Reasons Why Mid-Management Positions Are Stressful

Mid-management positions face more stress from multiple directions and this can cause their mental health to deteriorate. Here are a few reasons why this happens.

You Feel Trapped Between Your Boss and Subordinates

As the word “mid” suggests, mid-management positions work through constantly feeling sandwiched between their boss and subordinates. Oftentimes, tasks under this condition can feel unpleasant.

For example, even if you visioned a great working environment for your subordinates that considered their mental well-being if the boss only valued productivity, you can’t direct a working environment that’s best for the workers. This kind of contradiction can create a lot of stress.

Your Position Requires Long Work Hours

Mid-managing positions like a general manager often require a person to multi-task several roles while managing a team. They’ve already made it up to this position by proving their worth, and they may have high standards to start off with. Work hours can extend incredibly long hours while they try to meet their own tasks and take care of subordinates at the same time. This kind of environment causes difficulties when it comes to mental health.

A university study concluded that when a person in a mid-management position worked for more than 10 hours a day, they felt 2.4 to 3 times more stress compared to an average worker with the same hours. Long work hours can cause all sorts of trouble in terms of lifestyle and sleep quality.

There Are Fewer People You Can Talk To

When a person enters a managing position, there are fewer people they can talk to. Their position makes it difficult to casually complain or talk to anyone (boss or subordinates) about work difficulties.

Many people who struggle through stress find it helpful when they can talk to someone. A person can start feeling mentally unwell when they feel like there is nowhere to turn to.

The Pressure Between Work and Family

By the time we reach a management position, some of us may also be managing our own families. A study from the University of Georgia concludes that quality time with family has benefits on the job for managers. There is a known link between great leadership and positive family interaction.

However, it can be difficult to balance quality time with family when the boss doesn’t understand the importance of family commitments, or the demands of the team never seem to end. As a manager, we naturally try to step up to the position, but sometimes the demands of the family and work conflict in a way that creates more stress.

5 Things To Try for Mid-Management Stress

If you’re under a lot of mid-management stress, the following activities may help you.

1. Seek Professional Help

If you struggle sharing your difficulties, we recommend that you seek professional help. Middle managers are known to carry a lot of stress. A professional therapist or counselor can be helpful in figuring out the core of your problems to improve your mental health.

An AI counseling app can further assist your mental wealth too. It can listen to your problems without any restrictions on time schedule, or location. It’s an affordable alternative counseling method with a free trial period. Give it a try!
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2. Make Friends Outside of Work

It’s important to build relationships at work so that things go smoothly, but there’s a downside to this. If we only strengthening work relationships, our headspace can never escape the work environment. Therefore, we recommend making friends and joining communities outside of work.

It can be anything like a study or hobby group. A place where you can be yourself and have friends to talk to will help take away stress and improve your overall mental well-being. At the same time, if you could find friends in similar mid-management positions, there are opportunities to share and grow together.

3. Talk to Your Boss

We recommend that you try and talk to your boss if things are really tough. There’s a possibility that your skills and capabilities have nothing to do with the problems presented. It could be because there are not enough people on the team, or it could be a corporate structural issue. A talk with the boss can improve and change the working environment for the better of everyone.

Most likely, your boss has experienced a similar position as you. They could provide personal advice and insight for you to improve. Stop worrying about the negative consequences of speaking to your boss and try to seek advice with an open mind.

4. Understand That You Don’t Have to Be Perfect

Just because you’re in a management position doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. Instead of feeling overwhelmed with self-guilt, understand that there are strengths and weaknesses in everyone.

Skills and experience will grow as you go. Perfectionism can be harmful to your mental well-being. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses and don’t be too harsh on yourself.

5. Read Books That Inspire You

There are many business books that dabble on the topic of middle management. These books are an excellent way to gain insight into how to overcome some of the common challenges.

It doesn’t even have to be business books. Reading provides a temporary distance from our anxieties. It allows us to absorb knowledge and provides great comfort when we can’t fall asleep because of stress.

Embrace Your Career with Optimism

If you want to keep advancing in your career, there’s no way around going through a mid-management position. This position can get to you mentally if you’re not caring enough for your own mental health.

We hope that you can learn how to embrace this mid-management position as a stepping stone, and can hold an optimistic outlook on the career path you’re on!

