Working in the IT industry seems to be more stressful than working in other occupations. Coming from a non technical perspective and never having worked in the IT industry I always assumed that it wouldn’t be a very healthy way to earn your living.

I thought about the long hours of sitting in front of a computer causing neck and shoulder strain and back problems, not to mention repetitive strain injury from constantly typing on the keyboard and using the mouse.

Only recently I realised that professionals who work with technology are quite used to the fact that technology “goes wrong” and “lets you down” at the most inconvenient times. They just go about fixing it and it often takes a lot of time. Once the problem is fixed they continue on their path trying to achieve what they set out to do in the first place. This way of working would not suit my personality. What is unclear to me is how they handle deadlines. Do they assume a certain amount or percentage of “down time” and calculate that into their quotes when the give an estimate how long a job is going to take? Or do they hope for the best and when things do go wrong they work through the night or whatever it takes to finish the job?

New research has shed light on a whole lot of other issues that workers in the IT industry are facing that are causing extra stress.

Here are some of them:

• work is divided up into “contracts”, there are no long term, ongoing projects that have busy times and slow times. A contract means “go, go go” till it is finished and then the next one is already starting. There are no down times and each contract or project is different and requires background knowledge and a different mindset which the worker often has to acquire in his/her own time, they don’t get paid to study the project before they start work on it
• There is permanent, relentless time pressure
• Often there are many and conflicting demands placed upon the worker at the same time and all are high  priority
• All of the above often lead to nearly bottomless hours of work which are simply considered “part of the deal”.

For all the above reasons, in case you are employed in the IT industry, you have a four times increased risk of suffering from “burn out” symptoms. These symptoms include:

• Chronic, sometimes extreme tiredness
• Stomach problems like nausea, ulcers, lack of appetite
• all different kinds of sleep disturbances
• headaches
• tense and painful muscles
• dizziness

These symptoms mean that you are on your way to more serious problems. Ignoring them long enough and keeping up the same pace and pattern of work will eventually lead to a breakdown. I had a number of clients who never fully recovered from a breakdown or were living in constant fear that another one was just around the corner! They couldn’t enjoy life any more, it was very sad to see.

Stop and think – you don’t want to go down the same path. You might still be very young and bounce back easily from any stress, sleepless nights and long work hours.

• Have a serious look at your career – where to you want to be in 5 years time?
• Think about how you can steer your career into a direction that suits you and at the same time make sure your chosen path doesn’t lead to burn out.
• You need simple techniques and exercises to manage your stress and prevent stress related problems.
• You need to learn about the symptoms of stress and burn out and how to recognise them early enough to take swift action before it is too late

You will find all this and more in our book here:

http://www.stretchyourmindandbody.com/blog/tigerebook

Stop yourself from getting drawn into a downward spiral of despair. Have a look at our book, you will be glad you did!

Connie and Charly

from

http://www.stretchyourmindandbody.com/blog