Stress Management For Engineers (And Non-Engineers Too)

It's been a stressful week, month, or maybe even a year... If you are an engineer, you've probably went through this many times during your career. The stress just seems to never stop, there is always a problem to solve, a deadline to meet, an unhappy client  to deal with.

I remember growing up, watching my mom, who was a mechanical engineer, designing complex machine parts and drawing on a big drawing board (I even "helped" her a few times). That was her job as an engineer. She was always home on time, prepared dinner for the whole family, tended to our huge garden and animals in the barn. I'd never seen her stressed out or heard her complaining about her job.

Fast forward to today. Today engineers not only design and engineer complex technological systems, they also manage emails, watch budgets, decipher contracts, file forms, reports and deal with unreasonable clients. Go ahead, add to the list whatever else you're dealing with everyday. What used to be a three week turn around, is now done in three days. And on top of all that, today's technology allows you to be reachable any time of the day or night, and think about work round the clock. No wonder less and less students select engineering profession, especially women. No one wants a stressful job!

So what can be done to relieve the stress that engineering profession is facing lately? Here are a few ideas that can help manage the stress in your life. By the way, this doesn't just apply to engineering professionals, anyone, who find themselves in stressful jobs or life situations, can benefit from the tips below:

• Know your priorities. With modern advances in the technology we also gained some levels of attention-deficit disorder. We became impatient with ourselves and others requiring immediate attention and solutions. We jump from task to task trying to multitask and satisfy everyone and everything. We get frustrated at the end of it all, and end up unsatisfied and stressed out. One of the first steps in stress management is knowing what is important and prioritizing. Did you know that successful people make to-do lists everyday and stick to them? A to-do list helps you organize your time effectively and, especially, concentrate your mind on important things that need to be done. So, next time you stress about all the things you need to get done, and not enough time to complete them- write them down, prioritize and finish them one by one. Oh, and did you notice I said "finish"? If you don't finish and move on to the next item, your stress level will go up instead of down, because your wonderful brain will keep thinking about that unfinished task.

• Know your stress triggers. We all have tolerance points and triggers that control our stress responses. Knowing what they are and paying attention to them will help you stop stress from building up and exploding at the most inappropriate moment. Stress triggers are very personal and different for each person. We may also react to the same stress triggers differently in different situations. Making your own "stress profile" by writing down situations that you find to annoy you the most and cause you stress will help you recognize when a break is needed. Which leads us to...

• Schedule time to relax. What do you do when you feel stress building up? Or during your lunch break? Do you just plow through it? Eat your take-out at the desk while juggling the computer mouse to finish up the deadline or write an e-mail? I've done that many times, and truthfully, I didn't get ahead much or enjoyed my meal. I was stressed out and eventually, burnt out and got sick. Research shows, that just a 10 minute break can double your productivity, and a 7 minute exercise can help you ward off stress in, yep, 7 minutes.  By scheduling relaxation into your daily work routine (you can put that on your to-do list) you will cut your stress level and live longer too.

• Leave work at work. How many times did you send or received an email related to your work at 1 am in the morning? Yes, our technology allows us to do this, and you may think you are saving time since you can tackle other things when you get into the office in the morning. However, you are doing yourself and others a disservice by not respecting the rest time our bodies need. Your body and brain need personal time to rest, to repair and to prepare for the next day's problems; they need time with family and friends so you could grow and learn beyond your professional affiliation and become a valuable, authentic individual at work and in life. Same goes for vacation! Vacation is your personal recharge time. If you don't value your own personal time - nobody else will either.

• Forget perfectionism. The perfectionist engineer, always trying to tweak and refine products, improve systems and find perfect solutions.  Hint, they are never perfect... We stress about details sometimes loosing sight of what really matters. If you (yes, you know who you are) struggle with perfectionism you need to stop driving yourself and those around you crazy, and start curbing your perfectionism. Read more on how to do it here.

• Remember to have fun. What is your favorite thing to do not related to work? Do you enjoy happy hour with you co-workers after a long week of hard work? A drive with your family to the country? A game of chess? Bird watching? Dancing or going to the theater? Whatever it is, do it! Do it as much as possible. Because at the end of it all, your hard stressful job is not worth a thing if you cannot have fun.

Stress management is one of those things we don't know we need until it's too late. As I am writing this, I am recovering from yet another cold this year. I perfectly know why I got sick: I ignored signs my stressed body was trying to show me, plowing through my days at work and at home, until it decided not to cooperate with me and show me who's in charge. My bed is my boss today. Tomorrow, however, I am starting my life fresh with the stress management techniques I learned many years ago, but abandoned for the last month. I hope you will manage your stress better too.