Side 2
HOW ARE YOU REALLY? – CHECK WHETHER YOUR WORK LIFE IS IN BALANCE Green – symptoms Perhaps you are a little too busy at the moment, but you: • Have energy to do something when you come home from work. • Have energy to see your family and friends. • Like your job and think it is meaningful. • Are able to sleep at night. • Can manage unforeseen bumps in life Yellow – symptoms You feel you are under pressure; the people close to you begin to ask if you are OK, and you: • Are tired when you come home from work. • No longer enjoy going to work. • Have not got the energy to see friends and family when you are off. • Perhaps have conflicts at work, but do not have the energy to do something about them. • Begin to have a poor quality of sleep at night, perhaps you wake up now and again with a restless mind and thoughts racing. Red – symptoms You are on the verge of stress when you: • Easily become emotional or angry/aggressive. • Have chest pains. • Are tired but cannot sleep. • Snap at family, friends and colleagues. • Do not prioritize to see your best friends. • Often feel inadequate/have low self-esteem. • Cannot make decisions, cannot remember important things or cannot concentrate. • Are restless and have racing thoughts. • Drink too much coffee, alcohol or smoke too much. • The people close to you express concern for you and your health.
Side 3
Advice Continue as normal, but: Remember to take breaks during your work day. • Perhaps write down how much you work. – also from home. • Find a way of exercising and keeping fit that suits you. • Go for a walk in nature at least once a week. • Do something you are passionate about in your spare time – and preferably something that has absolutely nothing to do with work. Advice • Stop and take a hard look at your life in general. Are there imbalances and can you do something yourself to regain balance? • Look critically at your calendar, including private appointments. Perhaps it is your calendar which is overloaded, not you? • Tell your colleagues how you are feeling. • Talk to your manager and go through your tasks to weed out tasks that are not urgent/ important. • Ask for feedback from colleagues, your manager and collaboration partners. This will improve your job satisfaction and reduce any feeling of inadequacy. • Talk to the people close to you about your immediate needs. • Be your own best friend and think about what advice you would give them if they were in your situation. Advice • If you have experienced several of these symptoms over a longer period of time, you are not just busy. You are on the verge of serious stress, and you will need professional help. • The first thing to do is book an appointment with your GP and be honest about how you are feeling. • Then go to english.ida.dk/stress and find out how IDA can help you. • IDA might be able to help you navigate through this difficult period of your life.
