We talked earlier about how to resign from a job. Now let's deal with the bad news, the worst-case scenario. You've been fired.
"It's the best thing that could have happened to you."
"You'll see, it will lead to something bigger and better."
"It's not the end of the world."
All of the above are true and represent the kind of reaction you're likely to receive from close friends and family. The problem is that even though eventually you will come to realize that being fired does not represent the end of the world, it's a difficult concept to grasp on to for comfort when you're going through those days right after the ax has fallen.
Various studies peg the loss of productivity and out-of-pocket expenses to American business because of stress at as much as $75 billion per year.
"Burnout" has become a fashionable new word in our vocabulary. Like so many other things in our society, it is simply a new and different way of explaining what workers have felt for ages - the adverse effects of prolonged periods of hard work. Fatigue. Being tired and ready for a vacation. The problem, from my point of view, with the term "burnout" is that it has become almost fashionable to claim being burned out. I wish it hadn't taken on that meaning, because it tends to confuse the much larger issue of work-related stress and in too many cases has given employees the opportunity to cop out, using burnout as an excuse.
Still, there can be little debate that those who do not take steps to deal with stress on the job will become part of the 60 percent of those Americans making appointments to see their physicians.
Researchers who study the effects of stress on data processors all report an increase in the incidence of stress-induced illness, and because the growth of the computer industry is a fact of our modern life, the damage to the bright and talented continues to mount. Sadly, so-called burnout affects the best and the brightest, the most ambitious and hardworking, the very people you don't expect it from and most hope will not fall victim to it. Victims of occupational stress are people who take their jobs and careers seriously, who will make great sacrifices to accomplish a project, and who are often the bright stars with the most promising futures ahead of them.
One of the reasons stress is particularly prevalent in data processing is that, according to experts in the field, a sense of loss of control is at the root of all occupational stress. Younger professionals tend to suffer more from it than do older professionals in higher positions of authority. If you take this concept and combine it with many people's feeling that computers have taken control of their lives, you can readily see why stress is a particularly serious problem in the data processing field.
But, while acknowledging the effect of outside forces that create stress, this avoids the basic issue of how we react to those outside forces and what we do as individuals to guard against being unnecessarily affected by them.
Here are some symptoms you should look for in yourself to determine whether you're not doing a good job of managing the stress in your professional life.
Dr. Harry Levinson, an industrial psychologist who specializes in the area of stress, says it's time to be concerned when:
- You feel that no matter how hard you're working, you're not getting anywhere.
- You've developed apathy toward non-business-related activities that you once enjoyed, like golf, concerts, and getting together with friends outside of work.
- You suffer chronic fatigue.
- You're unduly irritable for no apparent reason.
- A sense of being besieged has overtaken you.
- You're reluctant to take on new tasks.
- You complain more than usual, and more than necessary.
- Renewed cycles of enthusiasm that you used to count on don't materialize as often as before.
- You're cranky and depressed.
- Eccentricities that weren't there before are now emerging.
- You've developed a tendency to disassociate from office routine.
What can we do to combat stress in our working lives?
Techniques suggested earlier in this chapter will help. Also, change the way you perceive stress. Instead of viewing it as nothing but a negative force in your life, recognize that a certain amount of it is good for all of us, fuels us when the going gets tough, and helps establish priorities and deadlines in our lives that boost productivity.
Most important, don't view yourself as a victim of stress. That relinquishes control to it. Instead, take control of your life within the parameters of a stressful situation. Leave the office for lunch instead of eating in. Exercise. Take time to organize yourself so that it doesn't seem as though the entire world is crashing in on you. Confide in others what you're feeling because of the stress of your job and listen to suggestions. Above all, don't use stress and the fashionable buzz word "burnout" as an excuse to wallow in self-pity. Deal with stress as a reality, and control it before it controls you.
