by Dr. Claire Hayes, Consultant Clinical Psychologist
January can be a time of great intentions. We often start the year determined to be more –
more efficient, more positive and yes, more successful. But, many of us also want to be more balanced too. We want more time for family and friends. The wise among us are determined to prioritise more time for ourselves.
And then, life takes over. January speeds into February, March and April. Suddenly it is the
summer and before we know it, we are facing into Christmas and another New Year
wondering where the last twelve months have gone.
This year can be different. This year I invite you to deepen your understanding of stress and develop your abilities to cope with it. My first suggestion is to learn from the robots. No, I am not referring to people who may seem to constantly act on automatic pilot, seem to survive on very little sleep, food or fun but who think they are indispensable to the organisations they work for.
No, I mean let’s learn from real robots! Thanks to innovations in artificial intelligence (AI),
robots are becoming a key part of our daily life. They literally get to do the dirty work and
are expected to do it efficiently, cost effectively and with no complaints.
Recently, I experienced the introduction of ‘Robie’ into a family member’s household. It
arrived as a Christmas present, well packaged with a number of parts that need to be
assembled. It was immediately clear that it could only work if it was put together properly.
To do that the manual was read carefully, the various parts were assembled, Wi-Fi was
connected and Robie was ready to work. Only, it wasn’t. It needed to be charged up
overnight. The following day I was the person who got to play with Robie for the first time.
I pressed the ‘On’ button and watched to see what would happen. Over the next twenty
minutes I discovered that a robot vacuum cleaner had much to teach me. It needed a clear
path. It was my job to ensure that there was nothing that it could get tangled in. It needed
direction. It would faithfully go where it had been mapped to go. Unless areas were
specifically drawn as ‘no-go areas’ Robie would go under chairs, around corners and move
from room to room. It had a ‘mind of its own’ and if (when) something got stuck in its
brushes, a recorded message told me that it needed assistance. I was fascinated with the
whole process but the best was yet to come. Just as I was thinking that I had other things to do and should probably turn Robie off for a while, it changed direction and deliberately
returned to its docking station to rest and recharge. Even if I had wanted it to work for longer, it was not able to do so. It needed its ‘rest and recharge time’.
Watching the robot skilfully moving to its place of rest made me think of you – a busy HR
Manager. You have a busy, busy job. You have people who rely on you, people who depend
on you and probably people who draw out of you. You may well have people who have
already mapped out where and how you are supposed to work. My guess is that you probably do not have a docking station at work ready for you to rest and recharge. You are supposed to keep going and going and going.
Watching Robie also made me think of the organisation you work for and the people you
work with. How many of them have the luxury of mapping out their own places to go? How
many of them have space and time to rest and recharge?
My work is focused on helping people understand and manage whatever it is that is causing
them stress. I do this in a range of ways. One is teaching people how to use the three steps of ‘The Coping Triangle’. This is a effective process I developed many years ago based on the key principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Other ways involve imagery,
relaxation exercises and practical tools that HR Managers can use to help themselves and
others cope with stress. Much stress can be created by our own thoughts. Thoughts such as ‘I should have’, ‘I have to’, ‘I must’, ‘I can’t’ and ‘I need to’ can all create pressure and
distress. I love the idea of a ‘no-go’ area. My thinking process would definitely be much
more enjoyable if my mind no longer went to moments in my past which were upsetting.
Watching Robie instantly turn away from its programmed ‘no-go’ areas, I saw myself
creating ‘no-go’ areas in my mind and I instantly felt calmer.
For a while I was in awe of the power of Robie and enjoyed watching AI at work before I
suddenly realised that the robot was conceived, created, packed, unpacked, assembled and
programmed by human beings. It will also be cleaned and cared for by humans. Why is it that we somehow recognise the importance of a robot getting time to charge up and having
regular time to rest and recharge while we push ourselves to expect more, do more and
achieve more?
Wishing you a really great year ahead and let 2025 be the year to start learning from robots!
About the author
Dr. Claire Hayes is passionate in the areas of coping, prevention and resilience. Her
interest in helping people cope with stress dates back to research she carried out in
the Irish Management Institute in 1988 on how people cope. Her two Masters
degrees and her PhD expanded on this work, exploring further the areas of stress,
coping, prevention and resilience.
Claire continues to build on her combined forty plus years of training and experience as a clinical psychologist, lecturer, executive coach, author and teacher to help individuals, groups and organisations to understand the particular nature of their stressors and to apply evidence-based psychological principles to help them cope with these. Claire has written widely on how to help people cope with stress and has become a regular contributor to Irish national media including current affairs television and radio programmes and national press. Her fifth book, ‘Enjoy Work: Enjoy Life – A Practical Guide’, which is due to be published in the Spring of 2025, will be an invaluable resource for HR Directors and Managers.
If you are interested in Claire working with you and/or your Company to develop
your resources to manage stress well, you can contact her at [email protected]
