Managing Stress in Business
By Oleg K. Temple, June 2011.
In the modern world stress plagues us from all sides. We stand at the peak of our technological advancement, yet we are unsatisfied - yesterday's express speed is today's snail pace and we are expected to perform more tasks quicker than 20 people could handle 100 years ago. The rat race rules remain the same - whether the rodents invent bicycles, booster rockets or teleporters. When is enough truly enough? How to summon the strength to carry on without doing irreversible damage to yourself and hurting those around you - after all, unresolved conflict at home and personal problems will inevitably reflect upon your in business performance anyway.
| Journalist Diana R. asked: "I'm looking to speak with business owners who have unique stress-busting techniques - beyond the standard glass of red wine or practicing yoga." |  |
Here's my take on her question:
There is no cure-all ambrosia or "silver bullet" elixir. Stress management is a sustained, conscious process - not a quick fix patch and to understand how it works, one must first observe, analyze and understand its true nature as well as its source. There are essentially two ways to deal with stress:
1) Confront it (active venting): i.e. give it an outlet, a form of expression - this solution is usually physical (for example: sports, sex, dancing, etc.), but also includes other expressive activities such as music, art and crafts or
2) Escape it (passive dispersal): i.e. divert your attention, thereby allowing your core the chance to cool down and recuperate by deflecting or ignoring the stress emitter and thereby giving you the chance to eventually neutralize and eliminate it. In other words, start the healing process without taking further damage. Let it disperse and dissipate over time by engaging in activities that take your mind off it (for instance, by playing video games or attention-demanding games such as chess, reading, watching movies, taking up new hobbies - e.g. learning a new language are all great ways to diffuse stress). Not allowing stress to fester and escalate by dwelling on the source and imagined implications down the road is the key to healing. Drug-unassisted sleep is also right up there, among the top avenues to recovery.
The two systems are not at all mutually-exclusive, in fact they heavily rely upon one another for success - whereas the former part of the cure dispels the critical mass and reassigns the fuel to more constructive purposes, thus averting a meltdown, the latter part douses the remaining flames, i.e. effects damage control, commences repair and prevents continued build up. Unfortunately, there are many negative forms of both solutions which mostly manifest as blowouts when stress-grounding precautions are disregarded and warning signs are ignored. For example: road rage and conflict or drug use and "drinking to forget"; as well as the false security rendered by the placebo of trying to delegate/outsource the management of one's stress to a psychologist or, worse still, a "life-coach". This is precisely why managing one's psyche is much like watching one's weight - one needs a steady, healthy "diet" or mix of varying activities to keep the mind sharp and balanced.
The very first step in managing stress is, of course, admitting that it exists at all and will continue build up if not properly checked. Without realizing this step any and all therapy is useless. The second step is to mitigate its impact by bleeding it off through buffering and relaxing activities, as given above (combined with proper rest and lifestyle / diet e.g. avoid cigarettes and high-caffeine products) and the third step is to curb the source's emissions. All of these must be undertaken consciously, with discipline, dedication and determination. Empirically we find that this is far ‘easier written than done' (for example when one's roof and household hangs in the balance), however, we must still our emotions and keep in mind that just like in the case of youth, money can't buy good health. Living with constant stress is like taking up residence next to a toxic waste dump just because the land prices are cheap there; it is in one word: s t u p i d. Stress will inevitably gnaw through your emotional defences and crumble your nerves resulting in tumours and heart disease and no amount of business success is worth going through that, my friend, so choose life over money every time!
About the author: Oleg K. Temple has worked as an editor and consultant on numerous projects advising various start-ups and fledgling SMEs (mostly in the travel, accommodation, tourism and HR sectors) for over 12 years. His main project has been The Cornerstones of World Business, international business directory focused on bringing to light the best companies from each country and state, providing them with affordable advertising and marketing opportunities while encouraging them to engage in lucrative B2B and B2C relations. For travel information such as hotels in California, accommodation New York, hotels Illinois and other destinations across Europe and USA; or if you seek reliable financial, real estate, consultancy, insurance, construction or shipping partners - welcome to CornerstonesWORLD.com.
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