Reducing Job Stress With the Demand-Control Model Video

How much control do you have over your work? Do you find that you're always at the whim of sudden demands and unexpected deadlines? Or are you allowed to organize and prioritize your own workload?

Professor Robert Karasek argued that job stress is determined by two things: how demanding your role is, and how much autonomy you have over it. He developed the Demand-Control Model of Job Stress to illustrate this relationship.

According to the model, when your role is high-demand, but you lack decision latitude (in other words you have little or no autonomy) the result is a high-strain job. But when you have a highly demanding job as well as high decision latitude, you feel less stressed and have higher job satisfaction. On the other hand, low-demand roles with high or low job decision latitude are either passive or low-strain in terms of stress.

If you have an active or high-strain job, you can use the model to help reduce stress. Let's explore how.

First, make a stress diary   , and list all the tasks or situations that cause you stress. After one or two weeks, think about how you could increase your autonomy within each of these. Let's say you're charged with editing a newsletter, but you often don't receive the copy until the day it's due to go out. This puts a lot of pressure on you, and causes your stress levels to spike. To avoid this, you could set earlier deadlines before the editing stage, so that you have more time to complete your tasks.

Setting and communicating boundaries   can also help reduce stress by preventing you from becoming overloaded. It's OK to say "no" to a task   when you feel you don't have capacity. Perhaps the task is better suited to someone else, or you could offer to help out when you're less busy. Maintain your boundaries and be assertive if you feel they're being ignored.

You can protect your time further by minimizing interruptions   and distractions. Block out focus time in your calendar, turn off notifications, or work from home, if you have the flexibility to do so.

Finally, build a support network of people that you can depend on. Have an informal chat with a trusted colleague, and talk things through with them. And don't be shy to ask for help when you need it. Remember that stress can have severe health consequences, so it's vital that you reach out to a health professional if you're struggling.

To learn more about the Demand-Control Model of Stress   , read the article that accompanies this video.