Stress and work life balance

Working in a marketing agency is stressful and you often find before long you are working 60 hours per week, late nights and weekends keeping up with client / internal demands.

70% of marketing agency workers reported their health suffered in 2013.

Do you suffer from stress in your occupation? and what do you do to try and maintain and keep work life balance?

They say a little bit of stress is good for your immune system, but too much stress will kill you (as it did my uncle who ran his own ice cream business which ran up massive debts and he did not bother to share this with his family; he was a heavy smoker too).

When you say 'suffer from stress', do you want to expand on what you mean by this?

They say a little bit of stress is good for your immune system, but too much stress will kill you (as it did my uncle who ran his own ice cream business which ran up massive debts and he did not bother to share this with his family; he was a heavy smoker too).

 

When you say 'suffer from stress', do you want to expand on what you mean by this?

The working long hours sickness and depression stress.

It can cause a lot of problems.

It's very difficult and stressful, try and put your phone on silent for half an hour and put it out of sight, nothing that bad will happen

They say a little bit of stress is good for your immune system, but too much stress will kill you (as it did my uncle who ran his own ice cream business which ran up massive debts and he did not bother to share this with his family; he was a heavy smoker too).

 

When you say 'suffer from stress', do you want to expand on what you mean by this?

Whos they?

Isn't the answer to find something else? Either a job with less stress or work for yourself and at least get the rewards the pain deserves?

You are right to be concerned as stress is a major cause of health issues

If it weren't for that fact that i'm part time (and I do use the term part time lightly!), I would be stressed for sure in my job! I get the reprieve of a few days off a week to recouperate unlike the poor full timers there.

We are massively under staffed and put upon by the incometance of other departments. I am paid for 22.5 hours per week, yet on average, I have to work an addition 6 hours per week (for free, and without thanks i might add as has become expected over the years) to fit the workload in. To be fair, I'm lucky - the full time staff in our department give the company many more free hours per week than I have too, sometimes up to a few days worth of work. If we should complain, they have no hesitation in showing us where the door is and make it very clear that no one is irreplacable!

To add to this situation, we currently have 3 members of staff off sick out of 10 of us (one of these people is long term due to depression brought on by the ever increasing demands of the job) so the rest of us are having to pick up the slack yet again!

It's crap but it's a decent wage in comparrison to what's available out there (hence why we all still turn up!). It's the complete unappreciation and expectancy that stresses us all out. Rant over!

---------- Post added 05-01-2015 at 22:59 ----------

Isn't the answer to find something else? Either a job with less stress or work for yourself and at least get the rewards the pain deserves?

 

You are right to be concerned as stress is a major cause of health issues

Personally, I'd love to do just that but sadly it's not that easy - believe me, I've looked! There's nothing out there which matches the hours I need for the salary I'm on whilst ever I'm tied to my current child care situation. The minute my little boy is old enough to look after himself for a little while before and after school, the chains are broken and I'm a free woman work wise! Full time work for a nice company, here I come!

Until then, my little one comes first so I'll continue to suffer to perils of my current stressful job (unless the hubby should get a massive payrise or my lotto numbers come in that is!)

Isn't the answer to find something else? Either a job with less stress or work for yourself and at least get the rewards the pain deserves?

 

You are right to be concerned as stress is a major cause of health issues

Depends on the journey. Doing something new is always an option.

---------- Post added 05-01-2015 at 23:03 ----------

What i find is i can only work 100mph before a crash. I guess the secret is to find a balance.

working on the checkout at ASDA can be stressful (so I have heard...)

It depends on the task(s) you have to do and your coping mechanism for doing them.

One of my running buddies works on a suicide prevention team & with people recently bereaved by suicide.

I would guess that would be quite stressful for most of us but he loves it.

edit.

Oh and this work life balance stuff is a load of bunkum.

In the middle of the second decade of the 21st century (just think about that for a second) there is only life and you gotta fit everything into it. Like it or or not.

Working in a marketing agency is stressful and you often find before long you are working 60 hours per week, late nights and weekends keeping up with client / internal demands.