References:

MARUYAMA, S., KOHNO, K., & MORIMOTO, K. (1995). A Study of Preventive Medicine in Relation to Mental Health among Middle-management Employees (Part 2). Effects of Long Working Hours on Lifestyles, Perceived Stress and Working-life Satisfaction among White-collar Middle-management Employees. Nippon Eiseigaku Zasshi (Japanese Journal of Hygiene), 50(4), 849–860. https://doi.org/10.1265/jjh.50.849

O’Connell, B. (2021, March 9). How Your Family Life Might Make You a Better Manager. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/people-managers/pages/managing-workers-like-family-.aspx

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The Desire for Perfectionism and The Fear of Failure

Hearing the term “perfectionist” may make you think of someone who wants to be perfect all the time, self-conscious, and strict towards others. In actuality, perfectionism can be defined by the following characteristics:

1. The desire to be perfect
2. The tendency to hold high standards
3. The tendency to be excessively critical about mistakes
4. The tendency to have a vague distrust of one’s own actions

For example, if a perfectionist were to study for a test, they would have the following thoughts:

1. I want to get a high score on every mock exam, every time.
2. I’m going to finish two workbooks this month.
3. If I had solved that problem correctly back then, this wouldn’t have happened.
4. Does this study method actually help me improve?

All 4 aspects listed above are potential stressors for a perfectionist. Generally, perfectionism can be divided into two groups:
Adaptive Perfectionism: shows stronger tendencies and characteristics of 1 and 2 from the above list.
Maladaptive Perfectionism: shows stronger tendencies and characteristics of 2 and 4 from the above list.

Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism

Now, let’s look at the detailed differences between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism. Academically, they are differentiated in the following manner:

Adaptive Perfectionism: Less stress because there is not much margin of error between what you do and the standard you seek.
Maladaptive Perfectionism: There is a large margin of error between your behavior and the standards you seek, resulting in stress and anxiety.

Both demonstrate a strong desire to be perfect and seek high standards. The difference lies in the level of stress they feel through trying to achieve these expectations. As with anything, goal setting is effective for productivity and growth. However, goals that are too high can cause physical and mental strain, leading to intense fatigue and overcapacity. This can be one of the reasons some people delay work through procrastination or go through academic failure. When we push ourselves to the point of exhaustion to pursue ideals, it can lead to an internal conflict that ends with a form of procrastination.

Put Rules in Place to Avoid Procrastination

To get rid of the habit of procrastination, it’s important to recognize the strong feelings of fear and anxiety we carry within. These emotions can limit our perspective and lead to delaying our responsibilities. Understanding ourselves and shifting our conscious intentions will help with this. Below are two ways to get started.

1. Give It a Try for 10 Minutes

Deciding on a set amount of time to work on something is an effective method. For example, set yourself a 10-minute timeframe, and try working for just 10 minutes first. If you feel good about it, you can continue working, and if you don’t feel good about it, you can stop after the first 10 minutes. Even if we quit, our brain will remember the fact that we did the work and offer a sense of accomplishment. Starting an action and accumulating these little moments of accomplishments will help shift our mindset towards wanting to finish our duties.

2. Create a To-Do List

A to-do list is always effective. Make a list that allows you to visualize your efforts as you go. A visual marker in all what needs to be done, and all that’s checked off, will lead to a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment in progress.

Change Our Thoughts to Reduce Stress

The thoughts, ideas, and influence a perfectionist creates can have tremendous impact on the people around them. In many cases, they make positive contributions to groups and communities. It’s a shame when they lose confidence or turn negative upon facing their own mental blocks. Especially when there is big potential to shine.

We can change any situation by shifting perspectives and changing our mindset. If you read this and recognize that you might be a perfectionist or procrastinator, challenge yourself to shift perspectives. A change in your mindset could brighten your life in new ways.

→ Looking to improve your mental health? Try the SELFMIND app FREE for 1 week!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Image：Unsplash
References：

Ishida, H. (2005). College Students’ Perfectionism and Task-Strategy Inefficience : Why Their Efforts Go Unrewarded? Japanese Journal of Social Psychology 20(3), 208-215. doi: 10.14966/jssp.KJ00003725003

Masui, A., & Iwanaga, M. (2009). The Effect of Self-Oriented Perfectionism and Responsibility on Information Gathering Behavior. Hiroshima University Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences: Studies in Human Sciences, 4, 1-9. doi: 10.15027/29014

Miyahara, C. (2010). Adaptive and Maladaptive Aspects of Perfectionism in College Students: Relationships with Depression, Anxiety, and Coping Behaviors. HEART Hyokyo Institutional Repository. Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10132/6361

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Defining Workaholic

Am I a workaholic?

