Why Do Stress Management Programs Fail?

Are we trying to solve the wrong problem? Work-Life Balance is one of my most requested speaking topics. Can I admit something? I hate the concept of Work-life Balance. Here are a few reasons why: First, Work-life Balance assumes that work and life exist separately from each other and if we just could keep one from interfering with the other everything would be great.  It also assumes one can offset the other, life is stress free and work is stressful.  Does that make sense? No. In the research I’ve conducted on job stress, fewer than ten percent of the more than 1000 people participating rated issues relating to work impacting life, or life impacting work as one of the top factors causing stress.  Even if we sort the data to look only at women with children, less than ten percent list caring for children (or any other work life issue) as a top stress factor. Which indicates we are addressing the wrong problem! If balancing our home lives and work lives isn’t the problem, what is?  The results were very interesting. We don’t have a balance issue, it turns out have issues with overwhelm and uncertainty. Which makes sense. The sheer number of things we need to do in and out of work crowd out time and energy to do things to reduce stress.  Time to spend connecting with friends and family, doing enjoyable hobbies, relaxing, or even just sleeping is often overtaken by the “to do list.” Why do stress management programs fail? Because we are trying to solve the wrong ...
Source: Embrace Your Heart Wellness Initiative - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Employee Wellness Job Stress Stress Management Source Type: blogs