At your place of employment, are most people "stressed"? I'm a school counselor. Just wondering.....

Question

I was just wondering how many people out there are working under stressful conditions. I work in a middle school and everyone at my job is totally depressed and stressed due to administrative pressure and a total lack of respect on the part of the majority of students. Admittedly, some of the staff is "burned out" and need to retire. But others are working hard, arriving early, staying late, buying their own materials, trying everything they can to get the job done. But it seems to be an uphill battle all of the time. I was just wondering how "life" is at other job sites. Is high-level stress" a common thread? Please share your situation. More importantly, if you can share any ideas you have on how to relieve some of the stress and pressure, please do so. Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

It starts with management, who seem to think that part of their job is to pressure everyone to perform better, even when those people are working at maximum already. Everyone should be taught relaxation techniques, such as those at: www.relax7.com/7.php or view the blog of Shan Eris on "tackling depression" at www.myspace.com where you could also try typing the term "stress" into the bar near the top of the webpage. Give management feedback (anonomymously), or they may be unaware of the problem and think everything is alright.

Answer 2

I've worked at a lot of different places. Some say the bosses job is stressful but I've been the boss and that is different. Stress generally results from being in an undesirable situation and not being able to do anything about it.

The worst was as a maintenance manager at an old industrial plant. The phone rang all day long and it was always someone calling to complain about something being broken or the way it was fixed. The crew complained about the working conditions, tools they had to use, materials and supplies. But all of these were pressures I could deal with. Because there were actions which I could take to correct this. It did not become unbearable until I realized that I could never be right. If the plant ran well and the equipment was well maintained I must be spending too much money, if something broke down I wasn't doing my job.

I guess it depends on whats causing the stress. If the stress is caused by challenges that can be over come it is manageable. If the stress is created by unreasonable people it cannot be over come.

Answer 3

Not any more than at other places of work.

I guess hearing people using foul language that peppers their speech to the point of being audible abuse. Making you want to cringe and tell them that if they cannot use their brain to find more intelligent ways of expressing themselves, then maybe they should just hold their peace.

Or having a stuff shirt boss stand over your shoulder and scream at you to speed up when nobody can keep up with the pace you are already setting.

How about having a bunch a ship-in's who know absolutely nothing about your line and how it works, or the safety issues involved, yet line leaders with "sink or swim" attitudes, think the ship-ins can do it without proper training only to have production drop to below 50%.

Maybe the cell leader that plays personal favoritism with their buddies, letting them stand there and talk 1/2 the shift, while everyone else has to make up for their laziness.

Or, maybe upper management that has encouraged the supervisors to lie to it's employees about layoffs, only to see it happen, and then say stuff about the greater good of the company.

But other than that, I don't see anything stressful, and everything is just peachy!

Answer 4

I work for a guy who owns a restaurant and catering company, I cook and serve, sometimes all at once. My boss over stresses himself out and his anxiety about getting everything done on time and everything else thats involved stresses everyone else out. He hovers over you and is constantly picking especially on the day of a party. Although, there is never a problem, he always anticipates the worst and makes everyone NUTZO, days when there are no parties and I am waiting tables in the restaurant and he decides to leave, suddenly, the air is breathable and every one even the customers are more relaxed. So Yeah, I am very stressed at work, thanks for askin!! I'd love to find out a soloution!!

Answer 5

this is interesting

usually school counselors deal with students' stress. but are you a counselor to the teachers??

i am a graduate student and i think i could definitely say there is a fair amount of stress in my department.

however, i think many would say that that stress is a good thing. that there should always be some stress, or else we would have no motivation, no drive.

there are lots of causes of stress - we graduate students have our courseload, our research, our teaching duties, what we're going to do when we graduate (there are far more PhDs than there are professorships) all on top of our regular personal lives.

and i'm sure there are lots of stresses for the faculty as well. they have their teaching, their research, the need to "publish or perish", and their own family lives.

Answer 6

I am the building inspector for a town of about 30,000 population. I do everything I can to keep stress levels low by maintaining a level of humor. Especially when one of my inspectors comes across a situation that seems difficult, I will show him the humor in that situation. All jobs have a level of stress. Find the humor in problems and things go smoother.

Answer 7

I work in production, yes not all the time but frequently.Get
pushed to get something out.Not having drawings done properly not having the right tools or equipment.

Answer 8

yes that is everybody but the boss, who might think he or she has the hardest job in the company

Answer 9

Employment is different than School!