A workaholic describes a person who is addicted to work and works compulsively for long hours. It’s generally regarded as a negative state that is detrimental to one’s physical and mental health, but some people consider it a positive sign of enjoyment and fulfillment being met at work.

The definition of workaholic varies among experts. If you work long hours on a daily basis, and the following statements apply, you likely are a workaholic.

・I can’t stop thinking about work even on days off

・I sacrifice health and personal time to devote myself to work

・I find myself disinterested in non-work related topics

People who are prone to workaholism often carry heavy workloads and tend to be under excessive work pressure. If we find our workload increasing one after another or if we’re juggling multiple tasks at once, we should be cautious.

Work Fulfillment Impacts Our Well-Being

According to research, less fulfillment in work leads to unhealthier individuals, both physically and mentally. Long hours at an unfulfilling job puts our minds and bodies under a lot of stress. More hours invested in work means less relaxation and resting hours as well, causing a constant accumulation of stress without relief. This can lead to more serious conditions such as burnout, depression, and even karoshi (death due to overwork).

Generally speaking, work is a strenuous task that involves social responsibilities and it can be challenging to make it fulfilling on our own. To reduce unhealthy mental and physical pressure from work, we need to come up with ways to make work enjoyable and create that change together as a society.

However, we still shouldn’t work long hours even when we enjoy work. The higher ratio we spend on work every day, the more fatigue naturally accumulates with more potential damage to health. Regardless of whether we enjoy our work or not, excessively long work hours should be avoided.

Escaping the Workaholic Lifestyle

Workaholism is a condition caused by excessive long hours of work. To prevent this, the entire workplace needs to regularly review and consider whether the workload and working hours are appropriate for each individual. It’s also important to implement a system and environment where employees feel at ease voicing their working condition needs for a healthy work-life balance.

What can we do if we still find ourselves falling into workaholism? If we want to escape the workaholic lifestyle, we should consciously switch gears between work and personal. As for starters, try to become aware of the following two things:

1. Find a hobby as passionate as work
   Hobbies can be a great escape from work. It can lead to increased motivation at work to generate the money necessary for the hobby and help avoid long work hours to invest in personal time.
   
2. Cherish time with family and friends.
   Communicating with family, friends, and others who are not directly involved in our work helpslp us switch off “work mode”. Investing in relationships outside of the workplace also prevents social isolation later in life when we retire.

To prevent workaholism, we must understand our situation objectively, although It’s not easy to do when we’re overwhelmed with work. Remember to listen to family, friends, and colleagues who care about you most. If you think that you’re fine even though you’re overwhelmed and pressured with work, watch out. You may have already lost your way through workaholism.

Image: Unsplash

References:
Fujimoto, T. (2013). Psychological Distress and Physical Complaints of the Workaholic. The Japanese Journal of Labour Studies, 55(6), 47-58.

Takeishi, E. (2010). Challenges in Achieving Work-Life Balance: Implications from International Comparative Surveys. RIETI Policy Discussion Paper Series 10-P-004.

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A large decorative plant placed in the corner of the office.
A small potted plant placed on the desk.

We often see plants in our workplace. But why? “It looks good” or “It’s healing,” we may say. Many of us only have a vague impression. Research indicates that greening the office actually reduces fatigue.

Plants Make Space Feel Brighter

Scientists blocked sunlight coming through the window by placing partitions and plants to see if it made a difference in impressions. Even though plants blocked the sunlight and made the room darker, results showed that it gave off the impression of a brighter room. On the other hand, using partitions clearly gave off a darker impression when placed in the same position. Scientists think that this is because greening the space by placing a plant evokes more of a ‘psychological brightness’ in our perceptions.

A Little Bit of Greening for Relaxation

Some of you may think, “I don’t all have enough desk space for plants!” To see if size matters, an experiment measured fatigue levels in participants provided with three different plant options to put on their desks. Each participant received a large plant, a small plant, or nothing at all. Participants with large plants and small plants ended up showing signs of relaxation. Participants with no plants showed no signs of relaxation. In other words, the size or number of plants doesn’t matter when greening your workspace.

Smaller plants were also found effective in suppressing drowsiness for viewers. Researchers believe this is due to participants having more visual contact with smaller plants throughout their work hours and breaks. The more attention they gave to the plant, the brighter their work environment was perceived.

