Allocating Stress

A recent stress poll on the Internet representing over 3,000 responses asked people," What area of your life causes you the most stress on a regular basis?"
"My job" was 30%; "My finances" 20%;"My relationships" 20%; "My children" 10%;"School" 10%;"Other" 10%. The answers pretty much fall into a typical response pattern among all surveys when you try to categorize stress. However, the stress you have at home when you have an argument with a loved one is carried into the office/school/etc. and can be compounded. So, is the correct answer that your stress is created in your relationship or at work or both? Does it matter?
We think it does and here's why. One of the first things you need to do in proper stress management it to uncover the stressor(s) that are helping to cause your irritation or stress level. If the truth is your finances are causing you and your partner to argue at home and this leads to you being short with co-workers, then the finances are the stressors that need attention and not necessarily your interpersonal relationship with your co-workers.
So, when looking at these research reports about where most people's stress is coming from, we look with a crooked eye since there is so much crossover amongst the common areas of stress producing events and opportunities. Finding the original source of conflict is the key to reducing stress across all areas of your life. One of the challenges of corporate stress management is working with your employees to reduce the stressors of the workplace, taking in mind that many, if not most, of the issues may have originated at home or elsewhere.
We are all stress carriers to some degree, but need to be mindful that the original source of stress is what we need to focus on for maximum benefit and resolution of the problem.
Bring your stress over to www.stressless.com and hang out.