職場雙語:如何直面工作壓力
Your workload has increased, so have your boss's expectations. But scaling back could mean losing a job.
你的工作任務更重了，老闆的期望值又升高了。但退縮則可能意味着丟掉工作。
Talk about stress.
這就是職場壓力。
Paul Baard, an organizational and motivational psychologist at Fordham University's graduate business school in New York, knows just how stressful a work environment can get. He has consulted with athletes in the high-stakes, high-pressure world of professional sports.
紐約福德漢姆大學(Fordham University)商學院組織和動機心理學家巴德(Paul Baard)瞭解工作環境中的壓力究竟有多大。他曾爲風險高、壓力大的職業體育競技領域的運動員們做過諮詢。
What secret has he passed along to those clients? When you are in a slump, you can still contribute by encouraging your teammates.
Christoph Hitz 他向那些客戶們傳授了什麼祕訣呢？那就是：即使你狀態不佳，也可以通過鼓勵隊友來爲團隊做出貢獻。
Rather than burdening a team with distracting self-doubt and pity, try to help others, he advises. "In order to remain self-motivated, research has found that the innate psychological need for competence must be satisfied,' Mr. Baard says. 'This drive pertains not only to the ability to do a job but to achieve something through it─to have impact, to contribute. A way an employee can expand opportunities to satisfy this need is to help her team succeed by encouraging others, even if her direct contributions are limited."
他建議，與其讓自我懷疑和後悔等負擔干擾團隊的表現，不如試着助他人一臂之力。巴德說，“研究發現，要保持工作主動性，就必須讓勝任感這一內在心理需求得到滿足。勝任感不僅取決於完成某項工作的能力，還取決於通過工作取得的某種成就──比如產生某種影響或者做出貢獻。對一名員工來說，要擴展滿足勝任感需求的機會，途徑之一是通過鼓勵他人來幫助自己所在的團隊取得成功，即使個人的直接貢獻有限也不要緊。”
Age, occupation and family circumstances, among other factors, can all play a part in how workers respond to different stressors. But experts say there are steps that can help you take control of your happiness at work this year.
年齡、職業和家庭環境等因素都會影響員工對各種壓力源的反應。但專家們說，有一些方法可以幫助你在今年掌控工作中的幸福感。
Find meaning in your tasks. Commitment to a goal beyond self-promotion can help a worker manage stress levels, says John Weaver, a psychologist at Psychology For Business, a Brookfield, Wis.-based employment consultancy.
從你的工作中尋找意義。總部位於威斯康星州布魯克菲爾德(Brookfield)的人力資源諮詢公司Psychology For Business的心理學家約翰•韋弗(John Weaver)說，專注於一個比自我提升更高的目標能夠幫助員工管理壓力水平。
Several years ago, Mr. Weaver consulted for a long-term-care facility in Wisconsin that had flooded. Because of the water damage, the residents and employees had been forced to move into an already occupied facility. Employees felt cramped and annoyed, he says, and pettiness abounded.
幾年前，韋弗爲威斯康星州一個遭遇洪災的長期護理院做過諮詢。受洪災影響，護理院住戶和員工被迫搬進一個已被佔用的建築內。他說，員工們感覺很擁擠，並感到不快，常常會爲小事發生摩擦。
To help the workers regain a positive attitude, Mr. Weaver asked each person this question: Why do you do this work?
爲幫助這些員工重新樹立積極態度，韋弗問了每個人這樣一個問題：你爲什麼要做這份工作？
"People don't work in nursing because it pays so much or it's glamorous or it's easy," he says. "As they heard the question you could see their attitude change. They could see the reasons why they needed to work together, to put aside difficulties and compromise, and residents were treated better."
韋弗表示，“人們從事護理工作並不是因爲報酬高、有意思或是輕鬆。”他說，“你能發現，他們聽到這個問題後態度有所轉變。他們能認識到爲什麼要齊心協力地工作，爲什麼要不計較困難，互諒互讓，住戶們也得到了更好的照料。”
Remembering why you are in a business can help you manage stress, Mr. Weaver says.
