My daily upload in service of friends who want to be a better version of themselves

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Picture credit - ​needpix
Day 20 - Coping with stress
29 April 2020
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Prabodh Sirur
sirurp@gmail.com
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What is stress?
When you perceive a threat or a major challenge, chemicals and hormones surge
throughout your body. ​This is called stress​. It is basically a survival mechanism of
our body.
There is good stress (eustress), bad stress (acute stress) and chronic stress
Eustress is the type of stress when we feel excited e.g. when riding a roller coaster
or when competing for a promotion etc.
Acute stress is a short term stress because of some stressors e.g. stuck in a traffic
jam when we are late for a meeting, an argument with your spouse, an unkind
criticism from your boss etc.
Chronic stress is a long term stress brought on by continual acute stresses when we
repeatedly face stressors. This condition gives a feeling of helplessness and a
feeling of being put in inescapable state. Chronic stress causes many physical and
mental health related issues e.g. heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents,
cirrhosis of the liver and suicide.
My learning for the day
Symptoms of stress
The American Institute of Stress lists 50 ​common symptoms of stress​.
Listing only a few of the 50 symptoms here so that you are not unnecessarily
stressed😆 -
● Unexplained or frequent allergy attacks
● Depression, frequent or wild mood swings
● Forgetfulness, disorganization, confusion
● Feelings of loneliness or worthlessness
● Weight gain or loss without diet
Main ​causes​ of workplace stress
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● Workload - 46% (Should we learn to do better work planning? Should
we learn to say ‘No’ for additional work?)
● People issues - 28% (Can improving our interpersonal skills help?)
● Juggling work and personal life - 20% (Will prioritisation and giving
equal importance to work-life and personal life help? Will regular
‘no-excuse’ physical and mental exercise regime help?)
● Lack of job security 6% (Can we learn to love the job that we have? Can
we do at least one task a day that will amaze us?)
Holmes-Rahe​ stress inventory
Psychiatrists Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe conducted a study in 1967
and listed down ​43 stressful life events​ that can contribute to illness.
● Stress ​related to deaths​ appears ​thrice​ in the list (death of spouse,
death of close family member, death of a close friend) ​(Could we create/
collect moments/ memories of togetherness in a planned manner so that
we don’t have a feeling of guilt when the person is no more?)
● Stress ​related to relationship​ with spouse appears ​9 times​ (divorce,
separation, marital reconciliation, sexual difficulties, trouble with
in-laws, pregnancy, major holiday, event of marriage, spouse starts or
stop work) ​(Could we assign a fixed time in our calendars to nurture this
relationship?)
● Stress ​related to work​ appears ​7 times​ (dismissal from work,
retirement, change to different line of work, change in responsibilities
at work, outstanding achievement, trouble with boss, change in
working hours/ conditions) ​(Could we learn to use the workplace for
personal growth/ a career gym? I found a good site that talks about ​career
workout​ that consists of Career Fitness, Career Wellbeing and Career
Branding)
Wish you success in mastering the art of coping with stress.
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How to improve your coping skills?
Set a goal to ​become a go-to person​ by mastering the art and science of coping
with ​stress​.
Follow the ​LAST model​ to build your personal brand as a Guru of ​stress
management.
1. Learn​ - Invest time in learning different frameworks/ models/ techniques of
coping with ​stress
2. Apply​ -
a. Identify a model suitable to you
b. Create a template to document the flow of the process
c. Find opportunities to use the selected method/ template
d. Maintain record/ process flow of every important activities you did to
cope with ​stress
e. Maintain notes of your thoughts/ insights/ failures/ challenges…. to be
used for sharing/ training others
3. Share​ - Share the insights captured in step 2 above in a planned manner
(social media posts, blogs, videos, study notes…)
4. Train​ - Generate opportunities to train your peers and team members so
that, over time, your organization benefits from your efforts
Purpose of this document
I took a 66 day challenge​ to study Life Skills last year (10 April 2019). To my
astonishment, I succeeded in studying for 66 days one skill a day.
My objectives of learning these skills were - To strengthen my mind to face life’s
challenges with ease, To use these skills in my worklife for a better performance, To
use these skills in my personal life for enriching my relationships, To open new
possibilities to surprise myself.
This is my next 66 day challenge​ (from 10 April 2020) - To share my Life Skills
learning with my social media friends.
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I pray that my toil helps you in your success journey.
What are Life Skills?
UNICEF​ defines Life skills as - ​psychosocial abilities​ for adaptive and positive
behaviour that enable individuals ​to deal effectively with the demands and
challenges of everyday life​. They are loosely grouped into three broad categories
of skills
- cognitive skills​ for analyzing and using information,
- personal skills​ for developing personal agency and managing oneself,
- inter-personal skills​ for communicating and interacting effectively with
others.
Which LifeSkills are covered?
The ​World Health Organisation​ identified these basic areas of life skills that are
relevant across cultures:
1. Decision-making
2. Problem-solving
3. Creative thinking
4. Critical thinking
5. Communication
6. Interpersonal skills
7. Self-awareness
8. Empathy
9. Coping with emotions
10.Coping with stress.
Some trivia
‘Life skills’ was never part of the school curriculum. WHO/ UNESCO mandated
academia to teach these skills in all schools across the globe in 1993.
Different countries educate their children in these skills with different objectives
- Zimbabwe and Thailand - prevention of HIV/AIDS
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- Mexico - prevention of adolescent pregnancy
- United Kingdom - child abuse prevention
- USA - prevention of substance abuse and violence
- South Africa and Colombia - positive socialization of children.
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