What is Stress

Stress is a personal experience caused by pressure or demands on an individual and impacts upon the individuals ability to cope or rather, his/her perception of that ability.In our dynamic workforce, due to globalization and technological changes, the office professionals are expected to produce a large amount of work quickly with a diverse workforce and diverse situations. Causes of StressThere are three potential categories of potential stressors: environmental, organizational and personal.

Just as environmental uncertainty influences the design of the organizational structure, it also influences stress levels among employees in that organization. There are three main types of environmental uncertainty; economic, political and technological. Economic uncertainties occur when there is change in the business cycle, when the economy is contracting people become very anxious about their jobs. Because innovations can make an employees skills and experience obsolete in a short time technological change is also a threat to many people and cause them stress. Organizational Factors

There is no shortage of factors within an organization that can cause stress. These factors can be categorised as task, role and interpersonal demands. Task demands relates to the persons job, the include working conditions and the physical layout. Role demands relate to pressure placed on a person as a function of the particular roe he or she plays in the organization and interpersonal demands are created by pressure from other employees. Personal FactorsThe typical persons works about 40 to 50 hours a week. But the experience and problems people encounter in the other 120 plus can spill over on the job

Strategies to cope with stressTrack your stressors.Keep a journal for a week or two to identify which situations create the most stress and how you respond to them. Record your thoughts, feelings and information about the environment, including the people and circumstances involved, the physical setting and how you reacted

Develop healthy responses.Instead of attempting to fight stress with fast food or alcohol, do your best to make healthy choices when you feel the tension rise. Exercise is a great stress-buster. Yoga can be an excellent choice, but any form of physical activity is beneficial.

Establish boundaries.In today's digital world, it's easy to feel pressure to be available 24 hours a day. Establish some work-life boundaries for yourself. That might mean making a rule not to check email from home in the evening, or not answering the phone during dinner. Although people have different preferences when it comes to how much they blend their work and home life, creating some clear boundaries between these realms can reduce the potential for work-life conflict and the stress that goes with it.

Take time to recharge.To avoid the negative effects of chronic stress and burnout, we need time to replenish and return to our pre-stress level of functioning. This recovery process requires switching off from work by having periods of time when you are neither engaging in work-related activities, nor thinking about work. When you're not able to take time off, get a quick boost by turning off your smartphone and focusing your attention on non-work activities for a while.

Talk to your supervisor.Healthy employees are typically more productive, so your boss has an incentive to create a work environment that promotes employee well-being. Start by having an open conversation with your supervisor. The purpose of this isn't to lay out a list of complaints, but rather to come up with an effective plan for managing the stressors you've identified, so you can perform at your best on the job. Time Management

Time is a unique and precious resource. Time is valuable and as a result, time must be managed effectively. How do we manage our time? Mismanaged time can result in:

1. Not meeting deadlines when you fail to manage your time properly, you fail to meet set deadlines.

2. Rushed/ incomplete work when time is drawing closer to the deadline, individuals have the tendency to rush work and often times details are left out.

3. Poor punctuality because there is importance in being on time, mismanaging time often leads to lateness and absence.

4. Procrastination this is the putting off of work. Procrastination is one of the worst effects of mismanaged time.

5. Indecisiveness when we dont manage our time properly, we often struggle with making a decision on things.

However, when there are different ways in which we can manage time which will produce positive results. Let us consider these five points raised by Scott (2005);

1. Time is allocated to everyone in equal measure.

2. Poor time management is often a symptom of over confidence.

3. Work expands to fill the amount of time available (Parkinsons Law).

4. The most effective time managers produce 80 percent of their results using 20 percent of their time.