World of Psychology
Strategies to Help Remove Stress From Your Work Schedule
Some people get into the office and absolutely won’t feel organized till they listen to voicemail and scan emails. These folks know they can’t operate on all cylinders until they see and organize what has just come over the horizon.
Others, though, get to these two activities only because they’d feel ashamed if anyone knew they had yet to know about a memo or call. They grit their teeth, tighten up their back and sit for the first hour or two doing this task they abhor.
As odd as it may feel, it would help those in the second group to get past any self-induced shame and dive into what they normally only allow themselves to get to once “catch-up” is over.
Really? Yes. Besides money, whatever motivates them is what they need to chomp on for an hour or two, to get their brain acclimated and affirming why they are really back at work. (The other folks are just fine doing the mundane as a warmup to their soon-to-be-productive and inspired efforts.)
A changeup like this can make all the difference in the world in mindset, productivity and connectedness to your work life. Recognize which of the two groups you fit in and try the strategy. Even if you are of the first mindset, try the approach on for size if you can mentally swing it. You may learn more.
Another stress-erasing strategy is to break big work into smaller pieces. We’ve heard that before, right? The creative difference is not to add stress and scheduling to that new equation. (The point is to take both those things out of the mix, as the old recipe called for them.) Here’s how:
If you have to accomplish something by company- or self-imposed deadline, decidedly put it on your “side-desk,” so to speak (physically or figuratively). When you are restless with another task at hand and need to move toward something else to feel productive (or stay awake), it can be easily grabbed and worked on.
As a writer, I always have several pieces regularly due. Rather than start and finish any in one fell swoop (which I can do with little stress), I recently stumbled upon getting a start on four works hovering soon-to-be-due. Seeing them started, drafted out (or even just thought about with a couple notations taken down) really made me feel a sense of progress. It was nothing to pull them in and work on them; I became more motivated to see their direction take shape. The strategy was effective for me, and I likely should incorporate it more.
If you struggle with attending to tasks on dates you schedule them to be done, try the approach. Incrementally chipping away at work load, with low pressure, could indeed get you ahead of the game (in yours and your bosses’ eyes).
This strategy, too, might not be for everybody. It is worth the try, though, to see if you can make yourself work differently and whether it has an effect on your productivity. No one knows that better than you; you may surprise yourself.
Think on both examples. The key is to find a way to think about flow and ease of work schedule, rather than rigid patterns possibly not serving you well. The potential reward is more balance and satisfaction. The driving factors are oing what motivates you instead of making you feel stuck.
Stop agonizing over your work schedule. Try to arrange it to pull you forward with energy, rather than keeping you stagnant and stressed.
Psych Central News
Stressful Events Best Managed by Reaching Out
Paradoxically, a new research study suggests the best way to relieve the stress and improve mood is to reach out and actively engage others during stressful times.
Researchers at Concordia University believe oxytocin, a hormone traditionally studied for its role in childbirth and breastfeeding, and more recently for its effect on social behavior, may be the key for relieving stress after a rejection.
As published in the peer-reviewed journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, Mark Ellenbogen, Ph.D., and graduate student Christopher Cardoso show that oxytocin can increase a person’s trust in others following social rejection.
Said Ellenbogen, “that means that instead of the traditional ‘fight or flight’ response to social conflict where people get revved up to respond to a challenge or run away from it, oxytocin may promote the ‘tend and befriend’ response where people reach out to others for support after a stressful event.
“That can, in turn, strengthen social bonds and may be a healthier way to cope.”
Researchers used a double-blind experiment to administered either oxytocin or a placebo via a nasal spray to 100 students. The subjects were then subjected to social rejection.
In a conversation that was staged to simulate real life, researchers posing as students disagreed with, interrupted and ignored the unsuspecting participants.
Researchers then used mood and personality questionnaires to determine the feeling of people after being snubbed. Results showed that participants who were particularly distressed after being slighted reported greater trust in other people if they sniffed oxytocin prior to the event, but not if they sniffed the placebo.
In contrast, oxytocin had no effect on trust in those who were not emotionally affected by social rejection.
Cardoso says that studying oxytocin may provide future options for those who suffer from mental health conditions characterized by high levels of stress and low levels of social support, such as depression.
“If someone is feeling very distressed, oxytocin could promote social support seeking, and that may be especially helpful to those individuals,” he said, noting that people with depression tend to naturally withdraw even though reaching out to social support systems can alleviate depression and facilitate recovery.
For Ellenbogen, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Developmental Psychopathology, the contribution of stress to the development of mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder has long been a research focus.
“I’m concerned with the biological underpinnings of stress, particularly interpersonal stress, which is thought to be a strong predictor of these mental disorders. So, oxytocin is a natural fit with my interests,” he said.
“The next phase of research will begin to study oxytocin’s effects in those who are at high risk for developing clinical depression.”
Cardoso says reactions to oxytocin seem to be more variable depending on individual differences and contextual factors than most pharmaceuticals, so learning more about how the hormone operates can help scientists to figure out how it might be used in future treatments.
“Previous studies have shown that natural oxytocin is higher in distressed people, but before this study nobody could say with certainty why that was the case,” Cardoso says, “In distressed people, oxytocin may improve one’s motivation to reach out to others for support.
“That idea is cause for a certain degree of excitement, both in the research community and for those who suffer from mood disorders.”
Source: Concordia University
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