Managing Stress in the Construction Industry
Construction can be a tough business. It’s not just the deadlines and early hours, it’s also meetings, phone calls, customer expectations, and the weight of large projects coming together. All these things can cause stress, and while some people thrive on it, the vast majority of Americans are over-stressed. We’ve all heard what stress can do to the body, by activating your fight or flight mechanism, stress can continually fill your body with unnecessary hormones. Those hormones can damage everything from your heart to your immune system. So how do you maintain a successful construction career and still stay healthy? You can learn to mitigate and control your stress. There are lots of books and studies and articles on how to do that, but here are a few things we’ve found that work best in construction.
Delegating
Take a deep dive into your To Do list. Don’t have one? Start! Take 10 minutes of your day to organize yourself. Write your list for the day, week, even month (think hard deadlines and due dates) and evaluate it. Is there anything on that list that someone else can do? Can you delegate it to an assistant or a project manager? Is there someone within your organization who is better suited for that task, who can do it more efficiently or effectively than you can? Leverage your employees’ or co-workers' abilities to manage the workload as efficiently as possible.
Take another look at that To Do List. Are there things in there that aren’t important, or tasks that can be combined? Plan your day out based on this list and align your schedule accordingly.
Scheduling
Meeting deadlines is a critical aspect of construction. No one wants their project behind schedule, and the best way to stay on schedule is to plan accordingly. Once you’ve evaluated that To Do list for the day, week, or month, then build your schedule. Plan times for you to take care of certain aspects of your list. If you know interruptions will occur, plan a buffer time for them. If the interruptions don’t occur, take this time for yourself.
Within your schedule, be sure there is time for lunch and for coffee or tea in the afternoon. Do something to allow yourself to disassociate for a bit. You’ll return refreshed and better able to focus on your tasks.
Using Tech
Leverage the technology at your disposal! Chances are you have an automated system that functions in some aspect of your business. Learn about it and figure out how you can use it to help streamline your day. Can you use it to schedule meetings, remind you about phone calls (so you don’t wake up at 3am remembering them), or set up client interactions? If it can’t help, then research new tech options that can help you with these tasks.
Prioritize Yourself
The single best thing you can do for your stress level is sleep. Americans are tired. A sleepy mind doesn’t work efficiently, meaning you get less done with your time, energy, and brain power throughout the day. It can be hard to put the laptop away and say you’re going to bed early, leaving tasks incomplete, but you stand a far better chance of meeting the demands of tomorrow if you do that today.
Schedule time with your family or for your hobbies. Whether it be going to your kid’s little league game, going biking in the evening, or taking a weekend away, schedule it! Make it just as important as your meetings and deadlines. These breaks from work may seem like a distraction from your To Do list, but they have been proven to help you re-focus and approach your tasks in a more creative, more efficient, and happier (translation: less stressed) manner.
Now do all the other things you know you’re supposed to be doing for yourself every day. Eat right, drink water, take time to relax, exercise, and more. Be realistic in your self-demands but understand that the more healthy things you can pack into your day, the better you’ll feel and the better your body will cope with the stress you do experience.
Relaxation Techniques
In the moment you feel the stress boiling up, step away for just a short pause. Taking an extra 2 minutes to send an email or asking a colleague if you can call them back probably won’t cost you much but could save you a lot. Whether you prefer breathing techniques, calm strips, mindfulness, or meditation, a couple minutes of self-focus throughout the day can help.
The Benefits of Managing Stress Properly
Making, and keeping, your business running efficiently is a priority to the bottom line, doing the same for yourself (and your staff), should be too. Finding the right practices, the ones that work for you, is important, but also, acknowledging that those practices may not be right for your staff or coworkers is important too. Building a business, and a life, that respects the negative effects of stress can help your business run more efficiently, increase employee satisfaction, and most importantly, help you live a happier, healthier life.