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Stop chasing the carrot
The pressures of having to keep up with the fast pace of technology, work, information, and even your colleagues can cause a lot of unnecessary stress. The good news is that it's largely a self-inflicted problem and entirely preventable. Going against popular business belief, and possibly raising the ire of some buzzword-wielding management types, I'm going to give two important pieces of advice here: Firstly, realize that you can't do it all; secondly, multitasking is absolute bunk.

The do-it-all and multitasking mentality is a myth perpetrated on an individual to try to get a single person to accomplish the work of three -- without the salary. The human mind isn't wired to carry out multiple complex tasks simultaneously. The more you try to do concurrently, the lower the attention given to each individual task. You end up racing to get more done only to discover that you've actually accomplished very little.

Learn to delegate
Many eager beavers have a Superman complex, believing that saying "no" and delegating work to, or accepting help from, colleagues is a sign of weakness. As a result, they try to save the world by taking on everything that comes their way with little thought as to whether they can actually do it or not. They hoard work to place their mark on it, to get recognition, and to show their bosses that they're the "go-to guy or gal". But when their schedule is so tight that a sneeze could set them back, they place a lot of undue pressure and stress on themselves.

Quit worrying about things beyond your control
I read a very apt and pithy saying a long time ago: "Worrying is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere." Throughout your professional life, you're going to experience some things that are totally beyond your control such as organizational restructuring. While it's human nature to worry about these sorts of things, try to realize that worrying or obsessing about these situations will not change the outcome of these situations. Your work and personal life will simply suffer as a result of the "rocking".

Closing Thoughts

Personal health is often spoken of as a footnote -- if at all. Employees are driven to the brink of burnout and required to deal with the stress of their bosses' expectations on their own time -- what little of it they have. And when they're unable to cope, they're chastised for not being able to perform their duties. Unfortunately, these conditions are considered the norm. Although the prevailing mentality of today's business environment is productivity at all costs, when this productivity comes at the expense of those charged with achieving it, we're doing more harm than good.

Paul Chin (www.paulchinonline.com) is a freelance writer and IT consultant. He has previously worked in the aerospace and competitive intelligence industries as a software developer and intranet specialist. He currently writes on a wide range of IT topics, including systems development and security, digital communications and media, content management and web design.

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