When you are an engineer with a very demanding job, you are most likely to experience stress all the time. And it is a bad thing because it is proven in research studies that the human brain and body have trouble distinguishing between the kind of stress caused by real danger, like a house being on fire, and perceived danger, like a boss with lots of demands.
But no matter, stress has a negative effect on your body especially if you are an engineer. There are so many sources of stress in engineering like the work environment and the demands of the job, which could release hormones and chemicals to speed up your heart rate, increase blood pressure, and stimulate your muscles.
Under such circumstances your bodies become more alert and responsive, which is rather normal. But if it becomes a regular thing, it isn’t healthy anymore – the body cannot sustain that level of readiness for long periods of time and is susceptible to breaking down. That could manifest in many ways like chronic headaches, nausea, insomnia, even heart attacks, hypertension, and stroke.
It is now obvious that the direct link of the work stress to your body is scary. So what can engineers do about this? Just two things:
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Identify the sources of stress
The key to solving this problem is to monitor your activities and check which ones are making you stressed. List down all your daily activities and identify where you having difficulty dealing things with.
It takes about a week for you to be able to identify your biggest sources of stress. Look for patterns.
Remember that it can be the job itself, that you are not fit for that kind of engineering job.
Make the adjustments
Once you have pointed out which things are making you stressed at work, make the necessary adjustments. You can change the way you work your body and mind, set boundaries that serve you, and give voice to your thoughts. Manage what needs to be managed.
If everything seems to be out of place, it is a career mismatch. It’s best to leave that job. You can also take this route if you feel like there’s nothing you can do about the sources of your stress anymore.
Source: Harvard Business Review
