Work Place Stress

Is the only things on your mind work? Your whole life
is centered on work. You work to pay your bills, get
things like food, a roof over your head, and other
necessities. Do you work, play, think, and dream
about work?

You need to get a life outside of work. Somewhere
along the way you lost your dreams, your sense of
purpose, your great burning desire for that special
thing you wanted to do in life. How did it all change?
Why are you in this work rut just spinning your
wheels day after day?

The change was slow. You got your job and felt great.
You were excited and couldn’t wait to learn everything
you could. Then work slowly crept into your life taking
up more and more of your time. You got more
involved until one day it seemed that work was your
whole life. You not only go to work, play at work,
always think about work, and even on vacation you
are still connected to work, thanks to cell phones.

Work makes your adrenaline flow which gives you a
good feeling, a high that feels great. You get super
charged and get things done. But what is the price
you are paying for this high?

The human body was not designed to handle a
continues adrenaline rush. The purpose of the
adrenaline was to provide a burst of energy to
enable you to escape dangerous animals. A boss
shouting orders at you, does not endanger your life,
maybe your job but not your life.

You go away from the encounter with adrenaline
rushing through your system giving you loads of
chemical changes that cause STRESS and long term
system damage.

For good health care you need to have other things
in your life besides work, to give your and your mind
a well deserved rest.

All work and no play, will make your a dull person
with a dull mind, not to mention
a broke body in time.

Health care is not something that happens. It is
necessary to plan your health care. You need to
make make a plan and follow it.

One excuse is I don’t know how to make a plan.

How do you answer the following question, What do
you do during the week?

Most people will say I go to work at such and such
place from 8 to 5. It takes me about 30 minutes of
travel time to and from work. Then on the weekend
I do house cleaning, laundry and go out on Saturday
night. Then I relax on Sunday.

Now look at what I wrote. What was the plan? To go
to work during the week and spend the weekend
doing other things.

That is a plan. If you can plan out your week, you
know how to make a plan. Now you just need to
modify that plan to include some health care
for yourself.

One thing you need to do is to plan a day of rest
from work. N0, that doesn’t mean just sitting around
the house, it means doing something active with
your mind and body that doesn’t relate to work.

Gardening or a hobby is used by many to relax. If you
don’t have a garden or hobby, look for something that
is of interest to you.

What is something that interested you when you were
younger but never had time to explore, or something
you started but some how haven’t have time for since
starting to work? It doesn’t have to cost a lot of
money, just something that is of interest to you.

But you say, it will take more than one day to get all
the information that I need. That is even better, you
can plan a couple of weekend days gathering
all the information.

So that sounds like too much physical work for you?

All you want to do is to lay around the house and
rest. Fine, have a good long book to read or a few
good movies to watch.

Don’t just sit there and do nothing. You need to focus
on something other than work stress, which may be
lingering in the back of your mind.

By eliminating stress from your body and mind, you
will be able to approach your work in a more relaxed
manner, think clearer and have more energy
to tackle problems.

Health care includes caring for the mind as well as
caring for the body. It is always healthier to plan a
rest day once a week to rest your body as well
as your mind.

Overworking not only fatigues the body,
but also the mind.

Most people know when they need to rest their body
by the tire feeling they get. Sometimes they will get a
quick fix with pills or coffee to keep awake, but in the
end the body will not response and finally the person
will sleep. But many times they don’t get enough sleep
and keep pushing themselves.

By continuing this practice of ignoring the body’s plead
for rest, these small signs of fatigue appear; the mild
headache, the aching shoulder, neck or back pain, or
the feeling of less patience with people.

At this point people will seek medical advice. Some will
slow down, while other get pills to fix up the aches
and pains, to continue on with overworking.

And ignoring the small signs will lead to, injury due to
carelessness (doesn’t use clear thinking), illness due
to weakened immune system (body being worn down)
or to a reality breakdown(can’t use logical thinking).

Any of these will finally stop the person in their tracks,
so they get the rest they need. The needed rest
usually requiring a long period of time.

What most people ignore is when the mind is fatigued.

When they can’t think clear, a quick cup of coffee or
a quick nap is used to refreshed them. Some people
try to redirect their thinking for a few seconds to get
relief from stress.

But all these tricks are only a temporary relief, and
don’t address the long term build up of stress at
the end of the day.

Many people will not seek medical help for mental
fatigue due to the stigma attached to any type of
mental health treatment, which implies the individual
is mentally ill.

Many insurances will not cover the treatment. When
covered, this type of treatment may be considered a
black mark on a health insurance record, which
follows you the rest of your life.

The problem with mental fatigue is, it is hard to shut
off your thinking. Have you ever been tried and
couldn’t fall asleep because you kept thinking of
problems? The best way is to redirect your mind on
to something else.

This is not easy at first. The tension of stress is very
powerful. There are many things to do, book reading,
listening to soft music, talking with friends or love
ones, watching your favorite TV program, or any thing
that is interesting to you, out side of work.

Just like you need to give your body a good nights
rest every night, you also need to give your mind a
rest at the end of each day.

You need a plan for the health care of your mind as
well as for your body.