Optimum
Stress Levels
The level of stress under which you operate is important: if you
are not under enough stress, then you may find that your
performance suffers because you are bored and unmotivated. If
you are under too much stress, then you will find that your
results suffer as stress related problems interfere with your
performance.
It is important that you recognise that you are responsible for
your own stress - very often it is a product of the way that you
think. Learn to monitor your stress levels, and adjust them up
if you need to be more alert, or down if you are feeling too
tense. By managing your stress effectively you can significantly
improve the quality of your life.
The approach to optimising stress depends on the sort of stress
being experienced. Strategies to deal with short term stresses
focus on managing adrenaline to maximize performance. Short term
stresses may be difficult meetings, sporting or other
performances, or confrontational situations. With long term
stress, fatigue and high adrenaline levels over a long period
can seriously reduce your performance. Optimising long term
stress concentrates on management of fatigue, health, energy and
morale.
Naturally there is some element of overlap between these.
Short term stress
The diagram below shows the relationship between stress and the
quality of performance when you are in situations that impose
short term stress:
Where stress is low, you may find that your performance is low
because you become bored, lack concentration and motivation.
Where stress is too high, your performance can suffer from all
the symptoms of excessive short-term stress. In the middle, at a
moderate level of stress, there is a zone of best performance.
If you can keep yourself within this zone, then you will be
sufficiently aroused to perform well while not being
over-stressed and unhappy.
This graph, and this zone of optimum performance, are different
shapes for different people. Some people may operate most
effectively at a level of stress that would leave other people
either bored or in pieces. It is possible that someone who
functions superbly at a low level might experience difficulties
at a high level. Alternatively someone who performs only
moderately at low level might perform exceptionally under
extreme pressure.
The best way of finding your optimum level of stress is to keep
a stress diary for a number of weeks, a practice we involve in
our Stress Coach Ireland Process. Contact
Us for more information.
Long term stress
The problems of long term, sustained stress are more associated
with fatigue, morale and health than with short term adrenaline
management.
The graph below shows the way in which performance can suffer
when you are under excessive long term stress:
The graph shows stages that you may go through in response to
sustained levels of excessive stress:
· During the first phase you will face challenges with plenty
of energy. Your response will probably be positive and
effective.
· After a period of time you may begin to feel seriously tired.
You may start to feel anxious, frustrated and upset. The quality
of your work may begin to suffer.
· As high stress continues you may begin to feel a sense of
failure and may be ill more frequently. You may also begin to
feel exploited by your organisation. At this stage you may start
to distance yourself from your employer, perhaps starting to
look for a new job.
· If high levels of stress continue without relief you may
ultimately experience depression, burnout, nervous breakdown, or
some other form of serious stress related illness.
Different people may move between these stages with different
speeds under different stress conditions.
At a simple level it may appear that a measure of 'toughness' is
how well you keep on going under extreme stress. This is
simplistic. It is certainly possible to be self-indulgent and
use stress as an excuse for not pushing yourself hard enough. It
is, however, also far too easy to let yourself be pushed to a
level where your work, and physical and mental health start to
suffer. The strongest and most flexible position is to actively
manage your levels of stress and fatigue so that you are able to
produce high quality work over a long period, reliably.
High performance in your job may require continued hard work in
the face of high levels of sustained stress. If this is the
case, it is essential that you learn to pay attention to your
feelings. This ensures that you know when to relax, slacken off
for a short period, get more sleep, or implement stress
management strategies. If you do not take feelings of tiredness,
upset or discontent seriously, then you may face failure,
burnout or breakdown.
If you would like to figure out your optimum stress levels, Contact
Us and we will organise your personal appointment
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