Soft Skill and Personality Development Chapter 4 – Stress Management 5th Sem B.

Com(OS)

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Introduction
Stress has become a common place term in this word of uncertainty, speed & expectations. Quite
often people talk about stress related to their work place or family life or travel from home to
office.
Meaning
Anything that makes you tense, angry, frustrated & miserable is called stress.
Stress is body experiencing wear & tear during change of environment produces physical &
emotional change that produces positive & negative feeling psychological & physical change
during threatening situation.
Definition
According to Selye, “stress is a condition of strain on one’s emotion thought process & physical
condition”.
Types of stress
It is based on 2 factors:-
A. Duration of stress feelings: How long stress factors continue to cause emotional
disturbance?
B. Time taken to recover: How fast the individual under stress can recover & return to normal
position?

1. High stress
Stress is high when he impact on mind & body of the individual is severe. It is difficult for
individuals to cope with.
Eg: week minded suffer from stress for long time when they loss job or a close associate.
2. Moderate stress
Stress levels are moderate, when the impact is less & individuals can easily cope with it.
Eg: when a person is transferred to a new place.
3. Low or Mild stress
Stress of this kind is common & necessary it makes individuals active.
Eg: students experience stress during examination, interviews & first day on job.
4. Distress

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Soft Skill and Personality Development Chapter 4 – Stress Management 5th Sem B.Com(OS)

It is negative side of stress & occurs when an individual is exposed to harmful stimuli or it is
extreme anxiety, sorrow/pain.
5. Eustress
It is the positive side of stress & occurs when an individuals is exposed to positive stimuli. It
leads to active functioning of individuals or it is good form of stress which helps individuals.
Linkage between Stress & Time management
Stress is closely associated with time pressure. Stress appears when work load is heavy & time
available to finish is limited.
 Time deadlines: most of work is time bound. Management students face semester work
load. Executives undertake projects or assignments for time period is specified.
 Last-minute rush: A common tendency found among many people is late start & last
minute rush. The progress is slow in the initial stage of work, with progress involvement
increases, commitment to finish strengthen, time pressure leads to some stress.
 Work-home transition: during the last minute of work time, employee experience stress
relating to completion of work in time. To an employee who has planned his work & finished
it in time, assigning of work by the boss in the last minute may create stress.
Several Time Management technique can be helpful to relieve one from stress
o Work schedule: they will help plan & complete the work in time. They reduce uncertainty in
day’s work & normalize the pace of work.
o Prioritization: it helps to finish the important tasks first. Thus major sources of stress are
eliminated.
o Personal assistants: secretaries can help organize appointments & screen visitors. Sometime,
they can solve the problem & reduce work burden of managers.
o Delegation: assignment of work to subordinates with requisite authority can be one way of
reducing work burden.

Sources of stress
Conditions that cause stress are called stressors, these may arise from problems of family, job or
study. Friends & relatives.& society.
Source High stress Moderate stress Low stress
type
Self Personal injury or illness Conflict with spouse Family celebration
Family & Ill health of family member Mortgage of property Change in recreation
relatives Death of close family Child leaving home
member Trouble with in laws
Marriage Children admission to
Martial reconciliation school
Job Organization of events Trouble with boss Passive participation in

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Soft Skill and Personality Development Chapter 4 – Stress Management 5th Sem B.Com(OS)

Project work Job change conference & meting

Job interview Transfer on request
Loss of job
Retirement
Study Failure in examination Monthly examination Class work recreation
Preparation to competitive Seminar paper Change on school
examination First day in school, Change in wok hours
college
Events Major accidents Minor violations of Vocation
War the law Festivals
Earthquake Agitations & strike
Floods

Stress Management
Stress management is process of planning, organizing, directing & controlling the prospective
sources of stress.
Features of stress management:
 Nobody can eliminate stress
 Use it for your advantage
 Absence of stress may leave one feeling bored
 Some can with stand stress & cope up with it
 Avoid exposure to stressors that you cannot change
 Accept that you cannot change or avoid
 Increases control over emotional stress experience
Principles of Stress Management
1. Develop positive attitude towards life: The first requirement for stress free life is positive
outlook & optimism. If one is positive in his or her thinking, every problem becomes an
opportunity. Life is viewed as a series of episodes that brings happiness & sorrow.
2. Set reasonable goals for yourself: In most of the cases it is our ambitions, desire & goals
that lead to depression when we cannot accomplish. Achievers set goals that are neither too
high nor too low to make life challenging but depressing.
3. Resist working long hour or accepting overtime: working long hours is not the right way
of achieving goals of our life or finishing work on hand. Find smart ways of doing work.
Innovate new approaches of methods. They make life interesting & provide you with leisure
time.
4. Volunteer for flexible or alternative work schedule: when you have multiple
responsibilities that demand your time simultaneously, flexi time is the best answer. You can
phase out your work and concentrate on each responsibility in a relaxed manner.

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Soft Skill and Personality Development Chapter 4 – Stress Management 5th Sem B.Com(OS)

5. Identify the people who cause stress avoid them: some people are by nature bullies. They
irritate by their speech & action. Avoid the peoples who spoil your moods. Keep the peace
breakers at distance.
6. Develop a simple method of organizing things & adhere to it: Develop a sense of
orderliness or self-discipline in managing resources &things, people tend to forget where
they have placed a document or let keys, mobile phone etc.. People with forgetfulness will
have everyday stress of searching to find things they have misplaced.
7. Avoid procrastination: stress in most of the cases is created by negligence & avoidance.
One will be regular & punctual in his or her wok. Such people will not have pending works
& anxiety related to them.
8. Step back from stress & decide whether you need to fight every battle: in taking up new
ventures, use peace of mind. You may be risking your future & also creating source of stress.
Do not be allowed by every opportunity & do not be scared by every threat. Develop your
intuitive powers to sense the right & wrong moves.
9. Consult with trusted friends before becoming involved in new activities: to fortify your
decisions, consult your friend. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Take his counsel & move
ahead. They examine decisions from the angle of your wellbeing.
10. Develop a balance of physical, emotional, mental & spiritual capacities: develop
emotional intelligence to enhance resilience & raise high stress threshold. This is possible by
physical exercises, mental exercises & spiritual exercises. One important therapy for instant
relaxation is laughing.
Measures to manage stress
One should think positive & adopt the right ways of solving the stress related problems. The
helpful mechanisms & elements are as follows:
Defense Mechanism Elements
Physical defenses Sleep, drinks, balanced diet, exercises like
laughing, walking, jogging, swimming &
sports
Mental defenses Recreation through music, dance, reading,
viewing TV
Relaxation by moving to a different place like
museums, beaches &parks
Religious defenses Prayer, worship & pilgrimages
Spiritual defenses Yoga, meditation & pranayama
Social defenses Counselling by professionals, treatment by
family doctor, moral boosting by friends &
relatives.
Health care defenses Mind & body treatment like body & head
massage
Functional defenses Self-instruction, self-control & time
management

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