Expert: Sanna Jordansson
Headlines:
- The impact of stress-related states in their daily work lives of paraplanners is significant
- Operating under high stress impacts performance and wellbeing
Discussion points:
The roundtable discussion centred around the topic of "Techniques for Working with Resilience," offering a platform for attendees to explore and exchange practical tools that promote long-term cognitive resilience.
The discussion around "knowing our chemical cocktail" became particularly relevant in this context, with attendees gaining insight into the role and impact of various neurotransmitters and hormones on their behaviour and emotions, such as the influence of heightened cortisol and adrenaline levels present in sustained stressful situations.
Some participants shared that the long days often impacted their ability to switch off and get a break, however this was also an internally-produced problem, where they put themselves under pressure to stay longer hours.
Understanding and managing stress triggers was another major area of discussion. Participants acknowledged the influence of various factors on their stress levels, including the nature of the tasks assigned to them, the person delegating the tasks, and the timing of the tasks' introduction.
A "Trigger Map" offered valuable insights into identifying and pre-emptively managing such stress-inducing factors, fostering a greater sense of control and resilience.
Key takeaways:
- There is an important gap in current workplace practices - delegation and pushback, we need to recognise when we are taking on excessive workloads without proper delegation or negotiation of responsibilities
- This acknowledgment can facilitate the sharing of practical tips to address the issue, such as asking for hard deadlines, laying out current tasks and asking directors to prioritise them, and understanding the need for assertiveness in workload management
- Discussing the practical resilience tools and strategies, as well as sharing experience, reveals the commonalities between Paraplanners when it comes to finding more effective navigation and daily tools for their professional lives
