After taking these three stress tests, I found I had a better understanding of myself, especially my personality and how it relates to my health. Take the Life Stress Inventory shows that my stress level is 180, which means that I have been under a high level of stress in the past year, which is likely to seriously affect my health in the next two years. In addition, the Coping and Stress Management Skills Test shows that my stress coping style is “Problem-Focused Coping,” with a score of 69. This means that I am good at using problem-focused strategies to cope with stress. When the stressors I am dealing with are manageable, it is more convenient to adopt a problem-focused strategy. Finally, in the Type A Personality Survey test, my test results show that my personality is Impatience/Irritability. Although this result suggests that I am characterized as warm and tolerant, I can also be impatient and hostile at times, which can lead me to be very angry with others when I feel stressed or frustrated. Through these tests, I have a better understanding of my personality and temper.
In my professional life, there are three main steps I can take to manage my stress. First, when I feel stressed or depressed, I stop to drink some water and let myself calm down for a few seconds. When we are stressed, continuing to do what we are doing increases our chances of making mistakes, leading to more frustration or accidents. Secondly, I will look for the reason that makes me depressed. If it is because of my emotion, I will listen to quiet music or play basketball to release the pressure. Playing basketball is my main way to release stress. If the cause of my stress is a difficulty that I cannot resolve, I seek help from colleagues, supervisors. Finally, I shift my attention to avoid stress. This step is to keep me from bogging down on the matter at hand. For example, I will do easy tasks or things that are within my ability first. After letting my frustration or irritability wear off, I return to my original task.
Organizations are currently helping employees manage their health and cope with stress by providing training on understanding and coping with stress. By providing information about stressors, employees can become aware of what they are doing when they are under stress. Second, organizations are giving employees more information about their ways and strategies to manage stress. For example, “One of the best ways to prevent excessive buildup of stress is to give employees more breaks throughout the day” (Alton, 2016). Providing employees with rest time is not just to relieve their fatigue, but more importantly, to provide employees with ways and time to release stress. Resting can help employees cool off from their stress. Exercise and sports are also an effective way. We see more and more organizations today providing exercise facilities for employees such as gyms, outdoor activities, yoga and other exercises.
Source:
Alton, L. (Dec. 7, 2016). How Today’s Young Businesses Are Helping Employees Cope With Stress. Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryalton/2016/12/07/how-todays-young-businesses-are-helping-employees-cope-with-stress/?sh=6ec53d6724c2.
Leave a Reply