Good News – Some Stress is Good for You

If you’re feeling stressed at work, I may have good news. Some stress is good for you! According to research done by Elizabeth Kirby from UC Berkeley, we’re actually not optimal or happy unless we have a moderate amount of stress in our life.

1. Too little stress leads to boredom and even depression.
2. Too much stress leads to overwhelmed, feeling incapacitated and ultimately a meltdown.

Many of us are familiar with the latter point and try our best to reduce stress. This study is telling us however to have balance and explained a lot to me. Prior to getting a full-time job, I was working as a contractor for 6 years. It was a great lifestyle but at times I was bored. I wondered during that time why I wasn’t happy. It seemed I had everything I wanted. Now it all made sense. I may have made enough money, and had all the flexibility to have a family, but I wasn’t challenged enough. My brain wasn’t happy.

Why am I sharing this? Well, I came to learn from this experience that it’s important to our happiness to be at a job where we have just the right amount of stress to keep us at the top of our game. We feel more satisfied with life and progress of our career at the same time. Here are four signs that you have the right amount of stress

1. You’re learning at least 50% of the time. This means there are others at your job that you can learn from and you are also learning from trial and error.
2. Your key responsibilities are challenging but not impossible. Your job challenges your intellect and creativity. However, you know you have the skills to figure out the solution.
3. You have authority and accountability to do your work. It’s extremely stressful if you are accountable, but you actually don’t have any power to influence the direction of your work.
4. You have some “air cover” by your manager – Many things at work are out of your control. It’s important that your manager appreciates this by 1) providing escalation support when you need it, and 2) giving you the benefit of the doubt when things don’t go quite right.

At the end of the day, what I learned from Elizabeth Kirby’s research is that there are two different types of stress.

• Productive stress – This can be acute but short lived. Those feelings, such as nervousness or uncertainty that prompt us to push our intellect to figure out a new solution. You feel this as you’re asked to do something at work that you haven’t done before, but at the same time are excited to see if you can do it.
• Unproductive stress – This can be chronic and debilitating. This includes never-ending negative dialogue about things or people’s behavior that are outside of our control.

Next time you find yourself stressed at work, figure out if it’s productive or unproductive. You may be surprised that perhaps the stress you’re experiencing is exactly what you need to be happy and achieving at work. This new perspective can open up a whole new set of opportunities to enjoy your work and your journey toward a happier career and life.