I’ve been taking it slow on the blogging front lately while I reorganize some of my priorities in my writing, my Day Job, and everywhere else. One factor that ties all those things together, though, is stress.
Back in October, two weeks after I talked to my boss about my stress problems, a single-page multiple-choice English stress survey suddenly appeared on the desks of all the foreign teachers in my city with notes asking us to fill them out. Now, even though the city had asked every ALT to fill out the survey, the timing seemed like quite a coincidence ;-)
I got my results back a few weeks ago (also in English!) and they were…about what I expected. However, they also reinforced that I’ve been on the right track about the challenges I’m facing right now, including where those challenges are coming from and how to fix them.
The survey measured three different stress areas, and in the interest of open discussion I thought I’d share an abbreviated version of my results here—not because I want to keep some of them a secret, but because the results were so damned long I wanted to focus on the most important parts.
The images below come from the twice-folded paper copy results of the exam that I brought home and scanned, which is why they’re wrinkled and rough-looking. Also, keep in mind that this is a Japanese test translated into English, so the wording might seem a bit strange.
So let’s break down my fall stress levels, shall we?
Part A: Job Demands
The chart above shows the extent of my on-the-job stress—points farther from the center mean less stress, while points closer to the center mean more stress.
My healthiest levels were Quantitative Job Overload (i.e., how much I actually do at work) and Poor Physical Environment (e.g., bad lighting, dangerous working conditions, etc.). Neither of these came as a surprise, one because I took the survey during my October work slowdown when I was teaching fewer classes, and two because Japanese schools are clean, well-organized, and generally good places to work.
The less healthy levels in my test, though, point to some more significant factors. See that big dent in the lower right corner of the figure? That’s Interpersonal Conflict, or conflicts that I have with coworkers. Again, in the interest of Day Job secrecy I won’t cover specifics, but seeing that giant dent cemented my realization that the vast majority of my problems are caused by some unhealthy relationships with the people I work with—relationships that I’m trying very hard to change (or at least reduce the frequency of).
My Interpersonal Conflict level also didn’t come as a surprise because when I look back on every job I’ve ever worked the jobs I enjoyed the best were the ones where I worked with cool, like-minded people. These were times when I could quote Kevin Smith movies while stocking grocery store shelves, talk with the interesting and intelligent staff at the Bennington College admissions office, and learn from down-to-earth Indian weed research scientists in Nebraska.
Likewise, the jobs I’ve hated the most were ones where I fought with my coworkers or we had radically different ways of thinking.
Seeing this spelled out made me think a LOT about how important a rewarding Day Job work environment is for me, moreso than the pay or the nature of the actual work. And when I have unhealthy relationships with the people I work with, well…I find myself wanting to escape.
The other section where I scored poorly was Suitable Jobs (read: Job Suitability). I won’t go into too much detail here other than to say that while I enjoy my teaching Day Job tremendously and can use a lot of problem-solving skills there, I don’t have nearly as much control over my teaching as I’d like, which often causes me to feel unfulfilled. I’ve written countless posts about finding value in your work and the frustration that comes from not caring about Your Day Job or doing pointless shit there, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the compromises that come with staying at a job that brings limited fulfillment over the long term are, for me, pretty damaging.
In short, I can’t be happy at a job I’m not suited for.
Part B: Psychological and Physical Stress Reactions
This section was less interesting, and most of it I knew already. I scored Slightly High on the Anxiety and Anger-Irritability sections and Normal on everything else, which is how I’ve been feeling since the talk with my boss—though who knows how high I would have scored in September when things were going a lot worse (!!!!).
On the Anger-Irritability front, one of the catalysts for realizing I had a stress problem was when I found myself snapping at people at work, which I don’t normally (read: don’t ever) do. These incidents would happen over trivial matters—and when they happened, I felt shocked at my lack of control and worried about the root causes.
The Anxiety area is more generalized, I think. While I have some anxiety at my Day Job (for example, regarding the aforementioned Interpersonal Relationships…), most of what makes me anxious happens outside of my Day Job for a variety of reasons, including social plans, writing problems, and dealing with my fucking smartphone, which I’m also working hard to fix.
Part C: Support from Workplace, Friends, and Family
The final portion of the test measured how strong my support networks are, as well as my current level of satisfaction. My Coworker Support level was Slightly Low (again, see Part A for why…), but so was my Job and Family Satisfaction, which ties back to both Job Suitability and my being separated from so many of the people I care about back home. This has made me think more about strengthening the ties I have with people here in Japan and how some closer relationships in my day-to-day life might improve my day-to-day happiness. Along with everyone else on the planet, the pandemic has made socializing (not to mention dating…) more difficult this year, which means I’ve had to work extra hard to build and strengthen those relationships.
Finally, I’ll end on a high note—I scored Slightly High in the Support from Family and Friends category, which means that even though I don’t see the people I’m closest to as often as I’d like, the contact I do have with them is super-valuable, and definitely keeps me going :-)
Final Thoughts
I didn’t so much learn things from the stress test as much as reinforce things I already knew, which made me think more seriously about solving them. In this respect the test was incredibly valuable, and I’m grateful that my workplace handed it out.
If you’re interested in taking a stress test of your own, the Japanese one I took is behind a paywall, but you can find plenty of others with a Google search. Check them out even if you’re not particularly concerned about your stress levels, because knowing you’re in the clear can be valuable too.
Oh, and one more thing—I’m glad my workplace got the results as well, since now they should have a better idea of what I’ve been going through at work ;-)