Want to Relieve Pressure at Work? Try Laughing

by Terrill Fischer

Companies today are under constant pressure to produce and meet their goals. And just like a pressure cooker, if there isn't a way to relieve pressure, it can explode — not literally, of course, but in terms of employees being unable to handle the pressure and then quitting or getting sick. 

There has to be a release valve for all that pressure; laughter is a cost-effective solution. If fast relief is what you're after, then laughter really is the best medicine.

Our cave-dwelling ancestors were stressed by actual life-threatening situations, such as being eaten by woolly mammoths. But times have changed. Seventy-two percent of U.S. workers experience frequent stress-related physical or mental conditions every day.

There are many signs that point to the need for lightening up the workplace, especially today with mergers and downsizing. Job security is nearly nonexistent. Experts think the hidden effects of stress are costing U.S. firms uncalculated billions of dollars each year in lost productivity, absenteeism and health-care expenses. Because the need isn't always obvious, the most common signs suggesting it's time for an injection of humor are increases in:

• Firings or layoffs

• Sick time taken for depression

• Use of employee assistance programs

• Job turnover

• Complaints about job insecurity

Stress doesn't exist in the outside world without it first existing in your head. Getting a new perspective is what humor is all about. By directing your comic vision inward, you can change your perceptions of a stressful situation and create some momentary calm.

It's virtually impossible to laugh and feel bad at the same time. Try it. If you're caught in a situation you can't escape or change — a traffic jam, for example — then humor might be the healthiest form of temporary stress release possible.

Humor works by stepping back from a situation and playing up its absurdities. The same kind of disinterested observation makes the tale of your disastrous business trip seem funny — after you get safely home.

For stress-busting, the trick is to find ways to laugh at the situation while it's happening. The major advantage of directing humor inward is that you have to amuse only yourself. You don't have to worry if anyone else will get it. It's your stress, and you can reduce it by thinking about things you find humorous.

Even if you don't consider yourself much of a comedian, here are a few simple techniques you can use:

• Pick a safe subject: Making fun of your own mistakes can save face in an embarrassing situation — you'll have people laughing with you, rather than at you.
  
  As the busy executive once said: "I had a life once. I don't know where I put it, but I had one."
  
  Inanimate sources of frustration, such as parking spaces, computers and memos, also are safe objects of humor.
  
  One employee told me: "I hate memos that start `From the desk of...' I don't like office furniture giving me orders."

• The Seinfeld maneuver: How would your favorite "Seinfeld character" or cartoon character react to the situation? Just imagining what would happen can give you a laugh, making the situation less annoying.
  
  You even can pretend you're the star of a TV drama, and this stressful episode is tonight's plot. I used to have a boss who liked to yell at people when things weren't going right at the office. One day he started to yell at me, and I just pictured him looking like "Yosemite Sam," and it caused me to chuckle and relax on the inside.

• Exaggerate your dilemma, consciously overstate your problem: Blow it completely out of proportion and into absurdity — into a comedy routine. If you can't change your physical setting, change your mental one with humor by answering your own "what-ifs" with humorous solutions.
  
  In that long line of traffic, don't say, "This traffic is killing me; I hate this." Say this: "So what if this traffic never gets moving? ... I have to live in my car? ... I can live on all my stored fat. ... I can finally catch up on my reading."
  
  This maneuver helps take the edge off the situation, redirects your tension and helps you see things as not so impossible after all. Your running commentary, however, probably is best kept to yourself.

• The truth in humor: Sometimes just telling the truth or pointing out the obvious can get a laugh. People are accustomed to exaggeration and truth-bending — too many TV commercials, perhaps — so plain speaking can come as a refreshing break.
  
  For example, a beginning golfer is disgusted that his game hasn't improved. His secretary cushions the truth by saying, "Don't get discouraged. At least you hit the ball in one." This kind of humor is a way of fighting stress by accepting our shortcomings.

• Clip a cartoon: Keep a file of jokes and cartoons that make you laugh. Paste a few up where you're likely to need them — at work, on the refrigerator, wherever.
  
  When I have been in the hallways of companies over the past few years, I'm almost always surprised by the number of Dilbert cartoons on doors, bulletin boards and other places. I've heard it over and over again: "Hey, that's just the way it is around here!"
  
  Scott Adams uses exaggeration and distortion to draw attention to the things that drive employees nuts. The comic relief provided by the cartoons eases some of the stress caused by the issues represented in the cartoons.

So, the choice is yours. When the stress bug bites you, what will you do? Will you succumb to it, let it build up pressure like a pressure cooker? Or will you choose to "lighten up?" Let's see: Feel bad or feel good — it's a tough choice. But I'll put my bet on feeling good. What about you?

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