Essay Example: Reflection on Stress in the Workplace

Employees face different stressful experiences in their workplaces. Stress in the workplace may result from work contents such as workload and work pace as well as work contexts such as work-life balance and career development. A small portion of stress is essential because it enables employees to stay focused and be in a position to meet arising challenges in their workplaces. Stress, which exceeds the employees' ability to cope, may, however, negatively impact their job performance, health, and personal life. The paper, therefore, seeks to reflect on some of the things I find stressful in my workplace, their impacts on my work experience as well as my coping strategies to develop greater resilience towards the stressors.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

There are some stressors in my workplace and personal life. The first factor is job content and demands. My job involves dealing with the heavy workload and tight work schedules. Due to the increased pressure on performance and rising demand, I have to work for long hours with minimal rest to enable me to meet the tight deadlines. I also have to bear the monotony of performing the same job daily.

Moreover, I have minimal participation and control over the work processes and methods. For instance, I am not allowed to make decisions on various matters relating to my job and the work environment. There is also a supervisor assigned to monitor the way I perform my job, and this makes the job less autonomous.

The second factor is the job context. I have greater feelings of job insecurity because my job is temporary. The job also offers a few promotion opportunities, and this makes it difficult for employees with relevant skills and experience to get promoted to higher ranks. Also, there exist poor interpersonal relationships within the organization. For instance, there are numerous cases of discrimination and harassment, and the supervisors are always unsupportive and inconsiderate to the junior employees.

Furthermore, I am an alcoholic, and this has led to conflicting demands of work and personal life. The organization does not provide support for domestic problems at work. There are also no organizational rules and policies to support work-life balance. These factors negatively impact my workplace experience because, in most cases, I feel overwhelmed with the job hence reducing my productivity, creativity, as well as job satisfaction.

I have developed several coping strategies to have greater resilience to the stressors. Firstly, I have abandoned the bad habits which result in workplace stress. By having a lot of negative thoughts and behaviors towards my job, I realized that I am adding more stress in my workplace

I, therefore, decided to change these negative habits into positive ones, and this has enabled me to handle stress in my workplace easily. For instance, I set realistic goals for myself and do my best to achieve them. Moreover, I do not waste time trying to control the things which are beyond my control at the workplace, such as the behavior of others. Instead, I put a lot of focus on the things I can control, such as how I react to problems.

Secondly, I prioritize and organize. This allows me to have full control over my jobs in the workplace. By creating a balanced schedule, I can find a balance between daily responsibilities, work, and family life, as well as other social activities. I also plan for regular breaks during which I either take a short walk or interact with colleagues. This enables me to relax and regain energy for production purposes. Also, I prioritize my tasks. For instance, I give priority to those tasks which are unpleasant to handle then spend the rest of the day handling those that are pleasant.

Thirdly, I support my health by doing exercises and taking proper nutrition. This enhances my mood and energy, thus making me more reliable and more resilient to stress. For instance, I engage in aerobic exercises during the quick breaks at work and also minimize the intake of foods, which can adversely affect my moods at work.

Fourthly, I look for satisfaction and value in my job. The monotonous feeling regarding one's job can result in significant levels of stress at the workplace and affect an employees' both physical and mental health. It is equally difficult for most employees to find the dream job, which provides the meaning and reward they want hence the need to find meaningful purpose and happiness in their current jobs. I always achieve this by focusing on how my contributions in the job assist others as well as other aspects of the job that I enjoy the most.

Lastly, I reach out to others to handle workplace stress. I continuously talk to colleagues, friends, and family members concerning the problems and my experiences at work. These people may not always be in a position to solve my problems, but the act of sharing my experiences with them enables me to get their support hence relieving me from the stress.

In summary, it is valid from the above discussion that employees are generally faced with different stressful experiences in their workplaces. These experiences may result from work content or work context. A little bit of stress is essential because it enables employees to stay focused and be in a position to meet arising job challenges. Too much stress, however, impacts negatively on employees' job performance, health, and personal life hence the need for coping strategies to enable employees to develop greater resilience towards the stressors.