Having worked as a leader in the field of social work for several years, I know how stressful it can be to balance the needs of staff with the needs of the upper administration as well as deal with funding cuts, staff turnover and challenging clients.  What I also know is that some stress is productive, good for us and even fun.  How you perceive the stress in your life effects how you react to it and what you do about it.

For example, this past Saturday I learned that on the following Wednesday, I would be running a group on wellness issues for a client.  Besides planning the curriculum I needed to bring in key staff at the organization to be part of the process.  As you can imagine, this produced a stress reaction for me.  What did that look like?  My bodily response was tightening in my stomach.  My first thought was, “when am I going to pull this together?”  “I have this, that and the other thing going on all before Wednesday!”

However, my next thought was, “what a great opportunity to help these folks get a taste of our wellness model.”  My stomach relaxed and I became energized as I brainstormed with my partner on how we would pull this off.  The To-Do list got created and after several phone discussions I felt ready to go and excited about doing the group. 

Let’s take a look at the shift that was made in my stress response.  My first reaction was based on fear – the fear that I was being asked to do something that was too much on short notice.  When I really looked at the task at hand I realized that I can do this.  I facilitate groups all the time and the material was not new to me. In fact, I really enjoy running groups and the topic is something I strongly connect with.

How can you reframe an initially stressful request into something that has a benefit to you, your staff, your organization or your clients?

Can you shift your priorities to make your life less stressful?  For example, can you postpone another task to free up time to accomplish the new task? 

If you are still stressed, figure out what exactly it is that’s causing your stress.  Remember, you can make a choice.  Choose to feel better.