College Success = Career Success: Managing Stress at Work

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College Success = Career Success:

Managing Stress at Work

Managing stress at work is similar to managing stress in college. In fact, if you practice these strategies now, they’ll be easier to perform in a work environment.

Consider a situation that’s causing you stress. Then examine the chart below, which presents four ways to deal with a stressful situation. Two ways involve changing the situation, and two ways involve changing your reaction to the situation.

Read through each box and select “yes,” “no,” or “unsure” as you determine if this is a strategy you can use to deal with your stressful situation.

Change the situation		Change your reaction to the situation
Strategy 1: Avoid the stress	Strategy 2: Alter the stressor	Strategy 3: Adapt to the stressor	Strategy 4: Accept the stressor
Can you say "no"? Yes No Unsure	Can you ask for help? Yes No Unsure	Can you think more positively about the situation (find a silver lining)? Yes No Unsure	Can you give yourself an incentive to complete the task? Yes No Unsure
Can you alter your behavior to avoid the stress? Yes No Unsure	Can you schedule your time differently to reduce the stress? Yes No Unsure	Can you adjust your standards and not seek perfection? Yes No Unsure	Can you accept that some things are beyond your control? Yes No Unsure
Can you pare down your to-do-list? Yes No Unsure	Can you delegate some tasks to others? Yes No Unsure	Can you recognize and reduce self-defeating thoughts you're having ("should," "must")? Yes No Unsure	Can you see how you would do things differently next time? Yes No Unsure
Can you avoid or limit your time with the person causing the stress? Yes No Unsure	Can you communicate your feelings and concerns to the person causing the stress? Yes No Unsure	Can you understand the perspective of the person causing the stress? Yes No Unsure	Can you let go of anger and resentment toward the person causing the stress, and move on? Yes No Unsure

After completing the chart, select what you think is the most useful strategy in this situation. Then implement it, and answer the following questions: Which strategy did you select? What challenges, if any, did you encounter as you implemented this strategy? How did you manage those challenges? What results did you get by implementing this strategy? On a job interview, if you were asked to describe how you handle stressful situations, what would you say?