韋弗說，牢記你從事一個行業的原因能夠幫助你管理壓力。
While working on his dissertation, Rick Best, now a health-services scientist for Lockheed Martin, researched stress among nurses who work with veterans, a group that faces high demands with low resources. One might have expected elevated levels of burnout. But there were high levels of satisfaction.
裏克•貝斯特(Rick Best)現爲洛克希德•馬丁(Lockheed Martin)的健康服務科學家，他在撰寫畢業論文時研究了從事退伍軍人護理工作的護士所承受的壓力問題，這一羣體面臨的要求高，而享受的資源較少。人們也許認爲他們會對工作十分厭倦。但事實上他們的滿意度卻很高。
"The meaning they got from their job was high," says Mr. Best. "They went into the profession of nursing to help people. As a consequence, they derived much meaning from what they were doing, and they were better able to handle stress."
貝斯特說，“他們從工作中獲得了很多有意義的東西。他們從事護理工作是爲了幫助別人。所以他們從自己所做的事情中獲得了很多意義，能夠更好地處理壓力。”
Reduce your expectations. Given how much energy employees devote to their job, there can be quite a few expectations wrapped up in work. Workers often look to employers for career, socialization, and personal and intellectual growth opportunities.
降低期望值。鑑於員工在工作中投入了大量精力，他們對工作也會抱有相當大的期望。員工通常期望僱主能爲他們提供事業、社交、個人和才智發展機會。
"With so many expectations, it's no wonder that work can't meet all of that. So we get disappointed, but I don't know that work could fulfill all those things," says Ken Pinnock, associate director of employee relations and services at the University of Denver.
丹佛大學(University of Denver)員工關係和服務部門副主任肯•平諾克(Ken Pinnock)說，“員工的期望太多了，難怪工作無法滿足他們的所有期望。於是我們會失望，但我認爲僅憑工作是無法滿足所有這一切的。”
Due to so many layoffs in the last few years, many have lost friends and colleagues, and have realized that job security, taken for granted at times, is gone. There have also been cuts when it comes to extras, such as educational opportunities, celebrations and room for career advancement.
過去幾年出現了太多的裁員，許多人在裁員中失去了朋友和同事，並且意識到，他們曾經不以爲然的工作安全感不復存在了。此外，福利也有所削減，比如教育機會、慶祝活動和職業升遷空間等。
There can be an element of loss when employees realize that the workplace has changed. However, personal and professional goals can still be pursued without an employer's support.
當員工意識到職場發生變化時，他們會產生一種失落感。但即便沒有僱主的支持，他們仍然可以追求個人和職業發展目標。
"The way back from this is to try to gain perspective about work, realizing that we are still ultimately in charge of our careers and work, and we don't have to turn to our employers to develop ourselves, or look to them to be responsible for us," Mr. Pinnock says.
平諾克說，“要擺脫這種失落感，就要對工作有更全面的認識，要認識到我們最終仍然能夠掌控自己的職業生涯和工作，我們不需要靠僱主來獲得自我發展，或者指望他們來爲我們負責。”
Look at "challenges," not "problems." Rather than perceiving problems at work, look at them as challenges.
看“挑戰”，不要看“問題”。不要把工作中遇到的困擾視爲問題，而要把它們視爲挑戰。
"The people who approach work as an opportunity to learn are much more satisfied with their jobs and performance, and find themselves eager to take on new challenges," Mr. Weaver says. "They aren't trying to prove that they are the smartest. They are more likely to learn from their own experiences and mistakes."
韋弗說，“那些視工作爲學習機會的人對自己的工作和表現更加滿意，並且願意接受新的挑戰。他們並不想證明自己是最聰明的人。他們更願意從自己的經驗和錯誤中學習。”
Setting intermediate goals can also help workers derive a sense of accomplishment, and keep pace with longer-term targets, Mr. Best says.
貝斯特說，確定短期目標也能夠幫助員工獲得成就感，並促使他們向中長期目標邁進。
