Stress doesn\u2019t have to start at work to become a problem at work.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve had an argument with your partner the morning before work. You sit at your desk and see that your to-do list is miles long. Your colleague asks for a favour and you snap back at them.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t how you wanted to react, but the stress from the morning has affected your judgement. Now you\u2019re in trouble. And the domino effect goes on and on throughout the day\u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a fact that stress can cause us to make bad decisions. That\u2019s not rocket science (it\u2019s neurobiology actually). The Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC) is the newest part of our brain and sits just behind our forehead. It is our \u00a0decision-making centre, where specific neurons help us to make decisions.<\/p>\n
Stress actually disengages these brain cells.<\/strong><\/p>\n And when these brain cells are disengaged, our ability to think logically and rationally becomes impaired. In short, we make bad decisions.<\/p>\n The more stressed you are the worse it gets! \u201cMultiple stressors\u201d<\/strong> may add up to be even more potent, and they tend not to keep to neat little boxes for \u201cwork\u201d and \u201chome\u201d. Mortgage payments, illness, caring for a loved one and relationship breakdowns merge with high workload, antisocial hours and low levels of control.<\/p>\n But even though work may not have been the only cause of stress in this person\u2019s life, work will almost certainly have to deal with the consequences. Like poor performance, a disruptive influence on the team, absence and presenteeism.<\/p>\n As a manager, you can\u2019t expect to control what goes on in your employees\u2019 personal lives. You can however, help nurture an environment where situations like this are less likely to happen.<\/p>\n The reality is we all have a finite ability to cope with stress. A stress bucket if you like. The stresses and strains of life will inevitably start to fill up the bucket. And if it gets too full and overflows, bad stuff starts to happen. So how do we keep the bucket from overflowing?<\/p>\n Old attitudes like: \u201cif you don\u2019t like it you know where the door is\u201d or my favourite \u201cif you can\u2019t take the heat get out of the kitchen\u201d need to be sent to the vocab scrapheap.<\/p>\nAs an organisation, here are a few things you can do to help:<\/h5>\n