Introduction
The workplace is one of the most prestigious areas of one’s life and personal development. When one is done with school, the next obvious step would be the office. Despite the fact that most people are tremendously excited about this new period of life, for most people it turns out to be stressful. Once the employee is faced by such a problem, he or she gets downright demoralized and unable to go on with this situation.
Stress is a condition in our bodies experience wear and tear as we adjust to the ever changing environment. It has emotional and physical effect on us and can create negative or positive feelings. No level of stress that is optimal for everyone. Our bodies have unique requirements and what is stressing to me may be joy for another. So we are likely to differ on our psychological and physiological responses to a particular stress.
Stress has been in existence within the operational setting of people for a long period. The causes of stress, and the ways that people dealt with stress was different from the way they re today. Stress in the work place is a common problem in today’s life. It has a direct or indirect effect to almost every employee. Stress is a feeling of doubt about being able to cope, a perception that the resources available do not match the demands made. It is a state of tension created when a person responds to internal and externaldemands and pressures. Stressors are the things or factors that cause stress. Stressors can be internal or external.
Research has evidently shown that the presence of stress, for instance in the workplace can significantly affect job satisfaction, and reduce an employee’s performance on the job. According to Fontana (2009) this is attributed to the fact that, constant irritation causes the human body to secret stress hormones in the blood streams which result in decreasing one’s overall happiness. Despite of the wide array of numerous types of environmental stressors, people have control of what is in their environment. This essay looks at three significant environmental stressors that affect me in my work place as a military officer namely; noise, traffic congestion and temperatures. I will also provide strategies on how best they can be managed.
Adamson (2001) defines stress as the normal frustrations and irritations that people experience in their everyday life, such as being late for important appointments, getting caught in a traffic jam and constant interruptions amidst tying to accomplish complex tasks. Studies have shown that excessive and uncontrolled noise can cause high blood pressure, increase tension, cause mild headaches and impairs one’s ability to concentrate (Fontana, 2009). Being in the military has not been an easy experience. I have visited many countries not to enjoy as tourists do, but to fight with terrorists and protect the country. When we confront or get confronted by the enemy, the sound of gun battles can turn one into being deaf. It is noise all over in the battlefield. Some of the strategies of managing noise at the workplace include using meeting rooms that are distant from the source of noise, scheduling and completing important tasks when the environment is peaceful, and erecting physical barriers or partitioning rooms to deaden or reduce the sound. Using thick dense, trees as a living wall can act as sound absorbing buffer zones in noisy neighborhoods.
Traffic congestion negatively impacts on the road users, the environment and the economy due to unnecessary emission of gases of green house gases into the atmosphere. Sometime, the time wasted on the traffic congestion is relative long and greatly affects the mission as it delays the operations, and scheduled attacks. Some of the strategies of managing traffic congestion include car pooling and utilization of public transportation, which enables commuters to use trams, buses, taxis and trains. Fontana (2009) explains that car pooling greatly reduces travel expenses such as parking fees and fuel costs, decreases the stress of driving and reduces the number of private cars on the road. These two methods are environment friendly and reduce the high rate of carbon emissions.
Extreme temperatures whether hot or cold can be very fatal for the normal functioning of the body. In the military, we travel to all areas whether hot or extremely cold and it is one of the worst experiences in my career. Since the body needs to deal with outside temperatures Adamson (2001) argues that, contrary to popular myths that wearing warm clothing in hot temperatures helps in burning of calories, it is advisable to wear light clothing, which allows the body to sweat out excess heat. Extreme temperatures can also be managed through the use of indoor exercising facilities, which have regulated temperatures prevent illnesses during extreme temperatures.
Conversely, extreme temperature conditions have negative implication on the health. In accompaniment with hydration, a lot of energy is lost in the form of heat call for increased food intake to compensate for lost energy. It also has been found to make on sleepiness and dizziness. This exposes us to more risks if we are in the war zone in case the enemy attacks. In most occasions when in the battle ground it is advisable to take light meal which can be easily digested to counter such challenges.
Sudden environmentally changes and unpredicted calamities also have negative implication on our work. Such changes include; sudden rainfalls and other unpredictable and fluctuating in weather conditions such as draughts on desert areas. Managing such occurrences requires everyone to carry required clothing and other necessary facilities. However, this comes with a challenge if the operation camps are far from the battle grounds. In some occasion this is not a challenge as most camps are easily accessible from the battle ground. Most illness that occurs has a connection with unrelieved stress and with the experience of stress symptoms then it has gone beyond the optimal stress level.
Occasionally, the challenges can be due to the geographical inaccessibility of the repel zone. Some of these places are surrounded by erupting volcanoes and soils which are impassable. In case unpredictable rains fall when in such places it is it become impossible to escape or even attack the enemy. Managing this is quite a challenge if emergence action is not taken. The major intervention employed in such a case is air rescue. In my duties as a military officer I travel to danger zones and spend much time far away from my family. Every time I am away for several days and months, I miss my daughter who I love very much.
Unlike other works, the works of a military office are more affected by external factors than work place challenge. The stresses the office faces if not sudden reacted to; their enormities can even be death of the soldiers. Example sudden weather changes while in the middle of operation can result on air crash, some time locating the enemy is impossible, but if the enemy can locate the soldiers on such occasion a number of soldiers is killed. Before, cases of officers being killed by sand dunes or naturally eruptions have been reported. Individuals who cannot keep up with such stresses opt to quit their jobs. However, these are not the solution as some of these stresses are common in every work environments.
In conclusion, managing this stress is of paramount effect on improving the workers effectiveness and efficient on service delivery. If not effectively countered, they not only demoralize but also can have negative health implications on the involved individual. However, countering these stresses require both external and internal forces. This cannot be the approach to all cases as some of stresses are unpredictable and avoiding them becomes a challenge. For a committed soldier, such stresses are common, and we strive every day to contain them.