Richard Carlson - 21 May

M any of us spend an enormous amount of time and energy engaged in workeight, ten, even twelve hours a day isnt at all uncommon. And whether we work for a giant corporation, a smaller company, or on Wall Streetor, whether we are self-employed, work for the government, or in retailor for that matter any other industry or business, theres no doubt about it: Work can be, and usually is, stressful.

Each industry and career has its own unique set of problems and sources of stress, and each job carries its specific burdens and occasional nightmares. From time to time, most of us must deal with some combination of a variety of unpleasant issuesunrealistic deadlines and expectations, bureaucracies, difficult and demanding bosses, ridiculous meetings and memos, quotas, back-stabbing and criticism, harassment, uncertainty, and rejection. In addition, there are government regulations and high taxes, lack of appreciation, fierce competition, insensitive or selfish coworkers, demanding schedules, poor working conditions, long commutes, and downsizing. It seems that virtually no one is exempt from the hassles of having a job and doing business.

Indeed, the questions arent whether or not stress exists in the workplace or whether or not you will be exposed to itit most certainly does and you most certainly will. Rather, the more relevant question is, How are you going to deal with it? You can surrender to the fact that work is inherently stressful and theres nothing you can do about it, or you can begin to walk a slightly different path and learn to respond in new, more peaceful ways to the demands of work. Its clear to me that if you are going to find a way to work with less stress, youre going to have to find the answer within yourself. There simply isnt any job available, or any way to set up your life, that doesnt contain its own unique set of challenges.

If youve read any of my earlier books, you know that Im an optimist. I believe that practically anyone can make at least incremental improvements in the quality of their lives by making small daily changes in attitude and behavior. Without minimizing any of the difficult issues that are out there, I know in my heart that we are not victims of the status quo. We can change. But change wont come about as a result of our work dishing out fewer demands or having an easier life. Rather, change must come from within us. The good news is, when it does, our work livesin fact, our entire liveswill seem easier and less stressful.

This book came about as a result of thousands of letters and phone calls I received after writing Dont Sweat the Small Stuff And Its All Small Stuff. Many people were pleased to discover that, after reading the book, their lives were becoming less stressful and more enjoyable. Time and time again, I received requests from readers to write a similar type of book, only this time focused on specific applications and issues in the workplace. Because, to a large extent, I have overcome my own tendency to sweat the small stuff at work and because I know many others who have done the same, I decided to embark on another Dont Sweat the Small Stuff journey geared toward work.

Its fascinating to examine the way people deal with the most serious work-related issues, such as being fired or overtaken by a larger competitor, internal theft or violence, or being forced to relocate to a new city. When you stop to think about it, its quite impressive, if not amazing. For the most part, people are courageous, innovative, and resilient when forced to deal with these truly challenging problems. But, as in other areas of life, when dealing with the smaller daily stuff, its quite a different story. In fact, if you take a step back, you may realize that, despite the occasional significant problems in the workplace, much of what bugs us on a day-to-day basis is actually the small stuff. Hopefully, for most of us, the truly serious and tragic issues are few and far between. Indeed, its all those little hassles that tend to drive us crazy.

Imagine, for a moment, how much energy is expended being stressed-out, frustrated, and angry over relatively minor things. How about being offended and bothered, or feeling criticized? And think about the implications of worry, fear, and commiseration. What impact do these emotions have on our productivity and on our enjoyment of our work? Its exhausting just thinking about it! Now imagine what might happen if you could use that same energyor even some of iton being more productive, creative, and solution-oriented.

While there may be little we can do about the really big stuff, you must admit that there are many instances when we blow little problems out of proportion and turn things into giant emergencies. Often, we become frustrated or overwhelmed by the accumulation of all the little things we have to deal with. So much so, that we begin to lump together the day-to-day hassles and begin to treat everything as if it were big stuff.