Work stress: symptoms and solutions

A certain level of stress at work is physiological and even useful: it activates, focuses, prepares. It becomes a problem when the activation never switches off, when demands consistently exceed available resources and recovery no longer comes. That's the point at which stress stops being a drive and starts to wear you down.

Symptoms to recognize

Physical: tiredness that the weekend doesn't fix, muscle tension in the neck and shoulders, recurring headaches, gastrointestinal issues, difficulty falling asleep or night-time awakenings.

Emotional: irritability, impatience toward colleagues and clients, anticipatory anxiety on Sunday evenings, a feeling of constantly being behind on everything.

Cognitive: difficulty concentrating, memory failing on simple things, decreased motivation, work-related thoughts invading free time.

Behavioral: procrastination, increased consumption of caffeine, alcohol or cigarettes, reduction in physical activity and relationships outside the office.

The most common causes

Research on work-related stress points to some recurring factors, and they almost never concern only the amount of work:

• Excessive and prolonged workload without real periods of recovery
• Low control over one's own tasks, timing and priorities
• Absent recognition in relation to the effort invested
• Role ambiguity: not knowing precisely what is expected of you
• Difficult relationships with colleagues or superiors
• Conflict of values between what you believe in and what the role asks you to do

The last point is the most underestimated and often the most draining.

Where stress ends and burnout begins

The distinction is not academic. Acute stress resolves once the cause that produced it ends. burnout builds up over months or years and is recognized by three elements: exhaustion of energy, cynical detachment from one's own work, and a feeling of no longer being effective. The World Health Organization has included it in the ICD-11 as an occupational phenomenon.

The clearest signal of transition is cynicism: when what used to be a passion starts to trigger indifference or annoyance, it's no longer simply tiredness.

What can be done

On your own, right away: reestablish boundaries between work and personal life, even small ones, but respected; protect your sleep; reintroduce regular physical activity; learn activation regulation techniques such as Autogenic Training.

On the context: where possible, renegotiate workloads, deadlines or role. It's not always feasible, but it often is more than it seems from the inside.

In a psychological path: understand which personal dynamics — perfectionism, difficulty saying no, total identification with the role — make that context so draining for you. This is the part that no time management technique can replace, and the only one that produces lasting change.

A journey in Florence or online

I receive clients at my office in Florence, at Via Tommaso Campanella 5, in the Campo di Marte – Coverciano area, and online, a useful format for those with rigid schedules. You can contact me for an initial introductory session, with no obligation.

Quando lo stress diventa cronico serve un intervento mirato: consulenza per lo stress da lavoro a Firenze.