Clark University - Clarknews spring 2004
When your job drives you crazy
By Judith Jaeger
New book by Paul Hellman '71 helps readers cope with work-related anxieties
Feeling stressed and anxious about work? You're not alone, and with good reason. According to Paul Hellman '71, author of the book "Naked at Work (and Other Fears): How to Stay Sane When Your Job Drives You Crazy," (Penguin) there are 117 common work-related anxieties that range from getting rid of clutter on your desk to making sure no one gets rid of you. So, how do we stay sane?
"We are wiser than we know and more fearful than we admit," says Hellman. This is part of the premise of "Naked at Work," which offers good, practical advice for coping with work-related anxieties. Descriptions of all 117 of them are included in the book.
In "Naked at Work," Hellman draws on his more than 20 years as a management consultant, helping people be more effective on the job. His firm, express potential®, specializes in teaching breakthrough thinking and communication in the workplace. Breakthrough thinking, Hellman explains, is about jarring people out of their habitual ways of thinking—whether it's thinking faster, slower, in pictures or in words—to become more creative and flexible thinkers. Breakthrough communicating is about breaking through the barriers that obstruct effective dialogue—whether making a presentation, running a meeting, or talking with the boss about performance issues.
Hellman gives workshops at companies around the country, and he hears people's concerns about their jobs.
"People are stressed at work," he says. While this is nothing new, Hellman says the case can be made that work-related stress has intensified over the last five to 10 years and doesn't seem like it will subside any time soon. Global competition, technological change, mergers—the outsourcing of jobs to other countries—all contribute to the fever pitch of stress. Also, Hellman adds, time has disappeared: We're getting older and working around the clock, hard pressed to lead a balanced life.
The CEO
But there's more to workplace anxieties than these outside factors. In "Naked at Work," Hellman focuses on the way people think about these outside factors. This thought process is called CEO—and yes, chief executive officers can cause stress, but that's not what Hellman is talking about here. CEO, he explains, stands for the three main roots of irrational thought that cause anxiety: Circumstances, Ego and Other people.
He uses the experience of sitting in a traffic jam as an example. We get angry with the circumstances because of the irrational thought that, "Life should never inconvenience me." The ego, meaning simply the self, gets in the mix with the thought, "I should always look good, perform well and never make a mistake, and now this traffic jam is making me late for an appointment, meeting, dinner, etc." And there's also an irrational thought that other people "should always behave nicely and stop making rude gestures to other drivers."
"These beliefs collide with reality," Hellman says, and that's what makes people upset. At work, and in life, there are inconveniences large and small, we make mistakes, and people aren't always nice. When these realities don't match our expectations, Hellman explains, anxiety is the result.
The Remedy
Hellman offers an alternative CEO as a remedy: Challenge your assumptions, energize your thinking and outplace yourself. In other words: Learn to identify and challenge the irrational thoughts brought on by circumstances, ego and other people; introduce new thoughts that cause positive feelings and actions; and separate yourself from your thoughts to gain a different perspective. By following these strategies, Hellman writes, "we can address the quality of our thinking" and take back our mental control from our anxieties.
A good sense of humor doesn't hurt either. Hellman has been a humor writer for more than 12 years, with commentaries appearing in the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, as well as on public radio and CNN's financial network. "Naked at Work" is written with a good dose of humor. While it is definitely not a humor book, the use of humor highlights another tool to overcome anxiety and stress.
"Humor is a very powerful way to change perspective," Hellman says. "If you're actively looking for humor in your everyday life, it makes you step back and look at things from a different angle."
New perspectives gained at Clark
A psychology major with a strong interest in philosophy, Hellman credits Clark with his penchant for finding new perspectives. The University also instilled in him the desire to make a difference. For Hellman, this means helping people get exceptional results at work through skillful thinking and communicating. Clark, he adds, also prepared him well for his career.
"I feel like I received as good an education at Clark as at any place in the world, and I draw on it all the time," says Hellman, who holds a master's degree in psychology from the State University of W. Georgia and in management from MIT's Sloan School. "I look back on my experience at Clark with tremendous gratitude and affection."
To learn more about Paul Hellman '71 and express potential®, visit www.expresspotential.com.
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Clarknews Spring 2004
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| Paul Hellman '71, author of "Naked at Work" |
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