Different Plants, Different Effects

A wide variety of plants are ideal for interior decoration. Some plants have leaves that are lush and round, while others are mixed with colors ranging from green to red. People have different tastes, but no matter what you choose, the impressions we get viewing them seem to be pretty consistent.

Research with 102 college students using 16 kinds of plants tested the impression different plants gave off. A large number of students chose; Weeping Figs, Corn Plants, and Lemon Cypress as plants they’d want in their room. Many of them claimed that it made the room feel luxurious, refreshing, and restful.

On the contrary, Garden Crotonas was most mentioned as the plant that made them feel a little restless when placed. Respondents described the plant as cold and tense. The lack of comfort may be coming from the fact that the leaves are mostly red on this plant.

Uplift your mood at the office today, by placing a small green plant on your desk. Whenever you feel tired, try gazing at it for a while. The power of the plant can assist you in reducing your fatigue.

→ Looking to improve your mental health? Try the SELFMIND app FREE for 1 week!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Image：Unsplash

Reference:
Asaumi, H., Nishina, H., Namba, R., Masui, Y., Hashimoto, Y. (1995). Evaluation of Impression of Ornamental Foliage Plants and Psychological Rating of Rooms with Ornamental Foliage Plants by Means of Semantic Differential Method. Shokubutsu Kojo Gakkaishi, 7(1), 34–45. https://doi.org/10.2525/jshita.7.34

Hasegawa, T., Shimomura, T. (2010). Comparison of psychological effects on workers between a small interior plant and a large interior plant. Journal of the Japanese Society of Revegetation Technology, 36(1), 63-68. https://doi.org/10.7211/jjsrt.36.63

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‘Sleep Inertia’ May Be Blocking Your Sleep

Have you ever felt muddleheaded or sluggish after a nap? “Sleep inertia” is a phenomenon that causes drowsiness and fatigue immediately after waking up. It reduces work efficiency and adversely affects our lives. We can avoid this by changing how we take our naps. An effective power nap is determined by how smoothly we wake up without having sleep inertia.

3 Keys to the Most Effective Power Nap

1. Keep Naps Within 20 Minutes or Less

We generally reach non-REM sleep (deep sleep) in about 30 minutes after falling asleep. The potential of sleep inertia increases when we reach non-REM states in our naps. This is because we experience less non-REM sleep at night when we achieve non-REM states through daytime naps. Long naps during the day may induce sleep inertia, as well as affect the quality of sleep we get at night, leaving us feeling more sluggish and tired the next day. Keep your nap within 20 minutes for the most effective power nap, and avoid falling trap to sleep inertia.

2. Have Caffeine Before Naps

Coffee before a power nap reduces sleep inertia and improves work efficiency. The secret lies in the time it takes for the caffeine to kick in. It takes about 15 to 30 minutes after consumption for it to work. A cup of coffee, tea, or energy drink right before a 20-minute power nap helps us feel more awake when we come out of it, thus aiding in suppressing sleep inertia.

3. Wake up Naturally Without an Alarm

Waking up naturally without an alarm may sound difficult to some. Research reveals that naturally waking up from our naps at a predetermined time suppresses sleep inertia. Further research also indicates that people who are determined to naturally wake up at a certain time, are more likely to wake up earlier than expected. This is why waking up without an alarm allows for the most effective power nap within a shorter time frame.

A Power Nap is Only a Temporary Measure

A power nap, no matter how effective, is only a temporary coping solution to the drowsiness we feel. It’s not a suitable substitute for proper sleep because it’s too short. If we want to eliminate the fundamental cause of drowsiness and avoid regular sleep inertia, good quality sleep at night is essential. Once an effective power nap helps you get through the day, don’t forget to return home early to catch up on sleep.

Looking to improve your mental wellbeing? Try the SELF MIND app FREE for 1 week!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

References:
Kaida, K., Nittono, H., Hayashi, M., Hori, T. (2001)Preventive effects of self-awakening on sleep inertia a short nap. Japanese Journal of Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology. 19(1), 7-14, https://doi.org/10.5674/jjppp1983.19.7

Hayashi, M., Hori, T. (2007)A short nap as a countermeasure against afternoon sleepiness. Japanese Journal of Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology. 25(1), 45-59, https://doi.org/10.5674/jjppp1983.25.45

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