There’s life after crunching work

It is only in a utopian world indeed where people could live a life where working in office would be without any hassle nor heavy stress downpour.

In this fast-paced modern time, a 24-hour allotment for a single day goes relentlessly fast. It is but a dream that earning wages goes without any beating to the wits.

With it, it drags any healthy person’s mind to a gripping stress that we know as “Occupational Stress”.

“You’ll sometimes feel a bit burned out because of the environment,” says Norman Villacruz, a software developer. He has been accustomed to this workplace byproduct since he started working by his trade in 2012.

As he continues: “I am stressed especially during crunch times — where everyone is expected to deliver the task within a given time frame.”

It goes to show that some people who goes under a system of ‘nine-to-five’ routine suffers from ‘occupational stress’, a psychological stress which grips adults that is primarily brought by the workplace’s nature. This is the cause of approximately 40% of turnover and 50% of workplace absences.

“I used to work in an office. Now, I am a freelance consultant working remotely — mostly from home,” he said. As things goes out of hand, from an office job, Norman now works in the confines of his own home.

On a side note, every stressful office situation is juxtaposed with establishment of good working values. “Being in an office will give you a sense of teamwork, organization and camaraderie because you’ll always interact with your colleagues,” he said.

Under a constant pattern of stressful events in office, some of the bulk mostly comes along as a worker is going home.

Norman recounts, “There was a time where I did a 24/7 technical support work. It is where people with software problems would call a hotline, and I would answer, and fix the problem,” he said. “This gave me anxiety which lessened the quality of my sleep. I would always worry that someone would call which resulted to me having 4–5 hours of sleep every day.”

He also relayed that this stress has affected his level of productivity — that matters most in every profession — and his well-being, too. “Over time, that less amount of sleep will take toll on how you think of yourself and others. I remember, I started thinking negatively about myself and others,” he said.

Clearly, the stress which mustered in him from his work-environment did took its toll which pushed him to quit his office job.

Through the ordeal, he managed to put ways on how to declutter his mind. “I found that talking to someone and venting out helps. If you’re an active kind of person, you can do physical activities. I don’t consider myself to be like that. So, I destress myself through playing videogames with my friends,” he said.

Norman highlights that the significance of knowing self-importance and self-care would serve as a vital way in keeping things intact. “Take it easy! Remember, that life is too short to enjoy stuff,” he said.

“So, If you’re in an office setting, make sure to make use of company benefits such as leaves to keep your sanity in check. I found that taking a weeklong break helps boost your focus and productivity,” he insisted.

He recounts how most people forget and fail to realize is there’s life beyond work. “Make sure that when you’re at the office, accomplish everything within the 8-hour time frame so that you’ll not take some home or carry it over for tomorrow,” he said.

Norman looked back on how he managed to stay afloat despite a pressing routine. “One way to not be overwhelmed and be stressed of tasks is to make a check list and rank them according to priority,” he maintained.

“Ask yourself to each item if, “will I be in trouble if I don’t do this first?”, if yes, then put that item higher in your list,” he said.

“You’ll be surprised about how much you’ll accomplish when you do this,” he concluded.