A Story About Stress
Barry trips over his kids' toys on the way out of the door, yells at his wife, and sits fuming in a traffic jam on his way to work. When he arrives at his office, muscles tensed, he stares at his computer and prepares to answer the 42 e-mails he has so far.
In addition, there's a mountain of work to be done; that means he'll have to skip lunch and dinner - again, and make do with numerous cups of coffee.
When his 12 hour workday is over he drives his 1 hr. commute and picks up some junk food for dinner along the way. It is now 11 p.m. He missed seeing his wife and young children as they have been in bed for hours.
Exhausted he heads to bed, sleeps erratically, gnashing his teeth through the night. Morning arrives all too soon and he wakes up to do it all over again.
There's no relief in sight, no time for himself, little time to see the kids, and his wife is beginning to look like a figment of his imagination. Its no wonder that the divorce rate is now up to 62% in North America.
This sounds dramatic, but for many of us it has become our life. Whether we're a farmer in Saskatoon, a fisherman in Nova Scotia, or a banker in downtown Toronto - we're stressed, burnt-out and overloaded; and the stress is killing us.
A recent web poll in the Globe and Mail on May 20th reported that 51% of the population works 40-60 hours a week; and 12% work more than 60 hours a week.
There's an epidemic of overwork these days and we're paying the price for it. Stress is a "wear and tear" disease. Certain diseases have increased caseloads - Prostate Cancer in men, Breast Cancer in women, Type II Diabetes, Fibryomalgia and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Less dramatic, but more common symptoms are insomnia, migraine headaches, low back pain, ulcers, loss of sex drive and digestive disorders.
Did you know that heart disease is the number 1 killer of Canadian men and women? The cost of treating heart disease is a staggering $18 billion per year.
Child obesity is at an all time high and Health Canada reports that half of Canadians aged 5 to l7 are not active enough for optimal growth and development. That applies to the rest of the family too; in general Canadians don't get enough physical activity to keep them mentally alert and to ward off certain physical and mental disorders. Outdoor physical activity also stimulates mental health because it encourages curiosity, problem-solving and creative thinking.
Parents, too, can reap mental and physical health rewards if they get in the game. Being outside with your kids means you're interacting with them and getting exercise at the same time.
"There's also something that boosts you psychologically when you're in the great outdoors," says Dr. Michael Evans, head of patient education at the University of Toronto who bikes to work each day. "Walking, skiing and other outdoor physical activities are as good as anti-depressant drugs at treating moderate depression," he says. (*reference, Canadian Living, May, 2005).
So how much more evidence do we need that what many of us are doing just isn't working anymore? We're not Superman or Superwoman and unlike the Energizer bunny, we can't just put a new battery in and keep on "going and going". Our lives are not a reality TV show.
"We're living a martyr lifestyle. It's time to re-assess where we are and where we need to be," says Lynda Miller, co-author of BY FORCE OR BY CHOICE, Managing Stress in the Workplace. "When my associates and I are delivering stress-management training, we can actually see and feel the high stress levels most of you are experiencing. It's one of the reasons we called our company Overloaded Enterprises." (Millerstress(at)aol.com)
We seem to have lost our balance and our common-sense and our patience somewhere along the way. We're getting to be a "cranky and selfish society" loosing some of our social graces; ethical and moral values being eroded on the way. In these days of global links and an ever increasing pace of life, we all feel that we have too much to do, and never have time to do it in.
Remember weekends? Weekends were invented for a reason -- they are the week's end. Time to sleep in, time to spend with family and friends, to reflect and rest. Please don't e-mail me at 11 p.m. Saturday night or 4 a.m. Sunday morning. That's my personal and family time. Human beings are not robots and we ARE NOT meant to work 24 hours a day.
We live on fast time, and technology greatly impacts our professional and personal lives. We have our e-mails, our beepers, pagers, cell phones, Blackberrys and I-Pods, yet we never seem to be caught up no matter how fast we work. When the target's in sight, they move it.
Technology, the economy, business and government are having a greater impact on our lives. Nothing stays the same anymore. We've lost our "security blanket" and our "safety nets." We've lost our "down time" and our "think time", and some of us are loosing our sense of hope.
Our bodies, minds and spirits need food, sleep and exercise. Did you know that sleep depravation is one of the major causes contributing to disease?
Everyone has physical, social, emotional and spiritual needs, only some of which can be met at work. "You can't take back time or put your children on hold so they won't grow while you're busy. Life is not to be taken for granted; and if you do -- you will pay a high price -- your health and possibly your life!"
Some companies are operating like "corporate sweatshops" giving out the message that if you can't do the extreme hours and keep pace, we'll find someone who will. Will what?
Will we work "smarter" not "harder"? Will we look at new processes, more equipment and hire staff when we're at peak capacity? Will we focus on "quality" not just "quantity". Will we remember that $$$ is not necessarily success? Will we communicate, not just provide information?
Will we allow all people in the workplace to make a difference; to learn and grow; to be innovative; to create better processes; and to contribute to something larger than themselves?
Will we foster mentoring and brainstorming and best practices? Will we use good manners and common courtesy? Will we use experience, intuition and common-sense? Will we remember to have some fun along the way and make it better for others? Will we remember to spend more time with our family and friends?
We are all downstream from one another and connected to each other. If we all try our best, we all contribute to a happier, healthier world. WE WORK TO LIVE, NOT LIVE TO WORK. Life is Not A Dress Rehearsal.