Is Stress Keeping You Up at Night Heres Why and What to Do

Is Stress Keeping You Up at Night Heres Why and What to DoIs Stress Keeping You Up at Night Heres Why and What to Do1New researchhas revealed some interesting findings about who is losing the fruchtwein sleep to work-related stress, and what they are worrying about at night while tossing and turning. When surveying 1,000 people about their job-related stress, the Sleep Judge found that middle managers are suffering the most from stress caused by work situations- even mora so than business owners and C-level executives.Just whats worrying middle management so much that they cant sleep at night? Quite a bit, it turns out, but a few areas stand out as particularly distressing for this level of employee. Project deadlines top the list, with nearly two-thirds (63%) of middle managers surveyed indicating this as anxiety-producing at bedtime. A close second is work drama, which generally means anything from office politics to insensitive gossip about colleagues. Middle managers also are mor e stressed and losing more sleep than any other level aboutGiving presentations (44%)Meeting with upper management (41%)Getting fired (27%)Business ethics and moral dilemmas (27%)And its not just trouble falling or staying asleep thats an issue- one in three of those surveyed have nightmares about getting fired from their position, with middle management, once again, being the category most disturbed by bad dreams. The poor sleep-deprived middle managers also report that they are 15% more likely than C-suite employees to have business ethics and moral dilemmas become the stuff of nightmares.Try the tips below to clear your mind of whats happening in the office (or what youre afraid might soon happen) and get the sleep you need to perform at your best. Women may want to give special attention to the following solutions- while nearly half of both men and women fretted at night about deadlines, 12% more women than men were kept awake over workplace drama (57% of women, versus 45% of me n).Plan as far ahead as possible.Nearly a quarter of participants at all levels listed meeting project deadlines as something that gave them literal nightmares- in fact, deadlines made the top three work situations that bring on bad dreams. While employees (even managers) might not have freedom to create wiggle room on their deadlines, its still possible in many situations to schedule, plan, and calendar more effectively to help take the fear out of producing on-time deliverables.Setting your own interim deadlines offers one way to achieve this. Simply break up the project into several milestones, selecting your own deadline (well in advance of the final due date) for each interim step. This will help you and your team stay on track and reveal clear progress thats being made, which can help take the edge off of deadline panic.Stay out of it. It may be tempting to try to build alliances by listening in when gossip starts. It can be particularly challenging to keep your distance from office politics if you have a preference or agenda about something specific that you want to happen at work, or if you dont like someone involved. But be forewarned nothing good can come from spreading negative news or stories about people you work with.Avoid venting to coworkers when youre upset about something that happened in the office, and dont pass along something that you heard from someone who clearly has a political agenda. Simply change the subject or find a reason to walk away from the drama- having to get back to work, so that you can meet your deadlines, is always a good excuse.Prepare to succeed. Whether you have a presentation to deliver at a conference, a meeting with your manager, an upcoming performance review, or are worried about doing your best to get promoted rather than fired, it all comes down to preparation. Training, research, and other forms of improvement management can prime you to do well in whatever stressful situation youre currently facing. Dont leav e your results to chance- identify what areas you need to get better at, and take steps to up your game.With year-end reviews currently on the table or fast approaching, its important to be aware of these new findings, so that if youre someone whos affected by job-related sleep problems, you can take steps to rein in your worries. A good nights sleep is one of your most precious resources for career success and optimal performance, so do what it takes to regain control of your nighttime worries.