Stress Down Day

Relax your work will be better for it!

You're working longer and longer hours. Longer weeks, too. Coffee breaks are a thing of the past. Who has the time! Lunch? A sandwich gulped down at your desk or in a corner of the warehouse. And the boss is always after you to do more.  Back home again, there's no letup. You're really getting stressed out. Not sleeping well, eating less, losing interest in your work. You're constantly on edge, your business and personal relationships are under strain. Burnout is a real possibility. Will you wait until it gets this bad before doing something about it?

We know that stress isn't all bad. Many workers have learned, however, often to their cost, that though stress is often inseparable from work, we have to off-load it, get rid of it, regularly. Otherwise, we may not be able to carry on.

A few Canadian companies have found that they can help their staff to manage stress. They emphasize what they call "stress down days", taking the time to help their staff fight stress and encouraging activities that foster relaxation. Some companies provide health breaks complete with relaxation exercises. Others put in exercise rooms on their premises or pay for health club memberships so staff can relax and stay in shape. Companies like these have realized that a stressed-out employee is more likely to fall ill or under-perform at work and are doing something about it, for their own advantage and to benefit the employee. Productivity and excessive stress do not go together, something these companies have grasped.

How can you off-load stress? Take the time to breathe deeply when your nerves are jangled. Raise your eyes from the computer screen for a bit, stand up and stretch at least once an hour. Take a walk outside at lunchtime. Have a laugh with your co-workers. Take regular exercise outside working hours. Practice a few yoga or tai-chi moves in the middle of the day. Spoil yourself occasionally with activities for yourself alone, just for fun. Take a soothing bath by candlelight when the kids are in bed. You should find your own solutions, of course, but the great thing is to have some.

For women and men alike, the dual role of working parent often leaves precious little time to breathe and recharge our batteries. Job market competition is such that many employees, often but not always young and ambitious ones, pour more energy into their jobs than they can afford. People in very responsible positions take on too much. They burn out.

Take a look around you. Among your acquaintances, are there people that have got unscathed through several decades of stressful work? Ask them the secret of their endurance. More than likely they'll tell of hobbies, sports, a moderate lifestyle, and the ability to forget about their concerns at work the moment they leave the workplace. They do have a formula. If they hadn't had one, they surely wouldn't have made it.

In our productivity- and performance-oriented civilizations, these last few decades, we've set too much store by the dedicated worker, the one who's always in the office, the self-effacing "organization person". But some big companies where that kind of culture holds sway and whose staff burn out after five years have been taking another look at the way they operate. Having too quick a staff turnover has not necessarily worked to their advantage, and they've thought better of it.

To set a greater value on healthy relaxation, and even a little fun at work, is part of occupational safety and health, even if the official regulations are mum on the subject. The prevention of work accidents and occupational diseases also implies efforts to maintain employees' mental health. The acceptance of burnout as a compensable disease by workers' compensation boards gave a lot of people pause. The idea is gaining ground, but will need to be helped along before it really becomes a fixture.