Chapter 9. Stress Management


Stressed? Of course you are! You're a system administrator!

I'm not a doctor, and I'm not an expert on stress, but I will share with you what little I've learned over the years. I'm quite a stress puppyask anyone I've worked with. However, I think I manage it better than I used to.

This chapter is about some common sources of stress and what to do about them, some advice about vacation time, and a little story about how I learned to relax. It is advice that I've found myself giving time and time again, sometimes when lecturing on the road or when socializing with fellow system administrators or coworkers. A lot of this is more philosophy than science. It is not a complete or scholarly discourse on the subject, but it should give you some useful advice and point you in the right direction to find more information.

Stress is the wear and tear that our bodies and minds feel when things change. There is positive stress and negative stress. Positive stress adds anticipation and excitement to our lives, helps us be creative, helps us win a race or an election, or pushes us beyond what we previously thought were our limits. Negative stress is destructive. It causes heart disease, depression, and gray hairs. Managing stress is a big part of maintaining good mental health.

Oddly enough, the same situation can be positive stress for one person and negative stress for another. It's all about how we deal with it. For example, people have different reactions to compliments from a manager. For some, such a thing would be good. Others might have the opposite reaction. They might think, "Oh, now I'll always be expected to be so successful! I can't handle the pressure!" They might think, "He said that in front of everyone. Now they all hate me!" and worry that the rest of the group might be jealous and vengeful.

It is not what happens to us that causes stress, it is how we react to what happens to us. I've found Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (Collins) and The Feeling Good Handbook (Plume) to be extremely helpful and highly regarded books in the area of managing stress in productive ways. Many people have turned their lives around with the help of these books.

We must work hard at relaxing so that we get good at it. We have to intentionally set aside time to relax and develop the discipline to not postpone it. It's mental hygiene. You can skip brushing your teeth now and then, but in the long run you will suffer. Similarly, you can skip the things you do for mental hygiene now and then, but in the long run you will suffer. The more you practice relaxation, the better you get at it.

The smokers I know all seem to be so relaxed at work. I don't think it's all about the nicotine. I think it's the fact that they take themselves out of the office every couple hours (we don't permit smoking inside the building). That breaks up the day. Stress builds a little, then is reduced by going outside. Their stress builds, then they go outside. I'm not recommending smoking, but I do encourage you to go outside every couple of hours, stretch your legs, and get some perspective.





Time Management for System Administrators
Time Management for System Administrators
ISBN: 0596007833
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 117

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