Stress is increasing for many people due to various factors, but how can this unpleasant feeling be best reduced or, better yet, eliminated? If we take the wisdom “Less is more” to heart, the first goal is not just to view stress as a sum of feelings, but to analyze and break it down to its smallest components. A good guide for self-analysis is to review the stress factors or stressors. This article describes the five most common causes of stress to get to the root of stress, so that one does not only see stress as a symptom but directly searches for the causes.
The five most common stress factors
in everyday life
1. Stress Factor: Workplace Stress
As part of our regional business networks and the series of events “Entrepreneur Weeks,” we have emphasized the importance of work-life balance since early 2011 through events, keynote speeches, and personal conversations. Over 10 years later, it must be said that despite early recognition and identification of the challenges, many people have not been able to stop the train towards burnout or depression. On the contrary, in the daily lives of doctors, the issuance of sick notes for depression and burnout has become routine. Stress factors at work include:
- The requirement and expectation to be constantly reachable.
- If applicable, the flexibility in home office, with a tendency to work more.
- The fundamental performance pressure from individual goals, bonuses, or, for example, sales targets.
- The physical strain from long sitting, electronic radiation, and eye strain.
- Possibly existing job loss fears due to rising living costs and digitalization.
Tip: The most important tip for reducing stress at work is to take regular breaks and allow yourself sufficient time to rest. By intentionally stepping away from work, you can reduce stress, enhance overall job satisfaction, improve concentration, and increase productivity.
2. Stress Factor: Time Management
Lack of, unconscious, or inadequate time management often leads to overwhelm and the feeling of not being able to meet time demands, such as deadlines and appointments. This often results in increased tension and stress, as tasks pile up and deadlines approach. Effective time management, on the other hand, allows for prioritization, efficient task completion, and planned breaks. However, the pressure to strictly adhere to schedules and make every minute productive can lead to stress even with good management. Therefore, it is important to find a balanced relationship between structured time management and flexibility to minimize stress and improve quality of life.
Tip: The most important tip is to prioritize tasks and create a clear plan. By taking time at the beginning of the day or week to identify the most important and urgent tasks and structuring a detailed schedule, you can ensure that you are using your time optimally and focusing on essential tasks
3. Stress Factor: Finances
Financial worries: Money problems and uncertainty about the financial future can cause significant stress. The fear of debt, unemployment, or the inability to meet basic needs weighs heavily on many people. Financial worries are not exotic problems, but are ubiquitous and can be exacerbated by inflation. Financial pressure and uncertainty often lead to mental strain and consequently health issues. The higher the perceived financial pressure, the more advisable it is to seek professional advice, such as debt counseling.
The biggest financial worries include:
- Thinking about retirement and thus about pension provision.
- Concerns that unexpected costs, e.g., car repairs or medical expenses, may arise.
- Interest rate worries, affecting people who have debt and cannot pay off their credit cards.
- The concern about providing financial support for children who may still be studying.
- The increase in living costs through rent and rising food prices, especially for low incomes.
- Financial pressure regarding mortgage payments, especially with threatened jobs.
- Fears about general economic developments, markets, and even wars.
Tip: To cope with financial stress factors, it’s important to create and stick to a budget/spending plan. By establishing financial transparency, especially regarding fixed costs, you can better track your income and expenses, identify unnecessary expenditures, and ensure.
4. Stress Factor: Relationship Problems
Many relationship problems are often recognized too late due to a lack of awareness. Thus, it is not uncommon for the partner who is left to be surprised and seemingly out of nowhere by the end. Common wisdom says that stress in a relationship is normal and that ups and downs are part of a partnership. This normalization often leads to insufficient investigation into relationship stress factors because, after all, stress in the form of so-called small things or disputes is normal – or often even trivial? Once the status of “indifference” is reached, it becomes critical and risky in a relationship, so it is important to be mindful early through awareness and healthy self-criticism and to engage in prevention.
The most common conscious relationship problems include:
- Lack of trust due to experiences before or during the relationship, e.g., infidelity.
- Different views on financial expenses and necessities or financial pressure.
- Lack of equality in the relationship due to old or new role thinking.
- Unequal task distribution, e.g., the idea that “the man brings home the money and the woman takes care of the household.”
- Different goals, wishes, and values that may have changed during the relationship.
The most common unconscious relationship problems are:
- Communication problems, especially in conflict situations.
- Lack of patience, understanding, and emotional support.
- Openness and honesty, e.g., regarding intimate problems or desires. Jealousy, emerging doubts, and associated insecurity.
- External disturbances, e.g., from in-laws, environment, and social media dream worlds.
- Not only after a breakup or divorce do these topics come to the table.
- As soon as the first dissatisfactions arise, communication stops, trust is lost, and yet the relationship continues unconsciously, it can become more stressful than beneficial, even if the relationship seems to function for the sake of shared property or children.
Tip: To prevent or address relationship problems, open and honest communication is important. By actively listening and clearly communicating your own thoughts and feelings, you can work together to resolve misunderstandings, resolve conflicts, and build a deeper connection. Communication fosters understanding, and both empathy and mutual respect for each other promote a healthy and happy relationship.
5. Stress Factor: Technological and Natural Environmental Factors
We all know the reports of people who complain of headaches with rapidly changing weather conditions. However, few complain about other environmental influences, such as air pollution and traffic noise. Heatwaves are often seen more positively than negatively, but few are aware of the stress our bodies face and must resist unconsciously.
Over 10 years ago, an electro-smog consultant demonstrated to me what a Wi-Fi signal would sound like if we could hear it (bat or dog whistle effect). I was glad we couldn’t hear the radio waves and vibrations but shocked at what our bodies endure because the body perceives these signals, e.g., in sleep problems. Like everything in life, there are pros and cons to weigh, such as in the case of smart homes.
Tip: At least be smart and have the Wi-Fi signal automatically turn off at night to give your body complete rest.
Thomas W. Frick, Editor-in-Chief of the Business-IT Portal it-wegweiser.de
Very close to technological stress factors are often self-imposed compulsions, such as the supposedly necessary constant availability or unconscious information addiction via smartphones and emails. The constant use of social media and associated messenger communication (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.) are stress factors that create a certain pressure to stay informed and at the same time potential time wasters in personal time and self-management.
Distress versus Eustress
Stressors can trigger both distress and eustress in individuals, depending on the nature of the stressors and personal circumstances. While eustress is often viewed as positive stress that motivates better performance, distress leads to tension and negative stress reactions. Stressful situations such as financial worries or issues with a spouse can pose a threat to well-being and increase the production of stress hormones. Effective stress management is therefore crucial for coping with stress to minimize negative health effects. Through techniques such as targeted relaxation and good communication with a spouse, one can reduce tension and improve coping with stressors.
Additional stress factors and stressors
Of course, there are still other stress factors about which we will report in the future. In our editorial plan, we have already scheduled the following stressors:
- Parenting stress
- Stress from family / children
- Stress from illnesses and aging
- Stress from addiction problems
- Weight loss stress
- Athletic stress
- Media stress
So it is worth staying up to date with the following free update service, our information service:
Stay informed
With an anti-spam guarantee and the free information service, we provide you with compact updates on further articles, ideas, experiences, and projects from everyday life. Simply select your interests and topics here: https://tomfrick.de/infoservice/
