Stress is a form of reaction that someone experiences that disturbs a person’s psychological condition. Stressful situation causes different reaction such as lack of appetite, feeling upset, trauma and inability to conduct daily activities as usual. In addition, long-term stress can affect the mental health of an individual (Jeanne 9). However, different individuals have different ways of dealing with stress at home, school or even at the workplace. This paper looks at how an individual can manage stress in an MBA course. In addition, I will apply my life experience as an example to vividly show how stress can be managed.
There are different ways through which stress can be managed at school and the workplace. The first way is to identify the form of stress that one is experiencing; this will not be an easy task to do, but it, usually, helps in the process of dealing with stress. The identification of form of stress will lead to the revelation of the cause of the stress (Melinda 9). That enhances and individual ability to manage stress because it would be easy to deal with the known cause of stress than rather the opposite. Personally, after identifying the cause of my stress, I, usually, find options on how to handle it then pick the best amongst the options that I have analysed. The options I come up with are always very effective in dealing with the stressful situation.
In an organization setting stress is caused by factors such as poor communication amongst workers that causes misunderstanding in the workplace, change, and demands from the management, relationship and roles given to the employees (Sangmi 23). With these causes, one can clearly know how to deal with the situation as it occurs. In most cases, the employees are left with no option but to quit their jobs and find an organization where they can work without being stressed.
In most cases risks associated to the employment contract include hazards that an employee is exposed to outside work environments but in relation to his or her company. These risks can affect the productivity and the performance of an organization (BS 8800 21). It is therefore important for the organization to put up some strategies to deal with such risks when they occur. Employees usually get stressed as a result of meeting such risks at the work place meaning it would have a negative impact on their performance at work. However, the employees can also deal with these risks by preparing in advance therefore finding easy when it happens.
The next way or approach to managing stress is by avoiding isolation. In most cases when people are stressed they tend to isolate themselves from the public or other people. It is not a good idea to be lonely in such a situation because when you join other the stressed is relieved. Stress can be relieved through sharing the problem with other people because they can help in giving out solutions that can help reduce if not completely deal with the stressful situation (Sangmi 32). When I am in school and stressed about a given subject or assignment, I go to friends and ask them how it can be handled. From the ideas, I get from them the burden reduces, and the stressful situation is dealt with, giving a peaceful environment.
Health eating and doing exercise ensures that stress is managed. When an individual is stressed the person lucks appetite and in most cases they would avoid to eat healthy food (Jeanne 12). This affects the activities and eating habits of the person. In such a case it is advisable that the individual gets healthy meals and does exercise (Melinda 14). The exercise helps in making the person active in all the activities that the person undertakes in his or her daily life. In school, I ensure that I take all my meals when I feel stressed because through it I get some energy to deal with the stressful condition. The exercise I do also helps rebuild my energy to fight stress.
Preparing for a stressful event is one of the ways that stress can be managed. It is a way of dealing with it even before it happens. At some point in life, certain aspects of events can be stressful, and they are easily noted even before they occur. When that happens, preparation will help minimise the effects of the situation that will in turn help the individual to avoid the stress. As an MBA student, there are certain activities in my school life that are very stressful, but are even on my timetable such as end of semester exams. In order to avoid being stressed with the end of semester exams, I prepare psychological for the fourth coming exams whenever we are almost sitting those examinations. When the psychological state is well-prepared for the test or exam then it is hard for one to be stressed during this period.
Work and an individual workplace are significant determinants that person’s health. Workplace can influence the employee’s health either negatively or positively or in some cases both can happen. For most people who look for employment, they go essentially for social, economic, which is the salary and also look for physical wellbeing (Hirtle 33). This can cause stress when the organization presents a new idea to the employees that they are not comfortable with, and it is compulsory for everyone to implement the idea. In such a situation, employees are required to find better ways of addressing the situation rather than being stressed. These causes of poor health in organizations have discovered to be a major hindrance to organizational performance because when employees get stressed their productivity becomes low. Such cases can be managed by implementing a new idea in a step by step process so that the employee does not feel the effects of the new idea or tool (Melinda 23).
In conclusion, stress is a factor that can affect the way people react and perform both at work and at school. Stress has affected my academic work on different occasions but through managing it, I have succeeded in my academic life. Stress should be managed in order to avoid the effects that accompanies it, which include depression, lack of appetite, low performance at work and inability to undertake daily activities.
Reference
BS 8800. ‘Guide to occupational health and safety management systems’, British Standards Institution, London. 2004. Print.
Hirtle, Lopez. “Occupational Health and Safety Management System: General guidelines on principles, systems and supporting techniques” Prentice Hall, London. 2008. Print.
Jeanne, Segal. "Stress at Work: Tips to Reduce and Manage Job and Workplace Stress." Help Guide. (2013): 12-34. Print. <http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-at-work.htm>.
Melinda, Smith. “Coping with work stress in today’s uncertain climate: How to inspire workers”. London, United Kingdom: Methuen & Co. Ltd. 2008. Print.
Sangmi, Lee. “Learn how managers or employers can reduce job stress.” The way forward, Working Paper. 2009. Print.
