You Might Be Stressed If…

When working conditions degrade gradually enough, we tolerate them even though they're intolerable. The cost is chronic high-intensity stress. We become short with each other. We hurt each other. Productivity falls. Quality degrades. Worst of all, we take our troubles home, which can spread the misery and which limits our ability to recharge and repair.

To regain control, we must recognize the indicators of chronic high-intensity stress. Here's a little catalog.

You might be stressed if…

• …someone asks you for comfort about being stressed, and you blow your top.
• …you add to your to-do list stuff you've already done, just for that feeling of accomplishment when you check it off.
• …you suddenly realize that although your desk is usually neat, it's been an unholy mess for three weeks and you never noticed.
• …you suddenly realize that although you usually don't mind a messy desk, you now feel an overwhelming compulsion to clean it up.
• …you suddenly realize that 40% of what you've eaten today contains some form of chocolate.
• …you no longer feel the effects of consuming two espressos before 8 AM.
• …you take a ten-minute break to relax, but after minute three, all you can think about is whatever you were taking a break from.
• …sleep mostly consists of waiting to get up until some hour that you think most people would consider reasonable.
• …you believe that even if you nod off in a meeting, nobody notices, because you do it cleverly.
• …things that used to be only mildly annoying are now unbearable.
• …things that used to be unbearable are only mildly annoying compared to the really idiotic stuff that's happening now.
• …everyone around you seems totally stressed, but you think you're absolutely fine.
• …everyone around you seems calm, but you think it's because they haven't yet grasped the reality of the situation.
• …you thought you were decisive before, but now you're making decisions before you realize you've made them.
• …when you have to decide something, all you can do is dither about it endlessly.
• …you feel an irresistible urge to make decisions that aren't yours to make.
• …after you arrive You might be stressed if
  you feel an irresistible
  urge to make decisions
  that aren't yours to makewherever you were going, you can't remember why you went there.
• …even though you're not a VIP, the conference room goes all quiet the moment you enter.
• …it isn't just that you couldn't keep the thread of what she was saying, it's that you couldn't keep the thread of what you were thinking.
• …you bite someone's head off over something they had nothing to do with.
• …two hours late, you realize you missed lunch.
• …two hours to go, and all you can think about is lunch.
• ..you've finally figured out how the whole thing fits into a nice, neat pattern.
• …you believe that you could actually save the company if only they would do it your way.

How many of these indicators seem familiar to you?  Top    Next Issue

Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

Team Thrills

Occasionally we have the experience of belonging to a great team. Thrilling as it is, the experience is rare. How can we make it happen more often?

Seven Ways to Get Nowhere

Ever have the feeling that you're getting nowhere? You have the sense of movement, but you're making no real progress towards the goal. How does this happen? What can you do about it?

Embolalia and Stuff Like That: II

Continuing our exploration of embolalia — filler syllables, filler words, and filler phrases — let us examine the more complex forms. Some of them are so complex that they appear to be actual content, even when what they contain is little more than "um."

Virtual Clutter: II

Thorough de-cluttering at work involves more than organizing equipment and those piles of documents that tend to accumulate so mysteriously. We must also address the countless nonphysical entities that make work life so complicated — the virtual clutter.

High Falutin' Goofy Talk: II

Speech and writing at work are sometimes little more than high falutin' goofy talk, filled with puff phrases of unknown meaning and pretentious, tired images. Here's Part II of a collection of phrases and images to avoid.

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming February 8: Kerfuffles That Seem Like Something More

Much of what we regard as political conflict is a series of squabbles commonly called kerfuffles. They captivate us while they're underway, but after a month or two they're forgotten. Why do they happen? Why do they persist? Available here and by RSS on February 8.

And on February 15: Four Razors for Organizational Behavior

Deviant organizational behavior can harm the people and the organization. In choosing responses, we consider what drives the perpetrators. Considering Malice, Incompetence, Ignorance, and Greed, we can devise four guidelines for making these choices. Available here and by RSS on February 15.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenZLkFdSHmlHvCaSsuner@ChacbnsTPttsdDaRAswloCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info