I’m stressed because my new job is not stressful
I recently left my job about a month ago. I found a job in the same market with the same pay but closer to my house.
My old job was hell, it was the most stressful thing I have ever gone through. Now don’t get my wrong, I loved my job because it pays well and I actually like what I am doing (data science).
I was stressed every day because everything I was asked to do was to fix problems that were costing millions of dollars. Needless to say that these requests had to be done as fast as possible.
Fast forward to my new job. I’m still in banking and I’m still stressed. The only thing that is different is that I’m stressed because my job is not stressful.
I have no pressure to get things done as soon as possible. I have no pressure from my boss that I am costing the company millions of dollars because I haven’t fixed the issue yet.
I sit in my office and feel like I am doing things wrong because I don’t feel pressure.
Having a really bad job has caused me to be stressed at an amazing job. I don’t understand how this can happen but now I am stressed that I am not stressed…
Netizens’ comments
- So you mean to say, you feel a bit uneasy because you are, in a way, expecting more pressure and micro management, like you are used to getting?
- Happening to me too. Went from 60 to 0 at my new job. Have learned to take advantage of the free time and organize myself
- Switching up some of the routines you traditionally did before, during, and after your other job may help you disassociate your new job from the old one faster. Your life cycle strategy is currently short (artificially made so by your previous environments; where your affective flight-fight responses were antagonized far too much).
For your health, I’d encourage adding some new habits, events, and even people to your world, early on is better, as your habits will settle into this new routine and job easily if you let them.
- Mindfulness & breathing are critical to extending your life cycle strategy to a longer one by oxygenating your brain and increasing your mental capacity as well as slowing down your external stimuli to help you organize thoughts without the extra situational information.
- Sleep and maintaining 7-8 hours, where targeting 8 is better than 7; meanwhile, considering your circadian rhythm (are you a morningness or eveningness person?; see: Bodenhausen, 1990). Humans aren’t nocturnal, and we operate better depending on early or later daytime routines; and routines are helpful in heuristically automating things we do habitually, so find places to automate your energy sinks).
- Humans are also hypersocial creatures, and even most introverts benefit from different degrees of socialization. Socializing with others in interesting situations and comfortable environments will help you increase your life cycle strategy and reduce the stress you’re feeling.
- Lastly is a bit polarizing, but leaning into consumer technologies has its consequences as well as its benefits; notably the direct light and sound projecting information from screens into our brains can severely overstimulate people, and it stacks over time. Nature has shown to help offset this, where establishing boundaries with tech and embracing less stimulating natural environments may also reduce flight or fight reasoning from short life cycle strategies.
These are some ways that I’ve used habits to reduce stress in similar conditions to those you’re describing. If this helps, I’m grateful for your attention, and I hope it helps.