Yes, learning to deal with stress is a process and doesn't happen overnight. It sounds like you've been faced with some challenges lately Julynn. They sound tough but may have also given you good practice at learning to cope.
That's tough Thomas, and a common challenge for many instructors. You might have to ask for some flexibility when scheduling appointments.
That's a tough one. There are some professions that we can't talk about when at home. If you'd like someone to lean on, try finding someone to talk to who is working in your field.
Some of the major stressors in my life include my family, continuing my education in my Ph.D program, my work performance, maintaining my household, my health. The list goes on and on. However, I know there are many effective ways to handle these major stressors in my life and in my career.
Here are some of the additional categories based on my own personal needs; My sons education along with all of his extra curricular activities; maintaining a quality classroom; completing my degree program and paying for it without going broke; making sure my home is financed monthly for my family and myself; maintaining a healthy lifestyle by making sure I go in for regular check ups, me and my family.
All of these are my every day stressors.
I try not to let the things I can not control stress me out and the stressors I can control, I have made a commitment to not allow myself to go over board with stressing out about them.This module helps to put all of those stressors into a meaningful category.
Kim
I have begun to realize that I had not been allowing myself any time to vacate the area, look for a change of scenery, and simply relax for myself. In the past year, I have begun to take long weekends to various places and have the time to reconnect with myself and my interests. With the stresses associated with family demands and career expectations, I had stopped looking after myself. With the development of health issues, I came to the realization that this had to change. I now find I can be more patient with the demands placed on me and more productive in getting things accomplished.
Making time for ourselves to relax and regroup is a necessity in dealing with life demands!
There are many causes of stress in my life. I try to deal/cope with them in an organized manner. The career stress comes with being in Law Enforcement and teaching my students to understand the unpredictable situations that one can end up in if properly prepared for the job.Personal stress is trying to seperate home from work. Leaving the job at work and not bring it home to the family.
What you see and encounter on a day to day basis in my chosen career is not a topic you can bring to the Dinner Table.
One source of stress is the fact that my schedule changes every six weeks. It is hard to plan appointments weeks in advance.
I need to provide responses in a short period of time and it seems like the assignment due dates keep coming one after the other. By the time I finish grading one assignment, it is time to grade the next. This really doesn't help with my family situation. Of course, my work situation is a high priority as well. Working on my dissertation and fixing up the house doesn't help either.
Very interesting about the effect of exposure to traffic exhaust. I have not heard of that before but if it's true, we should all be taking extra C!
Yes, it's very frustrating when you know you're stressed out but you don't know why. Taking a step back and refocusing can help. Talking to others can help too as they often have a unique perspective on our challenges.
I have so many stress factors I can identify in my life, probably some that are not uncommon to many. I was laid of from my primary job in 2008, it was a great, job, great pay. I was not wealthy, but I was living well and providing for my family. It has been complete stress not being able to provide and pay basic bills.
I understand that we must adapt to some stressor and perhaps change the situation if possible or just adjust to the stressor but that is easier said than done. It is a fact that when you resolve one issue, another one arises quickly, the key is learning how to deal; thus the lesson identifying stress and handling it.
I do agree that some people do not realize what is causing their stress and stressors are different for each person. Organization and trying to meet expectations are two more stressors.
Kimberly Smith
Many stressors are caused by everyday interactions that we normally do not pay much attention to. Many people stress during slow traffic or traffic jams. Some nutritionists point out that 45 minutes in traffic exhausts one's supply of vitamin C in the body. This then opens a person up for the opportunity to become ill. This is a side effect of logistical factors in regards to the time constraints experienced by commuters and the illness becomes a stressor as well. Stressors include:
Start time of course
Time in between classes
Needs of students
Temperature and environmental factors of the classroom
James
Melody:
I too have the challenge of finding time for the family. I have found that it is how I prioritize that causes this to happen. I have learned to include me on the to do list so that I have the energy and postiive mental outlook for the remaining priorites. I have started playing golf as an outlet and reading fun material which seems to help. I tend to be more efficient at the other areas when I function in this manner.
Part of my daily stressors have to do with my inability to set limits or say no. I get so overwhelmed by taking on too many projects at once whether they were initially my problems or not. I sometimes work 16-17 hours a day, not having time for my family which causes me a great deal of stress. First thing I am going to do is make a "to-do" list and stick to it and realize that I may not accomplish everything on that list today but I can always do the rest at another time. I will also try not to bring my day job home with me and spend more time with my family.
I believe stress is caused by poor time management which can happen if you are taking on too many tasks. I think sometimes we forget that frustrations will pass and we need to move on.
I would have to say that most of my stressors definitely originate in the workplace. Even among stressors that have been identified in the training as originating in personal life, specifically expectations of family and friends related to my less-than-typical work schedule, many of my stressors are clearly related to work demands and concerns.
Current stressors for me include some issues with our learning environment. As I write this, we are unable to get to and use some of our equipment because it is stored in an area where other, newer items have been stored directly in front of the equipment we need. As a result, while planning and teaching classes during this term, I have had to make adjustments to – or eliminate- some of our hands-on lab work. The immediate stress of this is obvious and added to by trying to meet the needs of other instructors who also need equipment for their classes. Like other instructors participating in this forum, I am very concerned with making sure our students obtain the knowledge and skills they need for their new career fields, and the conflict I’m experiencing because of this issue is definitely a source of stress for me. Not being able to solve it despite putting time and effort into it increases my sense of conflict, as does the reaction received from others when I try to address the issue.
When I first started teaching, I found it very stressful – it takes quite a bit of time and experience to come up with routines and skills to help cope with the demands. I still experience stress attempting to work with students who seem unmotivated to come to school, be on time, be prepared, and do work. The conflict there is clearly one of my expectations that students ‘be where they need to be, when they need to be there, and do what they need to do, when they need to do it’ not matching up to the reality of student behavior. I have noticed that, personally, I sometimes experience much more stress over this conflict than a particular student feels toward it. This provides me with the opportunity to realize such stress is not productive and certainly does nothing to move us toward a solution.
I have many causes of stress. First, I worked a full time job as a math coordinator. I have to prepare syllabus for all the math instructors at the beginning of a semester. I have to teach four classes with labs. I also have to prepare tests for department exams. On top of that, we are creating three new math courses, and I am the only full time math professor at my school.
Second, I teach another four classes at another school. The commute between these two school takes an hour. It take me a total of four hours each day to commute between home and schools.
Third, I teach two online classes. I have to grade many homework assignments and post all the grades within 72 hours of deadline.
I have to teach a total of 10 classes from 7:45 am to 9:50 pm, Monday to Saturday. I don't have a life with my family and friends. By the time I get home, I fall in sleep right away. The thing is I am newly weds. I want to spend time with my husband and have a baby. Due to my busy work schedule, I have to give up my family time. I need to find the balance between work and family.
For the last two weeks, I have been going through a higher degree of stress than normal. I have started transitioning into a new position at work while still teaching, doing my own online classes, being a mom and wife, building a new house, etc...Starting in October, I will no longer be teaching but will be full blown into the new position. I think by then things will calm down. Other things that are general stressors for me would include students and student needs (they always seem to need to change their schedules or have some type of drama going on), dealing with clients and the front desk, my commute and my online classes.
Sounds like you thrive on organization Rory. Some instructors do and others don't. But knowing yourself, sounds like it's time to get organized and more stress free because of it.
