Thriving Under Stress: Harnessing Demands in the Workplace by Thomas W. Britt

Thriving Under Stress: Harnessing Demands in the Workplace Reviews

• 
  Paul Bard

  Summarises workplace studies on stress, coping, thriving, resilience, energy, and detachment.
  
  Cognitive analytical approach to stress. Reappraisal of demands as challenges.
  
  Two kinds of coping: problem and emotion based, with problem more effective if one has control.
  
  My two take aways: meditation training is the gold standard treatment for workplace stress. And, FULL recovery outside work on physical/emotional/mental levels is based in having access to a stimulating and enriching environment.
  
  Finally, I don't think the issue of stress from a poor fit to the workplace could be adequately treated without any discussion of bullshit jobs and the subversive and pervasive negative influence of multinational corporations on peoples' quality of life.
  
  The authors created a doctrinaire study of workplace stress for corporate managers that enables an insight into barely adequate fitness, but avoided deeper questions of the failure of work to adapt to the soulless mechanisation and pervasive dehumanisation of the workplace.
• 
  Melek

  I'm not a working person. Instead, I'm a student of a prestigious college, which is pushing me and stressing me out just as much. It has it's own demands, though there are certain differences between working and studying, but I think most of the ideas/instructions in this book can be applied to both areas.
  
  That said, I liked this book. It gives insight to what stress is, in great detail, how to identify the main reasons of it and what to do about it. Even without them saying it, it's obvious the writers are well-versed in this area. These were the upsides.
  
  The downsides were, it's not very engaging. I didn't read this book only because it was a R2R but also because I actually intended to learn a thing or two about how to cope with stress. I did learn everything I wanted (which is another upside), yet the writing made this a little harder. I lost focus many times while reading and ended up ditching it for at least a few hours every time. Apart from that, there are a few parts that I think was unnecessary, but then again, I'm not a working person and those parts might be necessary for them though not me, so I'm not complaining.
  
  Overall, it was a 4-4.5/5. A very good read that I would recommend.