All work and no play? Absolutely no way!
Why stress is becoming the defining factor nowadays!
By Varun R (B.E. Mechanical, 2012-2016)
In our present day and age, work has surfaced itself as an ever-growing hazard. Why do I say so, you ask? Simply because people work hard to get a job. And then, work even harder to hold onto it. Sometimes the degree of work goes so high, that they burn out faster than they can keep up. They are wound up so tight, that they can snap at any time. Statistically, men and women both face a similar degree of work-related stress in different aspects of work. As work demands increase, their responsibilities as well as susceptibility to acquiring stress also increases drastically.
The most common symptoms would be that they are easily agitated and are increasingly anti-social. To unwind, they tend to resort to dangerous and hazardous ways to ‘cool down’. Namely cigarettes, alcohol, etc. For a momentary dulling of the senses, they are willing to throw away years of their lives away. Surely there are other ways to unwind. Other ways not only de-stress, but also increase the productivity of the individual. Activities that the individual likes, some light reading, music etc tends to calm the individual while keeping the mind fresh and capable of handling work better. Sometimes, when a person encounters a problem, he cannot overcome, all he has to do is calm himself, take a few deep breaths and try again. One would be surprised how well this works. Sometimes, the best way to de-stress would be to shut one’s eyes and cut oneself away from one’s surroundings for a while. In other words, ‘the most productive activity in certain situations would be to do nothing at all’.
In most cases, the extra-curricular activities of children are curbed by parents at a very early age. They pay attention more to the academic side of education because of which they lack almost every kind of coping mechanism to help them manage stress without hassles.
So how can we manage work then? At early stages of life, cultivating productive reading, writing, sports, healthy activities instill some amount of confidence of how to manage stress in the years to come. Come adulthood, there is neither the time nor the luxury to take up a form of relaxation. So, healthy habits, a little bit of music when driving to and from work, an ample amount of sleep, a bit of yoga, and smiling (yes, something as utterly simple as smiling). This could probably work wonders for how we look and life and take on new challenges in and at work.
Just as a balanced diet is important for physical well-being, a balanced lifestyle with at least five hours of sleep is important for emotional and psychological well-being. Life is certainly filled with its share of ups and downs. The only possible chance that we have to cope lies in the lost hope of finding life’s meaning.
VARUN.R (B.E. Mechanical, 2012-16) is an avid lover of poetry and has amassed quite the list of hobbies that include singing, listening to music, and reading literature, with his favourite quote being- “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful human feelings recollected in tranquility” -William Wordsworth.
For comments/feedback/suggestions, please write to thebridge@mail.psgtech.ac.in
