation of
success or worrying about the negative consequences of
failure
• Somatic anxiety – physiological and affective component
of anxiety that develops directly from activation of the
autonomic nervous system that is interpreted negatively

13. Model of Competitive Emotions
Facilitative
• excitement
• self-confidence
• readiness
Physical
Mental
• cognitive anxiety • somatic anxiety
Debilitative

14. Managing Emotions and Performing

15. Suggestions for Reducing Stress
• 1. Find a support system
• 2. Change your attitude. Find other ways to think about
stressful situations
• 3. Be realistic
• 4. Get organized and take charge
• 5. Take breaks, give yourself "me time”

16. Symptoms of Stress
• Physical
• Emotional
• Cognitive
• Behavioral

17. Symptoms of Stress
Physical Emotional Cognitive Behavioral
• Muscle • Irritability • Inattention • Social isolation
tension • Arguing • Distractibility • Work problems
• Headache • Anxiety • Forgetfulness • Conflicts with
• Fatigue • Depression • Confusion coworkers, friends
• Lack of • Poor & loved ones
• Sleep enjoyment concentration • Unhealthy habits
problems • Mood swings • Aviator: conflicts
• Gastrointe • Suicidal with peers,
stinal thoughts disregarding rules
problems • Homicidal and checklists
• High blood thoughts
pressure

18. MIND TRAPS
• Unrealistic expectations
• Taking things personally
• All or nothing thinking
• Exaggeration
• Rigid thinking

19. PERSONALITY TRAITS
• Perfectionists
• Workaholics

20. FACTORS INFLUENCING WORK STRESS
• The drive for success • Uncertainty
• Changing work patterns • Conflict
• Working conditions • Responsibility
• Overwork • Relationships at work
• Under-work • Change at work

21. Suggestions for Reducing Stress
• 6. Take good care of yourself
• 7. Learn to say “No“
• 8. Get regular exercise
• 9. Get a hobby, do something different
• 10. Slow down
• 11. Laugh, use humor

22. Relaxation Exercises
• Many different kinds, but some are:
– Deep Breathing
– Visualization: Visualization is a nice way of giving our
minds and bodies a "mini vacation.“
– Muscle Relaxation

23. Faulty Thinking Causes Stress
• Catastrophizing - anticipating a terrible outcome;
overexagerating the importance of a situation
• “I can’t stand it” - deciding that you cannot handle a
situation, without trying
- alternative: “I can handle this!”
• “Should” statements
e.g. “I should always be happy”
- alternative: “I’m human. I am allowed to
make a mistake or have a bad day.”

24. Faulty Thinking (cont.)
• “Beating yourself up” about past mistakes that you cannot
change
• Worrying about situations over which you have no control,
or cannot change
e.g., “If only I had 20/20 vision”
• Overgeneralizing - viewing one negative event as predicting
a never-ending pattern of defeat
e.g., “My girlfriend dumped me. I will never date again!”

25. Faulty Thinking (cont.)
• Emotional reasoning - thinking, “I feel it, so it must be true.”
e.g., “I am anxious today, so something terrible will happen!”
• Personalizing - blaming yourself for something that is not
your fault
• Fairness fallacy - becoming angry when something
disappoints you because you think, “life is supposed to be
fair!”

26. Anger Management
• You can choose to control how you express your anger
(others won’t respect you if you curse, yell, or use violence -
and you are too important to let situations control you)
• Speak calmly when disagreeing
• If you are about to lose control - count to “10” slowly,
breathe deeply, and walk away if necessary

27. Anger at Office

28. Anger Management (cont.)
• Set limits on how long you choose to be angry - then do
something nice for yourself
• When you disagree with someone, stick to the present
issue (and avoid dredging up past hurts)
• Criticize someone’s behavior, not their character

29. Assertiveness/Better Communication
• Ask for what you desire
• Refuse a “tasker” if you do not really want to do it, or if you
lack the time to do it well
• When you make a request, give a reason
• Be specific with your request (tell the receiver exactly what
you want done)
• Be a good listener - give your full attention, show interest,
and summarize what you heard

30. Relaxation Techniques
• Slow deep breathing
• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Guided imagery

31. Slow Deep Breathing
• Inhale slowly through your mouth or nose for 5 seconds,
while allowing your stomach to push out
• Without pausing, exhale slowly for 5 seconds, and tell
yourself to relax
• Perform this techniques for at least 5 minutes whenever you
feel stressed, angry, anxious, overwhelmed, or unable to
sleep

32. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
• Sit in a comfortable chair or lie down
• Practice slow deep breathing for several minutes
• Then, tighten and relax each major muscle group in turn
(you may choose to relax each muscle group twice)

33. Guided Imagery
• Practice slow deep breathing for several minutes
• Then, practice progressive muscle relaxation
• Finally, imagine yourself in a pleasant, relaxing setting
(example, the beach)
• Use all of your senses to observe your surroundings