Job Stress and Tactics for Coping

Many Americans are currently in debt up to their eyeballs. This situation was bad before, but with the sky-rocketing cost of petroleum over the past couple of years it is rapidly approaching a national crisis.

With mounting costs and the struggle to keep paying bills, American workers are more stressed about their jobs than ever before. Many of us lie awake at night wondering what we'll do if we lose our job in the next lay-off. The increasing off-shore outsourcing practices of many companies has cycled into recurring domestic reductions in force (RIF) that many individual workers in the U.S. cannot avoid, regardless of how well they perform their jobs or their previous loyalty to their company. Yet they struggle to work harder, and they worry about whether they will be the next pink slip recipient.

Living with constant worry about income sources is detrimental to physical and mental health. Many folks, however, cannot simply decide not to worry about it.

The key to stress-free employment is in reducing the dependency you have on your full time job.

When you have only one source of income, the importance of that source rises to the highest level among all your priorities, overshadowing your commitments to family, church, and recreational time. Some advisers will tell you to deal with stress by reserving time to relax or taking a vacation, but this only gives you a brief respite at best. These activities are mere distractions from job stress. When you return from vacation, all the same old fears and worries are waiting for you.

I've found the best way to deal with the stress of having a full time job is to not have to have a full time job.

Multiple sources of income are the key to working stress-free at your full time job. There are many ways to accomplish this. I currently devote time to running three part-time jobs that do not require me to commit to specific hours or deadlines. I can put as many hours or as few per month into them as I want. One of those part time endeavors is in the writing of this article. My normal job as a solutions architect has nothing to do with it. I earn extra money from my free lance writing work, and I enjoy it. I rest easy knowing that if one day my employer should inform me that my services are no longer needed, I can devote all that time that I was spending working my full time job to writing articles, and I will immediately ramp up my earnings to cover necessary expenses.

Besides free-lance writing, I have also acquired a full compliment of professional woodworking and construction machinery over the years as a fairly expensive hobby. In the event I lose my regular job, and there is a sudden drop in demand for my services as a writer, I can instantly start earning money as a handyman, finish carpenter, or cabinet maker.

Having these opportunities to rely on makes my full time job less stressful, because I know my entire livelihood doesn't depend on the decisions of corporate officers who are outside my area of influence. I have more control of my income than the company does, in the end.

This isn't only good for my mental and physical health, it's good for my employer as well. Employees with low stress levels are less likely to have conflict on the job and make better workers over the long term.

Instead of worrying that you will lose your job, plan to lose your job.

I'm not saying plan to quit or get yourself fired, I'm saying plan as if you knew you were going to get layed off in the near future. Think about the things you love to do and focus on how those activities could make money. Think about the skills and talents you have and what businesses they would be complimentary to. If nothing comes to mind, then think about the simple things. Mowing lawns, odd jobs, and crafts are all money-making opportunities that can be started small while you still have a full time job. Building up a reputation and small but loyal clientele now will enable you to expand the business quickly in the event you find yourself with large amounts of time to devote to it because you lost that old job.

With confidence, you will be able to ignore the worries about whether you keep your full time job or not. The thought of losing it will become something you foresee as a temporary inconvenience, rather than a life-threatening crisis constantly looming over you.

Good luck, and I pray you have a successful and content life!