Stop Allowing Stress Into Your Life

If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension.” - George Burns Yesterday, we talked about burnout. One of the main contributors to burnout is stress. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at stress in the context of how it affects your productivity even in the absence of burnout. First, it’s important to understand the nature of stress. What emotions does it trigger? What are its most common sources? And of course, what steps should you take to prevent it from negatively impacting your ability to work? Stress is highly subjective. One person’s anxiety is another person’s calm. But at its core, it defines the body’s response to a perceived threat. If you had lived in prehistoric times, you would have experienced it had you stumbled upon a sabertooth tiger. Today, we deal with an entirely different set of circumstances that trigger our body’s stress response. Stress may surface as a result of our workload, pressure from our bosses or arguments with our spouses. It can rear its head due to financial problems, health issues or even loud noise in our immediate environment. Our stress levels also increase in the wake of traumatic experiences, such as getting a divorce or caring for a terminally-ill loved one. Periodic stress is unavoidable. It’s a part of life. The key is to find ways to allow it to dissipate. When it persists, it can have a disastrous effect on your mental and physical well-being. That effect carries a steep invoice with regard to your productivity. Stress can affect your emotional health. It can make you feel irritable, lonely and overwhelmed. It can affect your physical health. Long periods of increased tension and anxiety can impair your digestion, reduce your libido and cause chest pain. It can wreak havoc with your brain. Longstanding stress can hobble your ability to focus, erode your memory and fill you with a sense of despair and helplessness. Uninterrupted stress also makes us more likely to procrastinate, eat poorly and get too little sleep. The negative impact of stress on our lives is unmistakable. Fortunately, we’re not without tools for dealing with it. We can deflect it. We can shun it. We can give it a wide berth, preventing it from affecting our lives. The problem is, most people are unaware they possess the tools to do so. Their lack of awareness allows their stress levels to build until they eventually cause adverse effects. Worse, many people are unaware they’re dealing with high levels of persistent stress. Maybe they’ve lived with it their entire lives and grown accustomed to it. They don’t realize there’s a better way to live. Or maybe their stress levels have risen so gradually that they don’t realize it’s having a dramatic effect on their ability to get things done.

How This Bad Habit Hurts Your Productivity 

We touched briefly on the negative effects of stress in previous chapters. We’ll revisit some of them below along with a few that have, to this point, gone unmentioned. First, long-term stress can lead to mental and physical fatigue. After enduring weeks of continuous tension, you’ll feel tired and worn out despite getting eight hours of sleep each night. This is a sign you’re on the precipice of burnout. Second, consider the impacts to your health. Ongoing stress can cause headaches, breathing difficulties and tachycardia (rapid heart rate). It can cause nausea, back pain and diarrhea. If you have arthritis, stress can worsen it. If you have asthma, stress can aggravate it. These and other physiological side effects will diminish your ability to work productively. Third, studies show that long-term stress can impair your ability to process and store new information. That, in turn, will inhibit your concentration and recall. Fourth, you’ll make more mistakes. Diminished focus translates into a higher error rate. Time spent correcting those errors will cause your productivity to crumble. Fifth, because high stress levels hamper your focus, cause you to feel fatigued and increase your error rate, you’ll spend more time completing tasks. That can affect your ability to turn in projects on time. Sixth, stress can make you short-tempered. Your irritability can damage the relationships you share with your coworkers, friends and family members. Again, stress is a part of life. But that doesn’t mean you’re a helpless victim. On the contrary, you can take simple steps to minimize its long-term impact on your workflow and productivity.

 Action Steps

 1. Identify the triggers that are causing you to feel stress. The easiest way to do so is to keep a journal. When you start to notice signs of tension, write down the triggers. What is happening in your environment that is making you feel tense? Maintain your “stress journal” for at least two weeks. That will allow trends to surface.

2. Develop healthy ways to respond to elevated stress levels. Some people respond to stress in ways that further impedes their productivity. For example, they eat junk food, drink alcohol or refuse to get out of bed. If you do similarly unhealthy things in response to tension, come up with a list of healthy alternatives. For example, commit to taking a 15-minute walk outside rather than grabbing the closest sugary snack.

3. Work fewer hours. In Day 7, we talked about the merits of refusing to work overtime. In Day 29, we talked about the merits of keeping your weekends work-free. This step is an extension of that recommendation. If you’re experiencing a high level of workplace stress, try to set boundaries that prevent you from working long hours. For example, if you routinely find yourself working until 8:00 p.m., commit to setting your work aside at 6:00 p.m. With solid time management skills, you’ll end up getting the same amount of work done. Meanwhile you’ll have more time to relax, which will lower your stress levels.

4. Review why you love your work. Sometimes, longstanding stress stemming from our daily experience so completely hobbles our enthusiasm that we forget the reasons we enjoy our work. Take 10 minutes to remind yourself of those reasons. What aspects of your work give you a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment? If you dislike your work, it may be time to look for other opportunities.

5. Limit the number of tasks on your to-do lists. We discussed this idea at length in Day 3. The most important thing to remember is to cap the number of items at five. Any more would risk making you feel overwhelmed and unnecessarily stressed.

6. Delegate tasks. We talked about delegation in Day 8. You don’t need to do everything yourself. In fact, you shouldn’t even try. Identify reliable individuals and assign them tasks according to their respective skill sets. Then, give them the space they need to complete those tasks. There is an art and science to proper delegation. Both extend beyond the scope of this action guide. It’s enough to highlight its value as a means to manage your stress levels.

7. Put an end to unnecessary interruptions. Doing so will allow you to concentrate on the task in front of you, giving you an opportunity to build the momentum that comes with focused, undisturbed work. I’ve mentioned in previous chapters (see Days 12, 19, 21, 24 and 28) that a single disruption will set you back 20 minutes or more. Imagine being interrupted each hour by someone who “just needs a moment of your time.” You would never get any real work done. Make it clear to your coworkers, friends and family members that you are not to be disturbed during time blocks you’ve scheduled for focused work. Eliminate needless interruptions and your stress level will plummet.

 8. Reevaluate your relationships and purge those that are negative. For example, habitual complainers can take a major toll on your enthusiasm and motivation to get things done. Hanging around them for extended periods can make you lethargic and apathetic. Either sever ties with such individuals or limit the amount of time you spend with them. Instead, spend more time with those who are supportive. You’ll find their enthusiasm is contagious and inspiring.

9. Start an exercise routine. In Day 22, we discussed how working out can improve your productivity. One of the ways it does so is by reducing your stress levels. Exercise releases endorphins, which are a natural stress reliever. As I mentioned in Day 22, you don’t have to commit hours to a daily workout regimen. Instead, take two or three 15-minute walks per day. You may be surprised by how calm and composed you feel after a brisk walk.

10. Remind yourself: “one thing at a time.” You can only devote your attention to a single task at any one time. That’s how the brain works (see Day 16 for more information). That being the case, there’s no value in worrying about the tasks you’re unable to address at any given moment. So put them out of your mind. For example, suppose you have to return three calls, finish a crucial report for your boss and review contractors’ bids for an upcoming project. Don’t allow stress to get the upper hand. Remind yourself “one thing at a time.” Return each call, one by one, and don’t worry about your boss’s report or the contractors’ bids. After you’ve made the calls, move onto the report. Finally, address the bids. Worry about one task at a time. That will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed.