Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

People who deal with stress remind us how to take control of that “out of sorts feeling” and how to avoid the kind of cortisol an angry customer might bring…. We are also told that on average 22 stressors hit us daily. I was wondering what these 22 might look like – and also wondered about responses in the brain that might help.

 1. The alarm goes off when you are in the deepest part of sleep and long before you are ready to rise.

2. You bulge over the waistline of your favorite slacks and don’t have time to change.

3. Your significant other is lively and cheerful while you feel like quiet and even a bit of gloom.

4. Gas is low on the car and you don’t have time to stop for a fill before work.

5. Roadwork keeps you waiting past the point where you can stop into Starbucks for the Latte you dashed out the door in time to grab.

6. No parking spot exists near your business, and most of those that belong to your firm are filled with people who work somewhere else.

7. Your top client quits because he’s not getting fast enough attention from you.

8. The boss wants to know why a top client quit and what you are doing about it

9. You left your agenda home – and after you'd called the meeting and then reminded people to be there and come prepared

10. The air conditioner broke and you wore a warm suit jacket

11. Your secretary is sick and you were the last one told about her absence

12. The person you dislike most at work just applied for the job you planned to go after

13. You forgot your lunch and there is no break to get out to get one because the secretary is away

14. Four negative reviews come back from your term review and the comments are anonymous

15. The phone rings more than usual and interrupts the white paper that you promised to have written by the end of the day

16. Your allergies go crazy because the guy down the hall brought his dog through your workplace and set them off – but you don’t have your Allegra with you

17. The man who wants your job, and often complains to others about you, according to co-workers – is all smiles and warm words – and you know he’s after something

18. The secretary calls to tell you she’ll be out for the week

19. The guy in the next section plays a jazz station all day, and you hate jazz but can't find words to tell him

20. You were in charge of the coffee this month and it has run out so you have no coffee and your co-workers remind you hourly why they too have none

21. The woman who chews gum loudly and talks endllessly on the phone, tells a bad joke – one that you’ve heard her tell many times –and that still isn’t funny

22. You head home – knowing there will be no dinner prepared tonight – instead you agreed to dinner out later with a person who loves hot and greasy food - and who talks about himself incessently

Whew, 22 stressors! What a tough challenge packed into one day, and we are said to have that many again tomorrow. Do you?

Some people go after their stressors with serotonin responses. Others find these stressors can stir up their cortisol hormones in ways that leave them angry, stressed or anxious. While stress literally shrinks the human brain, it often goes undetected and can even mask as diligence in some people.

Do you have any strategies that work well when stressors strike at work?