This is the third in our series of staff sharing their response to stress. In part one we talked to Falaniko Tominko and Jo Thorogood, and in part two we heard from Edgar Rowland and Gil Graham.
The S-word (stress) and how to manage it is something everyone is talking about these days. But stress is not a bad word. Research suggests stress can be both positive and negative.
A certain level of stress can be a good thing when it motivates and helps us rise to specific life challenges. Stress can act as our self-awareness teacher. It indicates a boundary or limit in our physical and mental or emotional abilities that, if continually breached, may cause serious health issues.
The first important step in stress management is to practice self-awareness by noticing where those boundaries are so we can intervene before our stress levels become unhealthy. We asked our staff what warning signs they look for that tell them they are heading from a positive to negative stress zone.
Andrew Happy – Security manager, Infrastructure operations
“I know that I’m feeling stressed when I am not able to sleep. Sometimes this can be accompanied by hot flushes. My mind can be so active looking for solutions that it is impossible to turn off. At times I have been able to find a solution this way, but at other times I may only get a couple of hours sleep. Another example can be found in my mornings. [In a prior role] when working in Corrections, at times of high volatility I would sometimes feel a sense of heaviness and foreboding come over me every morning when entering the institution.”
Hua Dai – Senior Lecturer, Learning and Achievement
“When I have a lot on, I tend to become very quiet and hunker down to complete what I had started, before coming back to the surface again. I will also slow down and not engage in anything new. It may appear rude or uncooperative to others who don’t know me. I respond to stress this way is because when I am overwhelmed my brain does not process things at its usual fast speed. I need to slow down to be present to what is at hand, and to be present to who is in front of me at any particular time.”
Alisha Tsai – Executive Assistant, Office of Chief Executive
“I find myself sighing a lot. My mind gets cloudy – I can see there is so much to do but I don’t know where to start, or (I guess this is the same for many of us), I don’t even want to start. In those instances (and in lockdown situation) I just go out, either physically leaving the house, or to sit on the deck and walk around the garden. And then I get my notebook out and update my list of to dos, highlighting ones that need to be done today and tick each task off as it’s completed.”
Manpreet Malhotra – Lecturer, Business Practice
“My stress signs are becoming irritable or developing some kind of unexplained body ache. I’m also quite action oriented, so when stress happens, I create a “Things to do” list for a particular timeframe (e.g. a week) or a project (or even a party), and put everything on there – including the things I have already completed for that timeframe or project (this is just so I can cross them off). Doing this gives me a sense of how much I have already accomplished, where I am, and what I need to really prioritise. I don’t do this just for work – I do this for personal stuff too. Through the worst, somehow I manage to stay positive by using the mantra – “this too shall pass”
Untaka Cai – Asset Coordinator, Infrastructure operations
“Excessive perfectionism is often the source of my stress. Even with enough time, things become burdensome. As time passes, I start to get more stressed because it is still not perfect but I have to finish it. However, think I’ve discovered a way to deal with it. When cooking dinner for example, I am going to ‘feed’ my perfectionism and take the time to make a fantastic supper that I adore. But then to gain some time back, I will set a timer for 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes to eat it. Of course, the end outcome is that I don’t enjoy eating it as much and that no matter what, I was not going to cook a flawless meal. But in this way I do get things done with some enjoyment. And If eating food is stressful, imagine how stressful work is!”
Thanks to everyone who shared their stories.