Causes of Stress at Work: How does this happen?
seven causes could be the reason.
There can be many different causes of stress at work, but we will focus on seven in this post. This stress may even cause you to consider quitting your job. Most situations can be worked through, and you can have a lower-stress environment. Then you won’t need to quit. However, there may be some great reasons to move on, and we will discuss that further in this post.
Stress can be lowered by praying for the situation at work. And there are ways to reduce stress at work.
1. Personnel Conflicts
Relationships at work have got to be the #1 reason for stress at work. There are people of all types at work. For some reason, you don’t hit it off or they are jealous of your skills. And they have it out for you.
Paul tells us that we need to live in peace with everyone we meet at work. Whatever words come out of our mouth, it needs to be peaceful.
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Romans 12:18 ESV
We need to act with goodness and righteousness when we are at work. If a situation at work makes you mad, you need to take a deep breath or count to ten. We cannot let our anger lead to evil. We need to respond with goodness.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21 ESV
2. Too Much or Too Little Work
When a company is overloaded with work, this can be stressful for everyone. Sometimes, the crazy amount of work is due to a typical time of year when business is always up. During this time, leaders and managers need to be conscious of helping their employees manage their stress. And the employees need to be aware of ways to help themselves deal with the stress as well.
In other companies, the stress can be due to a lack of vision for what needs to be done and having a focus on what is the most important. This is seen in this verse in Proverbs.
Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.
Proverbs 29:18 ESV
Meaning of Cast off
Casting off restraint means that the people were discouraged. They weren’t hearing about God’s vision for them from one of the prophets. This led them to feel down.
Similarly, today, when employees don’t have a vision of the purpose of their company and their department, they wonder why they bother coming to work.
Ever been discouraged at work? I have.
There has been so much work to do in the overall department for years.
I told a boss of mine once that we needed to focus on a few things and do them well. Instead, we’d often have so many goals in front of us that we’d do all of them mediocre. I gave my all for each goal, but there is only a certain amount of hours you can physically work in a week, and then the stress begins to take a toll on your health. Read my story about that in the Symptoms of Stress at Work post.
Not Enough Work is Stressful too
There is something about keeping busy though. The day goes by fast if you have work to keep you busy.
But if you don’t have enough work, that can be stressful too. Not everyone thinks about not having enough work being one of the causes of stress at work. However, it can make a person wonder if they will be laid off staff since there isn’t enough work to keep everyone busy.
We had layoffs at a company that I worked at. And since some of our work went on hold, I heard peers wonder if we’d be next.
3. Not Enough Staff
The busyness at work can be an indication of not having enough staff to get the job done well. And that can be stressful too when customers are complaining or yelling, and you are trying to meet everyone’s needs.
When God called Nehemiah to go back to Israel to rebuild the wall, they didn’t have enough people. They had opposition from the enemies of Israel, and they were angry.
But the people continued to work. They “had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6 ESV) because Nehemiah had given them the vision of completing the wall. Since they continued working, this angered their enemies. So Nehemiah and the people prayed to God and set up guard day and night (vs. 9).
Nehemiah had half of the people work on the construction and had the other half stand guard (vs 16). And some even worked with one hand and held their spear in the other hand (vs. 17). They had a plan for if they were being attacked to meet at the place where they heard a trumpet sound. Nehemiah had told them that God would fight for them (Nehemiah 4:18-20 ESV).
Even though there wasn’t enough staff, Nehemiah heard the concerns of the people and had guards set up for protection. And he had a plan in place to help reduce their stress.
4. Poor Communication
People are confused and unhappy when communication is not done well at work. And if the messages aren’t clear or you get two different stories, then people feel like they are being lied to. It becomes a stressful situation for many people in the workplace.
In Proverbs, Solomon wrote many wise words about how to communicate.
Be gentle instead of mean when you respond
When a person is mean to their co-workers or staff, it causes anger amongst the team members.
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1 ESV
A co-worker or boss that responds with gentleness is so refreshing. The person will want to hang around and keep coming back to work.
But if the communication is harsh, then the person’s desire is shattered. They no longer want to work for that company.
A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit
Proverbs 15:4 ESV
5. Work/Life Balance
Stress is paramount when the lines between work and life begin to blur. Then there is no balance between work and life itself.
Being on call 24/7/365 and working long hours can take its toll. My husband plows snow for the state and one winter, he worked over 21 days straight. He was so glad that there was ONE day they could have a day off.
When you enjoy your work, you feel joy about doing it. You can’t wait to go to work and see or talk to your customers. Or if you’re like me, I don’t talk to the end customers. I talk with my peers or employees who are my ‘customers’ for the work that I am responsible for.
King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes that it is good for a person to enjoy their work. Anyone who accepts their lot or portion of work to do in this life is considered a gift from God. Solomon says he will enjoy his work so much that he will forget the days of his life due to the joyful busyness of his life.
For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
Ecclesiastes 5:20 ESV
6. Sub-Par Management
Do you have a boss that is sub-par? Sub-par management is one of the top causes of stress at work.
If you have one who is okay but takes good care of you and your co-workers, then hang in there. But if you have a manager who is dishonest beware.
Jesus told a parable about a dishonest manager. If a person is faithful or dishonest with a little bit of money, power, or possessions, he or she will be honest with an abundance of these things.
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much.
Luke 16:10 ESV
When you have a manager who is not honest, then it may be time to look around while you work. No one wants to be lied to. And especially not someone who is in authority over you.
7. Unsafe Environment
If your work environment isn’t safe, then that can be cause for anxiety as well. No one wants to be put in a situation where they could be injured. If they are, they won’t be able to come to work, which will mean fewer wages while they are out.
In Nehemiah, with the rebuilding of the wall, there were some places in the wall where people could sneak across or it was completely open. Nehemiah took charge of the situation and stationed guards in these areas (Nehemiah 4:13 ESV). I am sure this helped relieve the stress of the people.
If your work environment is not safe, talk with your manager. And if that doesn’t resolve it, find out where you can submit a request to human resources or your compliance department. Most companies have a way for you to submit this information so it can be resolved right away.
Causes of Stress at Work: What will you do?
You have a choice when you read through these causes of stress at work. Do you stay and work things out or do you look for another position elsewhere?
The key to whether you stay or not depends on whether you can live with the severity of the situation or not. If you are being bullied and after conversations with your leadership and human resources, this situation worsens, then it may be time to move on.
Most of these causes are things that you can work through with Scripture, prayer, and supportive family and friends. If you are fulfilling God’s purpose by working there, it will work out for the good. Hang in there!
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 ESV
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Resource Library
There are downloadable Bible verses, bookmarks, etc. in the resource library. These are all free for stopping by at God’s Plan Guided Steps. Read and soak in God’s Word to help you reduce your stress. Then memorize them so you can recall them during the day when the stress is coming on strong.
