In today’s hectic world, the workplace often seems like an emotional roller coaster. Long hours, tight deadlines and ever increasing demands can leave you feeling worried, drained, stressed and overwhelmed. Stress isn’t always bad. A little bit of stress can help you perform better and help you stay focused. But when stress exceeds your ability to cope, it stops being helpful and starts to cause damage to your mind and body.

Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional or psychological strain. Stress is your body’s response to anything that requires attention or action. Everyone experiences stress to some degree. The way you respond to stress, however, makes a big difference to your overall well-being. There are three types of stress: acute stress, episodic acute stress and chronic stress. It has the ability to negatively impact our lives. It can cause physical conditions such as headaches, digestive issues and sleep disturbances. It can also cause psychological and emotional strains, including confusion, anxiety and depression. A stressor can be a person, place or situation that is causing you stress.

There is a general notion that homemakers live in a comfortable zone. But the reality is that they bear a very high responsibility of running the family and meeting the requirements of day to day commitments. Even for the social occasions of their families, the expectations of the homemaker’s presence is very high. They cannot escape from their commitments. The boundaries of home restricts the exposure of a homemaker to the outside world. The expectation from a homemaker to play multiple roles, for example, that of a daughter, wife, sister, mother, daughter-in-law etc. pressurises them and creates stress. Additional stress comes from the assorted duties of cooking, cleaning, driving, caring for kids, elders and maintaining a healthy relationship with relatives and other members of family and society.

This constructs stress in their minds, brick by brick. Lack of recognition is another major stressor. Though there are numerous tasks performed by homemakers, they are considered jobless. The yearning to be recognised for their work is a rightful expectation of a homemaker while its absence or lack hastens high pressure and stress on their mind. We can’t deny the dependent culture that these homemakers are brought up in. Our culture insists on dependency for women where she has to depend on parents, brothers, elders, husband, extended family, or even on their children. This adds to the stress for these women to a greater extent. Even though she works hard for the family, she cannot be a part of decision making and being a non-earning member of the family can lead to others ignoring homemakers’ inputs on important matters. Child care is a challenging task; kids of every age and at every stage pose numerous work obligations on their mothers. This psychological pressure is met by women alone as often, the parent-care is not shared by their fathers.

In today’s hectic world, the workplace often seems like an emotional roller coaster. Long hours, tight deadlines and ever increasing demands can leave you feeling worried, drained, stressed and overwhelmed. Stress isn’t always bad. A little bit of stress can help you perform better and help you stay focused. But when stress exceeds your ability to cope, it stops being helpful and starts to cause damage to your mind and body.

Studies have suggested that; stressful experiences for women often concern their family roles. Housewives, especially those with young children, are significantly more anxious and depressed than working husbands. Whereas for working women, their family roles were much more of a concern than problems on the job. Common causes of workplace stress include the fear of being laid off, more overtime due to staff cutbacks, pressure to perform to meet rising expectations but with no increase in job satisfaction, pressure to work at optimum levels, disparity with salary and income and lack of control over how you do your work.
You can’t control everything in your workplace environment or at home, but that doesn’t mean you are powerless, no matter what you do for a living, what your ambitions are or how stressful your job is. There are plenty of things you can do to reduce stress and cope better.

Also, never hesitate to seek help. No parent is super-perfect. Neither is any house. Since we all are social animals, we will need aid and assistance from our fellow people from time to time. Seek help and offer help when you can.

4. For expecting couples and new parents, what’s one advice you would have or something that they should prepare for beforehand?

Be well-read about what is to happen once you plan to step into parenthood. Know what all changes that can possibly happen for a couple – physical, mental, financial, etc. Prepare for yourself and the baby. As long as you are steadfast, things will fall into place, In Shaa Allah. Even if it doesn’t, you’ll know that it is only a test in this dunya and that this dunya is temporary. Parenthood isn’t something silly, for you are bringing a life into the world where you will be responsible for bringing them up in a good manner. Babies will thrive and strive in any environment, but not all will turn out to be ‘human beings’. That’s where parents’ roles and responsibilities come in play. Give children their rights and fulfil their need to be loved. After all, they came into this world because you chose to bring them here.

• To begin with, simply share your stress with someone you are close to. The act of talking it out and getting support and empathy, especially face to face can be a highly effective way of blowing off steam and regaining your sense of calm.
• Turn to co-workers for support. Lean on your friends and family members. It is important to have a strong network of supportive friends and family.
• Make time for regular exercise; from aerobic exercises to rhythmic movements. Take a stroll outside the workplace if possible or for sometime leave the confined spaces of your house and go for a walk.
• Your food choices have a huge impact on how you feel during the day, eat small, frequent and healthy meals.
• Don’t skimp on sleep. Improve the quality of your sleep by making healthy changes to your daytime & nighttime routine. Go to bed early and get up at the same time every day even on the weekends.
• End your screen-time two hours before bedtime.
• Prioritise your goals, activities and manage time better. Create a balanced schedule for yourself. Don’t over commit yourself & establish healthy boundaries.
• Resist perfectionism. Don’t try to control the uncontrollable & look for humour in challenging situations.
• Take time off. Give yourself regular breaks and indulge in activities you are passionate about.
• Lastly, start looking for satisfaction and meaning in your work, whether it’s household chores, work from home or a corporate job.