Your Physical Environment and Stress

If you are under stress, then it’s not only your personality that is to blame. It’s the physical environment of your workplace that is a significant contributor to stress. You might not be in a potentially dangerous job, but there are stressors even in buildings. Watch out for these environment stressors at your workplace:

• Closed, congested office spaces: Ever notice how uncomfortable you feel if a stranger comes too near to you while talking? This is because there is a personal space of every human being in which very few people are allowed entry. Going by the same logic, congested rooms do not allow people to have a certain level of privacy and tend to produce stress.
• An unclean environment: Messy and disorganized offices and neighborhood tend to distract from work and thus function as stressors.
• Noise pollution: Besides contributing to noise pollution, a cacophonous environment can affect your ability to concentrate and think effectively. It also causes mood swings. In fact, the higher the level of skill and speed required in a job, the more is the damage caused by the noise.
• Inappropriate lighting: If a room is either too dimly or too sharply lit, a person may suffer from headaches due to the constant screwing up of the eyes. Very little light can make you feel stressed, lethargic or bored. Low natural light causes both energy levels and morale to fall, thus affecting your work and satisfaction levels.
• Air pollution: When there is poor air circulation or improper ventilation, the stale air in the room is capable of causing stress. It can increase irritability, cause headaches and affect performance adversely. Working in a smoke-filled room can lead to claustrophobia.
• Uncomfortable temperature: While hot and humid environments make it difficult for a person to focus on the task at hand, noisy air conditioning can also be quite stressful.
• Lack of storage and filing space: In the absence of sufficient storage and filing space, files and work get piled up, collecting dust. Too much of clutter is stressful, as it distracts and annoys.
• Lack of sophisticated office equipment: It is extremely stressful to work with inadequate equipment. This multiples effort and creates dissatisfaction.
• Absence of support system: In case of failure of the computer, electrical or other systems, does your office have a support network in place? If not, then the knowledge of it is as stressful to the worker if not more, then the actual scenario of a breakdown of the machinery. A poor working environment can thus be a major cause of stress, not only because it can influence the way you work, but more importantly, because it can damage your health.