Statewide Iowa — The song says this is “most wonderful time of the year,” but for many, the holidays only mean longer hours of work, heaps of bills and higher blood pressure.
Steve Courtright, a professor of management and entrepreneurship at the University of Iowa, studies stress at work. He says research finds the typical person’s stress levels bound 30 to 40-percent during this final month of the year.
It takes a little work, but we can recognize if we’re getting grouchy at our desk and we may need a short walk outside to focus. Courtright says some people are feeling the double-whammy of an extra workload at our jobs and we come home to added responsibilities there, too.
We need to adjust our thinking, he says, to zero in on the things that make us happy during the holidays, and reframe the things that might otherwise stress us out.
If you’re feeling stressed, Courtright says, know that you’re far from alone. You can embrace the stress, he says, if you harness those positive emotions and think about things that bring you joy.
Image: Steven Courtright. (U-I photo)
