BACK TO SAMPLES
by Roxanne Martinez
Sound familiar? Unfortunately, your job could be causing you more than headaches and frustration these days. Chances are, you are more than 60 million women suffering from fatigue, weight gain and a low libido, or sex drive, due to stress.
Yes, it's true. Stress from the office can cause you to kick your romantic evenings to the curb. Stress can put your hormones out of whack and cause thunder clouds to develop on the horizon. The biggest stress culprits at work include your role in the company, career development, interpersonal relationships and organizational structure. So what's a woman to do when daily deadlines and pressure from her supervisor takes the wind out of her sails?
"Step back, look at life and try to eliminate some of the stress," recommends Dr. Brent Bost, board-certified specialist in obstetrics and gynecology and author of The Hurried Woman. "Work a less stressful job or work smarter." Although you may not be able to steer clear of all workplace stressors, much of the stress you get from work is avoidable or could be managed better.
If stress from your job continues to put a damper on your personal life, Bost suggests consulting with your doctor immediately. Your doctor can test you for other health problems that may make you lose that loving feeling, including anemia, low thyroid, and some infections and other metabolic problems. Another major medical problem that needs to be evaluated early is the possiblity of depression.
"Don't wait until you get there," Bost says. "Think of what stress you can get rid of now."
Make Yourself a Priority by Reducing Stress
Establish time limits and emotional boundaries at work.
Pace yourself. Decide the order in which you will complete your work and how fast you will do each task.
Review your priorities for the day before you begin working each day. Going through your priorities will help you separate between what you want to do and what you must do.
Try to leave at a specific time each day. The more time we spend at work, the less time and energy we have to expend for ourselves.
Set limits on "electronic leashes." If you're not on-call for your work, make sure you're not checking email and voicemail after hours.
Try to set aside time each day to get away from the office. Using your lunch hour or 15-minute break to separate us from what's going on at work is invaluable for creating an emotional boundary.
Take vacations. It is important to take time off from work to invest in activities that bring us pleasure.
Consider what you enjoy most about your job. Is it work itself or the praise and recognition you receive? If it's the latter, you may be placing yourself at the mercy of the people to whom you report.
You deserve time for yourself. When your workday is over, leave work thoughts at work. Remember, the work will be there tomorrow.