70% of marketing agency workers reported their health suffered in 2013.

 

Do you suffer from stress in your occupation? and what do you do to try and maintain and keep work life balance?

I thought you were a big hiring and firing manager, what will all your interviewing experience.

I find that being self employed and working for clients for a limited duration allows me to stay relatively detached from their problems. I come in, I do the work required, I leave. I don't do any unpaid overtime, I don't take work home with me (literally or figuratively) and I could (although don't) take as much holiday as I like to help me cope.

---------- Post added 06-01-2015 at 08:47 ----------

If it weren't for that fact that i'm part time (and I do use the term part time lightly!), I would be stressed for sure in my job! I get the reprieve of a few days off a week to recouperate unlike the poor full timers there.

We are massively under staffed and put upon by the incometance of other departments. I am paid for 22.5 hours per week, yet on average, I have to work an addition 6 hours per week (for free, and without thanks i might add as has become expected over the years) to fit the workload in. To be fair, I'm lucky - the full time staff in our department give the company many more free hours per week than I have too, sometimes up to a few days worth of work. If we should complain, they have no hesitation in showing us where the door is and make it very clear that no one is irreplacable!

To add to this situation, we currently have 3 members of staff off sick out of 10 of us (one of these people is long term due to depression brought on by the ever increasing demands of the job) so the rest of us are having to pick up the slack yet again!

It's crap but it's a decent wage in comparrison to what's available out there (hence why we all still turn up!). It's the complete unappreciation and expectancy that stresses us all out. Rant over!

 

---------- Post added 05-01-2015 at 22:59 ----------

 

 

Personally, I'd love to do just that but sadly it's not that easy - believe me, I've looked! There's nothing out there which matches the hours I need for the salary I'm on whilst ever I'm tied to my current child care situation. The minute my little boy is old enough to look after himself for a little while before and after school, the chains are broken and I'm a free woman work wise! Full time work for a nice company, here I come!

Until then, my little one comes first so I'll continue to suffer to perils of my current stressful job (unless the hubby should get a massive payrise or my lotto numbers come in that is!)

Sacking you for complaining about unpaid overtime would be illegal.

---------- Post added 06-01-2015 at 08:50 ----------

 

Oh and this work life balance stuff is a load of bunkum.

 

In the middle of the second decade of the 21st century (just think about that for a second) there is only life and you gotta fit everything into it. Like it or or not.

I totally disagree. Work is something that most of us have to do to pay for the rest of our life.

Sure, the phrase is a bit trite, because you're still living whilst you're working. But it really means a balance between work that you have to do, and the rest of your life doing things that you want/chose to do.

If I could work 1 day a week and earn as much as I do now, then I'd consider the balance to have shifted dramatically in favour of "life", since I'd have so much more free time to do as I please.

Oh and this work life balance stuff is a load of bunkum.

 

In the middle of the second decade of the 21st century (just think about that for a second) there is only life and you gotta fit everything into it. Like it or or not.

Your chronological reference is redundant, for every person since the year dot there has only ever been "one life" and every person has always had to "fit everything into it, like it or not".

Work-life balance is a matter of personal priorities/values and professional aptitude, contrasted by the job market and requirements (and that goes irrespective of whether you are employed or self-employed, on NMW or £-millions per year and everywhere in-between).

For example, I could do the same work on twice the money (at least) in London, Singapore or Paris. For the privilege, I'd have much longer hours to look forward to, borne from larger caseloads, more difficult cases and more demanding clients. More stress, but not so much associated with the increased work, as because of significantly longer commuting and less family time. The very reason why I left Dublin to come back to Sheffield some years ago. I've seen my daughter grow up, and spent a lot of quality time with family, in some cases very fortunately because of untimely demise.

steveroberts is also entirely correct re. good and bad stress. But, again, attitude and resilience to stress (professional and personal) is pretty much a matter of personality, experiences and what is at stake.

Sorry I got stuff to do for the rest of the day to discuss further but go read "Future shock" by Alvin Toffler.