Good stress, bad stress

M. Chandrasekaran

source: The Hindubusinesline  

Work towards gaining control of stressful situations. — K.R. Deepak

 

Work-related stress is not all bad — the distinction has to be made to enjoy a better quality of life.

The number of things that are portrayed as being good or bad for our health is mind-boggling. What is fascinating is also the fact that many things that are considered good for a while suddenly turn into sinister villains lurking in the shadows.

One such example is the classification of cholesterol as something that is bad for health. Life was simple and we were told to control it or else. Then someone else came up with research with a twist that suggested there were actually two kinds of cholesterols — the good one that we must have and the bad one that we must not.

I am sure most of us would curse the guys who found out about cholesterol in the first place and made our lives miserable by highlighting its effects on our health. Imagine our confusion and anger then at being told that not all cholesterol is bad, leading to a certain justified level of cynicism when the health pundits share their wisdom again!

I guess this goes to prove that where there is light, we can be certain that shadows cannot be far behind; the good is faithfully accompanied by the bad.

Increased stress levels

Today, the corporate world's denizens are faced with increased levels of stress induced by many factors. The pace of change, a rapidly integrating global business scenario, and instant and intrusive connectivity, among other factors, are fuelling an explosion of stress with serious consequences on health and personal happiness. It is also clear that this trend is unlikely to be reversed; on the other hand, it is most likely to intensify as time progresses. To maintain one's balance, it thus becomes important for everyone to seek islands of calm in turbulent seas.

The screen draws open and we are looking at a typical household and the scene that unfolds before us. The husband comes home from work looking tired and stressed out. The lady of the house, a working mother who carries a huge work burden on her shoulders, looks equally frazzled. For extra spice, you can add children and their own concerns. The dialogue is almost predictable:

Husband: “Hi! Don't even ask. Another stressful day at work. The place is full of egoistic bosses and incompetent colleagues. How long can I carry on like this? Guess you must have had an easier day.” (The last sentence is a manifestation of the insensitive cave man that lurks in all husbands.)

Wife: “You think so? Why don't you try working and managing a household with two children and an adult who insists on behaving childishly most of the time?”

And the battle is truly joined. This is a scene that we are all familiar with and is something that I am sure worries all of us. Work-related events largely underpin our mood, and stress at work immediately impacts our personal sphere as well. It takes a great effort to maintain domestic harmony and even minor incidents have the potential to spark off incendiary consequences. The net result — the happiness of one's loved ones, the prime purpose for which we all toil so hard, is at increasing risk.

Stress of two types

I would like to now propound my thesis tentatively titled ‘GSBS' which essentially postulates that there are actually two types of stresses — Good Stress and Bad Stress. As I see it, good stress is what usually comes with the territory of the work that we do and as such must be treated as a normal part of our work life. In some ways this is like the operating system in a computer that works in the background at all times when the system is ‘on'. The OS in a computer tends to use up some part of the system's memory and many unwanted applications use up more of the memory. Many a time only a small portion of the chip's power is actually available for useful processing. This problem is typically addressed by increasing the system's capacity.

The critical difference, when we examine human systems, is the fact that we have only a finite capacity to deal with events that impact us. If we let unwanted and unwarranted events affect us, stress levels build up and our processing bandwidth gets choked with this negativity, leaving us with limited energy to tackle the important issues. This is where I feel a personal categorisation of what is good stress and what is bad stress can be helpful to individuals.

We should attempt to categorise as much of the work-related stress under the good stress category and only a limited spill-over should be termed as bad stress.

Beyond the issue of classification, lies the domain of our response to such stresses. It would be ideal if we respond with calm to events that trigger good stress and with as much restraint as we can muster to things that induce bad stress. Clearly, a long and challenging journey, but one worth pursuing. It is likely that there will be some periods when, due to emergency situations at work, stress levels spike up and there is a yo-yo effect when the stress categories and levels of intensity change direction dramatically; thankfully, they are likely to be temporary and, hopefully, can be negotiated successfully.

Once we have some control on GSBS at work, we need to move onto climbing the next mountain —defining it at home. I suspect that if we don't do it ourselves, we will have it thrust upon us by our loved ones!

M. Chandrasekaran is corporate advisor to 3i Infotech and Manipal Education and Medical Group. He can be reached at mcshekaran@gmail.com