How do you cope with stress?!

[Netwacky87]

Hey!

 

How do you guys cope with stress?...Im currently in a school with 3 techys (including me) and 2 of them are now away (1 with....stress ha, and other on paternity)

 

Im currently ripping my head off with work and stressing ALOT!

 

Mart

[lovelldr]

Hey!

 

How do you guys cope with stress?...Im currently in a school with 3 techys (including me) and 2 of them are now away (1 with....stress ha, and other on paternity)

 

Im currently ripping my head off with work and stressing ALOT!

 

Mart

 

Different people cope with stress in different ways. I personally don't let things piss me off as much as I should. My missus moans at me, because she feels that I don't get angry with things because of it. The other thing that helps me, is to just have a blast on the 360. Find that helps a lot

 

But my missus's does suffer with stress a lot, and I find that the reason she does, is because she takes things too seriously, and gets too wound up because of them! Dunno whether it's because she worries because of worrying that it looks bad for her in work, but I think that if I were too busy, it's their fault for not getting enough in! So you should try to relax a bit, if things are getting too much for you, tell the senior management that you can't be expected to do 3 peoples amount of work, and either they get off your back expecting so much, or get some relief work in!

[Netwacky87]

I must admit i thought i was the most easiest going bloke alive, nothing USED to bother me i was always relaxed and nothing used to get me stressed, but now god i go home every night worrying about what i haven't done! (its not that i havent done any work its jst theres to much to remember!)

 

I might try the 360 idea tonight!. Thanks!

[Friez]

I rant on the FFS forum mainly....

 

Over in this school support staff are "not allowed" to get stressed, although the teachers quite often go off ill on stress!

[StewartKnight]

Class 'A' drugs are the answer

[Friez]

Class 'A' drugs are the answer

What? like copious amounts of coffee?

[contink]

I found the biggest cause of stress was the lack of a decent reporting system. In a nutshell a teacher would hit a problem, during a lesson, tell the on-site designated IT coordinator and then forget all about it.

 

So, when I came into school:

 

If I was lucky, the tech contact would have remembered that there were 15 things that had been building up since 3 weeks hence and then "stresshead" teacher would come in like an avenging angel and demand to know why I hadn't fixed it.

 

If I was unlucky the tech contact would have forgotten the problem existed and I would go through a full day sorting out things that I did know about or been grabbed for and then start packing up.. only to then meet same avenging angel and have to stay till 7pm + resolving the issue (I work hourly so there's no contracted work hours to worry about but it's annoying as hell).

 

Net result was that the staff were stressed, I was getting stressed and nobody really accepted that the problem wasn't lack of care, just lack of communication.

 

My solution was rather simple.

1. Create a ticket/reporting system which in all cases was a simple book left in a specific place (usually the IT lab or staff room)

2. Get full agreement from all the heads that if a request or problem wasn't in the book I didn't know about it and it wasn't my problem for that visit. No report, no fix!

 

It took a while for avenging angels to get used to this but I had it in black and white and the heads have been backing me up, so now the onus is on the staff to remember to report a problem. I still have to chase every few days to see if anyone has put anything in the book but it has calmed things down a lot and because I get pre-warned I can prepare better and resolve issues a whole lot quicker.

 

QED: Less stress.

[Homer]

if i get really bad ill usually just rant to the other guys, but when i get home... hate to say it, but a good few beers helps unwind, with a bit of 360. and then sleep.

 

wake up the next morning feeling fine

[beeswax]

Unfortunately, it seems that one of the reasons you suffer stress is that you seem to care about what you're doing (worrying about what you haven't done). Being rational (ok, I'm one bloke doing the job of three, I KNOW I CAN'T COPE) in situations like this doesn't always work.

Do you get stopped in corridors by people with problems on the way from one job to the next? If you do, explain to them that you have so much work to cover, and can they please email you the problem as you can't be expected to keep all this information in your head. I've found that a proper massage, or going to the gym and beating the cr*p out of a piece of machinery helps. Avoid alcohol as a stress reliever.

Take the time to reflect on what you're being asked to do and see if you can alter some work patterns. It can be difficult when you're in the thick of it to raise your eyes from what you're doing, step back and say, "No, I can't do that yet." When you're being bombarded from all sides all problems can appear crucial. Don't work from home unless it's in your job description.

