Workplace Stress

As my first "official" post on this blog, I thought a great place to start would be a common source of stress in one's life and that is in the workplace. Often, we don't even realize how much our work life affects our personal life, but we spend eight or more hours there, five days a week, and if you commute--you can tack up to an hour on to that each way. Everyone knows they're supposed to "leave work at work" but honestly, your job is a huge part of your identity and how most of us are able to provide for ourselves and our family. Workplace stress leads to insecurity and fear of not being able to provide for your family, so in my opinion, it's impossible to truly leave work at work.

With that being said, it IS possible not to allow workplace stress to dominate the other parts of your life, essentially holding you hostage in your cubicle, office, or workstation. There are things we can do to keep our jobs in check, thereby increasing the happiness we find in other areas of our lives--which, in turn, can lessen the effect workplace stress has on us. It's one big circle and the secret is being the one in the driver's seat. Here are some common issues many of us have experienced, and ways to overcome them.

• Being underpaid - If you really feel you are underpaid but don't feel like you can do anything about it, you must change your thinking. First of all, you must think of it from the your employer's perspective, which is, "Is the service you provide to your company worth more than you're making?" Every job has a glass ceiling, after all, no one is going to pay $12 for a hamburger because that's not in the price range for what hamburgers cost. However, if "average" places charge $3.89, but yours is significantly better, people might spend $4.59 for that burger. So you should do some market research. Contact your labor board, want-ads, online employment sites such as Monster.com and Indeed.com, or ask other people you might know in your field. Then make a list of your accomplishments and ask for a meeting with your manager. Give a short but complete list all of your accomplishments and SHOW him why you deserve more money. Never ask for a raise because you can't pay your bills. That is not your boss's problem. They want to pay someone for the job that person does. If your manager says no to the raise, or not right now because "corporate is clamping down on expenses" ask what you could do to improve and ask when you can meet again to revisit the subject. If they won't commit to a date or they tell you flat out that you're maxed out, you'll need to decide if you can live with that or if it's time to start updating your resume. Never threaten to quit because you didn't get what you wanted. More often than not, your boss will agree that you shouldn't work there anymore and make it effective immediately. They're also more likely to give you a negative reference when your next future employer calls. 

• Not Enough Time to ____ - Maybe you feel like at the end of the day you don't have time to do your grocery shopping, laundry, help kids with their homework, etc. Again, this isn't really your employer's problem so make sure you're not unfairly placing blame there. Why does that matter? If you blame your job for not being able to bake cookies and make little crepe paper mailboxes for your 7 year old's Valentine's Day party at their school, you're more likely to walk around with a chip on your shoulder and your boss will notice and probably bring it up when you ask for that raise you wanted. Instead, consider getting a personal day planner or use one from the internet (if you use a smart phone check iTunes app store or Google Play for Android there's many cheap or free ones to choose from); find one that allows you to schedule out individual days by the hour. Now, create a daily schedule for yourself--from wake up to sleep time. It might look something like the one shown here. It might seem silly at first. But what this does is put YOU in control of your time. You'll be able to manage the time you have better and be more efficient. After doing this for one month, if you still feel like you can't fit your life around your job, consider talking to your boss about changing your schedule. Would it be possible to work 4 days instead of 5? Work from home one day a week? How about working on a Saturday and taking Friday off? Can your spouse or partner share dinner or grocery shopping duties? If you don't have a spouse or partner, what about your parents? Siblings? Friends? Church members? Could you cut back on some expenditures in order to hire someone to help with housework or cooking? Doing your own nails or coloring your hair at home every-other-time could pay for a cleaning person once a week. You might have to get creative but there are ways to make the most of your time. You'll have less headaches and stomach issues if you're not always running to the next thing. 

Tomorrow, we'll look at some other common workplace woes, and find out what you can do about them. 

Brightest Blessings,

             Jenifer

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