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The Situation
As the retail season heats up and business improves, pressures to work longer hours, make more good things happen, expand sales, resolve problems, call on more accounts, eliminate more waste, and, well, perform at a higher level, just keep mounting. How do you deal with this kind of stress which is both boss-driven and internally stimulated?
More and more Americans believe they are on a perpetual treadmill walking backwards as the conveyor belt moves forward at a quicker pace. How did we slip into this rat-race perception? How did we morph into the 24/7 environment? When did work, play, recreation, and relaxing all blend into one big olio of discontentment? Most importantly, can you do anything to relieve the pressure and change your approach to work and play? My answer is you sure can, but it might take some work and assessment.

An Approach
Part of the perpetual “on call, never off” dilemma is the cell phone and pager. So long as you are reachable, someone will call you, no matter how mundane their question might be. It is not wrong to be alone sometime, to think, daydream, and let your mind rest and relax. Good walks on beaches and pathways help, but those will not destress you if you are answering meaningless calls from people.

Everyone needs some downtime away from what they do be it a mom and her kids, an exec and his responsibilities, or a writer and his/her list of unfinished assignments. Before the proliferation of cell phones, one could get into the car and drive home undisturbed except for traffic. In the “old” days, people could read the paper while riding the train or bus and arrive at home or at work ready for the day or evening. This built-in adjustment time permitted space between one’s work and personal lives and created much-needed separation. Today however, even during air travel, the office or family can follow and be in touch, never allowing some healthy separation.

Point One: Create Away Time
Tell your office “I’m out for a few hours. Please don’t call me. I will call when I’m back “online.” Go shopping, or for a run, walk, or dinner without interruption. The time does not have to be long — just sacred and personal.
I realize that may not be so easy today when execs often believe they need constant communication and instruction abilities, so help the boss learn that you do better with some breathing room and that you are not goofing off. Long ago, I had one particular boss who when I was traveling in the Orient would always call about 3 a.m. and then would say, “Oops, sorry — I forgot what time it is in Hong Kong.”

Point Two: Don’t Push Too Much
With emphasis on getting the job done and fewer staff to do so, many people find themselves doing work outside their competencies and become stressed over working outside their skill level or training. While this is the best way to stretch your skills and acquire new ones, the fear of failure sometimes overpowers the opportunities to grow and expand knowledge and job reach.
This seems to more routinely occur in smaller businesses where owners and senior managers dump workload on whomever can handle it. Before long, that person is doing something much broader and much more critical to operational success. The catch is that the person has not been satisfactorily recognized for their increased output and is still being compensated at the original assignment pay scale. Naturally, feelings of being used arise and create difficult relationships.

Owners and workload assigners must realize that the situation can only be temporary and a proper long-term solution is necessary. Small business has a serious problem in this regard.

Point Three: Don’t Worry About Uncontrollables
Most working people are reliable, conscientious, and desirous of performing well. So, they tend to worry too much about the things they cannot control.
The rule for success is be prepared and work to understand your particular problem at whatever your job level may be. Then, do all you can to help resolve things within your span of control.

What you cannot control is not your worry. It may be your concern but if it’s not within your control, it’s not your worry. Distinguishing between concern and worry can relieve certain unspecified stress buildups.

Point Four: Be Careful in Communications
Managers must exercise caution as to what they say on the spur of the moment or in casual discussions. Unspecified wishes and yens often become tacit work assignments in which time and energy are spent without clear objectives. Sometimes, the boss does not even recall the discussion, but to the employee, it was a call to action.

Analyze Your Workplace
Some of the best workplaces have a supportive camaraderie of laughter and irreverent lightheartedness. Listen when you enter someone’s place of business. Listen for laughter. Listen for hallway talk. The looser, the better. Formality may suggest respect, but it can stifle ease of communication.
Help owners and managers develop and heed job descriptions, clarify priorities, and create clear measurable objectives in writing so all can be on the same page. When vacation times arise, take them. Be with your family and friends. Say goodbye to the office and store. They will still be there upon your return. So will the problems and challenges. Perspective is what determines stress. Broaden it to reduce stress.
The workplace has never been a safe haven for incompetence but it can be the solid rock on which a big part of your life is founded upon, thereby permiting the other parts of your life to flourish.

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Jack Eikenberg manages Eikenberg Management Services, a boutique housewares consultancy. Reach Jack at 239-498-0040 and at JMEmgmt@aol.com.