[Jake]

I handle stress by continually living in a fantasy world inside my head, conversations with myself and thought processes zipping off at random tangents. While people around me panic and devolve into stress related frenzy, I happily proceed with things surrounded by rainbow coloured skies and chattering bunnies offering me sumptuous amounts of cadburys fruit and nut.

[TechMonkey]

I find that a little sit down in our staff area down behind a wall so no-one can disturb me, possibly eyes closed so they really get the message, does wonders. Or a short walk carrying something that looks heavy so people don't try and stop you. Sounds counter productive to stop when you are mentally busy but it works for me.

 

Otherwise as others have said, find the source of the stress and see if you can fix it.

[OutToLunch]

I find that a little sit down in our staff area down behind a wall so no-one can disturb me, possibly eyes closed so they really get the message, does wonders.

 

I managed to read an extra h into that sentence somewhere and it made it infinitely funnier, you can probably guess where Did sound like good stress relief though. Don't know if you brightened my day or I brightened my own through reading too quickly but thanks anyway

[Netwacky87]

Or a short walk carrying something that looks heavy so people don't try and stop you

 

This DOESNT work at all, on the phone couple of days ago and some interupted me on it, i went a bit mad really. just common ignorance.

[rhyds]

I have taken up a new hobby to help calm the nerves, target shooting...

[SpuffMonkey]

I find a complete disassociation from the organisation is quite helpful for reducing stress. Internal amusement at their insect-like pretensions helps too.. Mwa..hahaahah

[Guest aliv25]

watch IT Crowd, the episode where the man with the stress machine demonstrates his invention.

[Netman]

all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play makes netman a dull boy all work and no play.....

 

huh? stress? what's that?

[phreak]

I try not to let stress bother me. When I walk out of the office I leave all my problems there. Just relax and think of the big picture. Your not a robot or a machine. You are only human and there is only so much that one person can do.

If people think you should be able to do more and you are working flat out then just tell them you cannot cope. Generally if you tell your manager that you are overloaded they will try help you. Of course if they ignore you or don't care then let their deadlines slip while you take care of all the other jobs you have to do. They will notice that you are overloaded soon enough.

 

If not then having a bottle of JD or a copius amounts of drugs nearby.

[stephenleak]

I don't suffer from stress, altho' my ex-wife-to-be reckons I am a carrier.

[Lee_K_81]

You could pin a job list somewhere visible, i.e. staff room, and then when people stop you tell them to put it on there (make sure you put your existing million and one jobs on there first). When people see the huge list of jobs they may back off a bit and realise that their problem is a bit insignificant, and can wait until the other staff get back.

 

Insist on everything in writing / email. 24hrs notice on resources. Try prioritising your jobs. i.e.

 

P1 (Urgent): Problem effecting whole school; or HT needs something

P2: Problem effecting a class of pupils / number of people

P3: Problem effecting one person / pupil

P4 (less urgent): Request for something that is not having an impact on T&L or peoples immediate jobs, things with deadlines a few days away etc.

[mattx]

Working in a school is a piece of pi55 compared to what I did in the private sector a few years ago.

I am not on constant call out, I get home at a good hour and I get time to spend with my family [ especially my kids ], I don't have my holidays cancelled like I used to, and I don't work for a bunch of clueless IT Managers.

 

Working for me in a school is stress free.

[chrbb]

Come home shout at kids, husband and cats - make up with husband!!! (Good stress reliever)

Don't worry about making up with kids or cats they've probably done something to deserve being shouted at anyway!

[ICT_GUY]

I work 37 weeks a year and 27 hours a week.

 

Compared to my previous job as a Prison officer this is as easy as it gets.

 

No weekends, no night shifts, no assaults, no uniform, no riots and did I mention every weekend off?

 

Now Having four kids three dogs three cats & four chickens at home, thats hard work. I come to school for a break.

[mattx]

I come to school for a break.

 

Tell me about it !!

 

/me goes off muttering about how people don't know they are born yet......

[OverWorked]

Exercise.

 

I took up running for half an hour twice a week, joined a Gym, and cut right down on alcohol. I now feel much better physically and mentally. I feel much more able to organise my time better at work, have more energy to get more done, and am more able to tell people I can't come straight away.

 

I used to go to the pub with a newspaper or play computer games in evenings but these made me worse. I'm still going to get Half Life 2 Episode 2, though!