Learning as a Method to Cope with Work-Related Stress

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Learning as a Method to Cope with Work-Related Stress

Work-related stress, if not handled appropriately, can cause anxiety and anger, unethical behaviours, poor decision-making, and burnout and health issues. People usually try to deal with this stress in two ways. One is to focus on getting the stressful work done as quickly as possible. Another is to take a break like a holiday or another period of leave.

Unfortunately, both strategies have potential pitfalls:

• As humans, we have limits in coping with heavy workloads. Continuing to exert effort while stressed and fatigued will only exhaust us and introduce performance decline.
• And a getaway from the stressful environment can not solve the underlying problems that cause stress. When returning from a break, we not only face the same issues but also find ourselves more guilty and anxious.

Zhang, Myers and Mayer (2019) suggested a third option to manage the negative effects of stress: focusing on learning. Their research has provided evidence that learning, be it picking up a new skill, understanding new information, or seeking intellectual challenges, can save workers from suffering stress. This alternative does a better job of buffering the detrimental consequences of stress than other remedies such as relaxing at work. Learning has other benefits for workers as well. It brings in extra information and knowledge to solve our current stressful problems, equips us with new skills to solve or prevent future stressors, and helps us feel competent in achieving goals.

What can we do to increase learning when faced with work-related stress? The research also gives out three suggestions.

1. REFRAMING STRESSFUL WORK CHALLENGES IN OUR MIND. We can shift our mindset from "this is a stressful situation" to "this is a challenging but rewarding opportunity to learn". This approach enables us to handle the task with a growth orientation and longer-term gains.
2. GETTING INPUT FROM OTHERS. Discussing a stressor with trustful peers or colleagues may help us find hidden insights, either from their experience or from the questions and perspectives they raise.
3. MAKING LEARNING ACTIVITIES INTO A NEW FORM OF WORK BREAK. Learning something fits our interests, but different from the stressful work we are doing can boost us psychologically. Viewing learning as "additional work" only makes us more exhausted and stressed. But approaching it as a new form of retreat can create a positive and enjoyable experience on us.

❗Learn proactively, do not wait until stress rises. Even without pressing problems, embedding learning activities in our daily work helps us build personal resources and be ready for future stress.

Source: Zhang, C., Myers, C. and Mayer, D., 2019. "To Cope with Stress, Try Learning Something New". HBR, [online] Winter 2019, pp. 31-33.

		Comments by date▼ Comments by rating Rating
		3 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	How to Cope with Work-Related Stress by Learning? We at 12manage recommend a daily dose of 12manage 😃... Install our App (=search page).

		2 Jamie Lashley Accountant, Barbados
	Focus on Perspective I think that this response is insightful; I think it is all about perspective. I would say that sometimes the break away from work is necessary to re-energize you and to change perspective as well. The learning aspect reminds me of the saying, "If you focus on problems, you only get more problems". Our minds to be engaged - and that feels to me as the reason why learning new skills is key to coping.

		1 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Usefulness of Learning Against Stress As an alternative to getting stressful work done asap many people procrastinate (Editor: ~delay) or try to avoid it. For many, work based stress is either: 1. The result of the poor management style they suffer. 2. Self imposed though a distorted mindset or perception. Stress is removed by removing the cause. So, learning how to: - Manage one's manager can be highly stress-reducing (although having to think one second ahead of one's one-minute micro-manager could become a new source of stress) - Change one's perception and attitude to it, so it genuinely passes one by, will enable benefits; however, if it is simply a discounting approach it risks an underlying 'volcanic' type build-up. Learning new/additional skills/knowledge, directly related to the cause; so improving one's work skills/knowledge and increasing competence should improve confidence and reduce the opportunities for criticism so reducing being stressed. On the other hand, learning new knowledge/ skills that are not directly usable, but which will enable one to leave the situation, is OK too. But learning something that is applicable, but which one is not allowed to apply, may only increase the frustration and the stress. Most approaches simply allow one to live with stress (like taking an aspirin to temporarily remove a recurring headache). The stress of thinking about returning to a stressful situation seems more likely to destroy any benefits gained from a leisure or holiday break than not. Just learning new headache relief approaches i.e. 'relaxation' techniques and leisure pastimes or taking a holiday, which only temporarily mitigate the effect, is like using the milk out of a carton then re-filling it; over time the residue will slowly sour so that the fresh milk at each re-fill will be slowly then quickly 'turned'; in human terms a nervous breakdown. So, learning intended solely as a 'buffer' may have only limited benefit; learning orientated to removing the cause is more likely to have a high value benefit.

		4 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	The Main Causes of Stress This topic is concentrating on what you can do yourself to diminish stress by focusing on learning. And that is cool and can be helpful. However, let's not forget that the top-5 reasons for burnouts are all reported to be management-related. We should be aware of that as managers. So if an employee in your team is having a lot of stress, we should not only think: "What is she doing wrong?" but rather: "What am I doing wrong?"

		2 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	My Bad is your Bad @Jaap de Jonge: Yes, remember, behaviour is a result, of a cause. So, whenever someone is not behaving as you want them to and you want them to change their behaviour; change yours first. If you are...

		2 Usman Akbar Student (University), China
	One Who Holds the Stick, Owns the Cow I believe in "getting work done ASAP" or if that's not possible then "take a break". Learning comes with both, but when there are some steps in your work which heavily rely on an approval and are not ...

		2 Paul Bowes Director, Hong Kong
	Say 'No' if you Feel Overloaded Another good tool for stress is to learn to say No if you feel you are overloaded. As long as you are have an understanding leader and are able or express why, this can work well. Unfortunately much o...

		1 Syed Noman Mustafa Manager, Pakistan
	Causes of Job Stress in Organizations Job Stress in organization can basically be caused by 4 stressors: 1. Extra-Organizational Stressors 2. Organizational Stressors (Tight Control, Lack of participation in Decisions, Only Downword Com...