Stress and our attitude towards work.

Today, a lot of people seem to complain about the amount of work they are expected to do. And the pressure to perform their job extraordinarily well gets greater with the present economic situation with retrentment still a threat although part of the world is on the verge of recovery. The danger of a job lost is heightened with increasing prices of everyday necessities.

How do we overcome the pressure that we face at our workplace? The work load cannot be lessened. However, our mind can be adjusted. We can change our attitude towards work.

At this point, I hear a voice from one part of the world demand,"Ai Wei! How do you expect that to be done,ah? Talk is easy, lo, but when it comes to the real thing, I still have this huge pile of files to look into. Just change my attitude and the whole pile of work disappears aah?"

Okay. You're right. It's not easy. Nobody said it's easy, alright. Changing attitude takes some effort. And you're right too that the pile of work will not disappear. It's not magic. You see, it's science. It's how the mind works.

Yes, it is how our mind works. You have a choice in everything you want that mind of yours to behave, or I should say to think. If you prefer to worry, all the worrying thoughts will enter at your command. If you wish to take action, then the mind would start to plan and ideas would come in and if you think that same situation is just the right opportunity for you to show how good you are, your mind will think of ways to finish the job well and it will be happily looking forward to possible rewards. Have you ever experienced that? No?

Then, perhaps, I can bring in a simpler illustration. Let's say that you are a bachelor boy or girl and you get to know a girl or boy. What's in your mind? Beautiful/Handsome? Like him/her? Attracted? Your mind ticks 'Yes'. She/He asks for your help to take her big heavy bags to the airport for her/him. No problem, you would say. Big bags are not a problem. It would be good exercise. You are happy to be asked. It could mean that the person likes me. You would do it. Here's the chance. What a blessing from God!

Aah, what if you had ticked a 'No'. Sorry, lah. I have so much work to do. The time of your plane's departure is not convenient for me to take you there. All kinds of excuses. And if somehow you get persuaded to do it, you would not be happy with the situation, thinking of the huge number of heavy bags to carry. how exhausted you would be. It would be real tiring. That could also be really depressing, right? See, the situation is the same but the attitude is different.

So, let us see what kind of attitude we can put into our work. First of all, let us be positive. How lucky you are to have your job! Well, you are financially secure. There's money to pay the bills. Not enough? That has nothing to do with your job. It has everything to do with money mangement. (I will write on that in another posting.)

Work is to be done. So, we do it. Yes, we put in the work that is expected of us. That is what we are paid to do. If our mind understands that, and we set our mind to it, then there will be no dillydallying at work. If we do our work concientiously, as expected, there will be no pressure, only tiredness. Who does not get tired after a hard day's work? Tiredness at the end of the day is good as it will give us a good night's sleep. No insomnia unless we think of the work negatively. then, perhaps, we may think of kicking the employer the whole night instead of enjoying a good night's sleep.

And if we have worked hard, nobody can expect us to do more than that. So, whatever can not be completed has to be put aside for another day. If you have done your job well, the employer would understand. If the employer cannot understand that, then that employer's business will suffer when his workers run to another company. He and his company will not last.

Look at the banks. Business is always coming in but they have to put a stop to it at a certain time of the day so that the work can be completed. They understand that their workers can only do that much. And if the business is managed well, there is always another day to get more business.

Let us understand that pressure from work comes about when we feel or think that we have been given an unfair amount of work; we have been overloaded with too much work and expected to finish in too short a time. You do not agree, do you?

Okay, let's look at a hawker. The more work his customers give him, getting him to fry non-stop, demanding that they be served fast, the happier he is at the end of the day when he looks at the amount of cash he had gained. Is that overworked, pressured to perform faster hawker stressed or depressed with his workload? No! Far from it. He's delighted with his tiring work.

"Aaah! But that is physical work. It does not tax the mind."

Yeah? How about petition writers who work for themselves? If you see a good popular one with loads of work, ask him whether he is ever too stressed or depressed with his/her work. I do not believe such people would ever feel stressed or depressed with their work. For such people, the more work the happier; slightly stressed maybe, tiring too but happy. Certainly not overly stressed.

See, it's not the amount of work that overstresses a person. It is the thought that the workload is unfair, that too little time is given to complete it. It's the thinking that determines the attitude.

Sometimes, even when the workload is unfair, there is no overstress. Why? If you decide you love a particular type of work, that work becomes a pleasure. You may be tired by the load but your pleasure is not diminished.

Sometimes, it is pride in one's work, in one's achievement. A coach may be willing to work extra hours without extra pay in order to produce athletes with exceptional capabilities. A teacher may put in extra effort to achieve a yearly hundred percent passes for his subject. Why would these people walk the extra mile? It is love, pride and achievement that brings a lot of tiredness and fatique perhaps, but no depression or overstress.

Why do I emphasise on overstress? You see, some stress is good for us. There has to be some stress when we want to please someone, to achieve something better, to show that we are as good as others, if not better. Such types of stress brings us a positive feeling to help us perform well in whatever we wish to do.

It is only too much stress that we wish to avoid as such stress wreaks havoc on our mind and can cause our body to release too much hormones and toxins that can bring sickness to us.