Francesco Corallo - Pictures of a working life

  • 11 years ago
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is increasingly difficult in today’s society. Many people suffer from anxiety and stress related to their jobs, a result of being overworked and often feeling unappreciated. As many as 400,000 people around the UK have even suffered illness that they attribute to work-related stress. Overexposure to this kind of stress can even induce deep-rooted psychological problems, like depression and anxiety. Individuals like Francesco Corallo understand the importance of defeating this type of stress by promoting a healthy office culture. Learning how to manage stress is an important part of being successful in both work and life in general.

One of the first steps people can take in defeating their stress is to set some limits. Many people refuse to say “no,” even when they have too much work to do already. This habit is detrimental, though, and can result not only in too much stress and anxiety, but also in missed deadlines and poor work products. Saying “no” can therefore be a good idea, as long as the employee is able to give specific answers and reasons for denying the assignment. A good way to handle saying “no” is offering a workable alternative solution, like delegating the assignment to someone else or seeing if it can wait until a less busy time.

When stress becomes overwhelming, and saying “no” is not enough, it may be time to bring the problem to the attention of management. Employees should be prepared with measurable and quantifiable data to prove their points, offering concrete examples of why the workload they are carrying is too much, and showing specific instances of the issues that are causing the undue stress. If the stress is due to other factors, such as an overbearing boss or a hostile co-worker, these issues need to be addressed as well.

If someone is unsure whether they are suffering the ill effects of a stressful lifestyle, it is fairly easy to conduct a self-assessment and determine if some kind of help is required. Engaging in unhealthy habits, like smoking and drinking, in order to relieve negative emotions is one symptom of too much stress. Physical manifestations can also occur, such as an increase or decrease in appetite. Pain can also result from too much stress, including headaches, muscle aches, and chest pains. Some people even experience bouts of panic, a dry mouth, and a pounding heart.

Sometimes, stress can have even longer-lasting effects that do not go away immediately even when the cause of the stress is removed. In those instances, businesspeople like Francesco Corallo who are sensitive to their employees’ needs recommend going to a doctor to get additional help, including a referral to a specialist who deals with stress-related issues. Sometimes, counselling is all that is required to get some methods for coping with stress. Other times, medication might be helpful to correct imbalances that occurred due to overexposure to stress for a long period of time.