Never bring chronic stress home

Bringing stress home is inevitable, it happens. I do it all the time. It’s very difficult to divide the two and no matter how much you try to escape it, it will follow you. Stress in its most basic form is healthy. On the other hand chronic stress kills you. You make bad decisions and it makes you anxious, tired, and wore out.

Control your chronic stress. It’s the fastest way for you to become unhealthy, tired, and unmotivated. It’s even a faster way to upset your home life.

Watch the sunset

Getting away from stressful events is key to giving your mind a break. A well deserved break. A great way to do this is to go somewhere quiet and watch the sunset. There’s something tranquil and amazing about it.

While you watch it set don’t worry about the next AOG, or what vendor really makes your life difficult, just be present, you and the sun. As the sun sets for one more day think about what you’re grateful for.

Spend an hour in nature

This is one of my favorites. Sit outdoors, breathe the fresh air, and surround yourself with green trees. If you’re in a big city, get on the roof top. When you get back to nature it has a natural calming effect. It gives you the ability to clear your head and be present in the moment. Something that can be lost in the 24/7 aviation hustle and bustle.

Exercise, meditate or do yoga

Yoga and exercise get’s oxygen flowing through your body. When you’re stressed, you’ll need more oxygen. You don’t have to be the next bodybuilder, just do a quick exercise (even in your office) and get the blood flowing. Don’t over complicate it. Just get moving.

It’s not quite exercise but meditating helps you to eliminate the chatter in your head. It makes you be present and quiet the noise with everything else you have going on. Do a quick 5 minute meditation in your office and it’ll do wonders on your stress.

Take an epsom salt bath with lavender

This may sound funny to you but it really works. Fill your bathtub up with hot water and pour in a cup of epsom salt. Then add 1 - 2 drops of lavender oil and immerse yourself in tranquility for 30 minutes. The epsom salt will help relieve stiff and sore muscles while the lavender oil helps you relax.

Turn the lights down, listen to music, and enjoy the company of others

Once the sun sets turn down your home's lights. I prefer candlelight as it helps prepare my mind for bed. Blue light at night suppresses the secretion of melatonin which then affects your quality of sleep. Reduce the light overload and chill out with dim lights and music, and get together with the people you love most.

Aviation is stressful, there’s no doubt about it. You feel overwhelmed, high pressure, and high demand. The best thing you can do for yourself is de-stress and unwind after a long day. This will only help you be more awesome the next day.

P.S. At Skylink, it’s our mission to take the stress out of aviation. We have several programs to do just that. Fill out the form below and speak to the best Account Manager in the industry.

The aircraft maintenance and engineering department is stressful. You know it, I know it, we all know it.

Billions of dollars have been invested into new software and now what?

You have access to better probability distributions, decision analysis, and forecasting through time series and smoothing methods. Or maybe you have better linear programming applications for financial planning and production scheduling.

And if that wasn't enough you now have inventory models through economic order quantity and inventory simulation.

But what does this all mean?

It still means that you have to rely on a human at the other end of the world to do something you can't.

This may be the supply of an aircraft part stored in Florida, a fresh test cell for your CFM56 in Europe, or the ferry transport of your B747-400 to Asia.

You see no matter what programs are available, humans are still at the forefront of every decision.

And this is when the problems occur (software isn't perfect either).

With all of the noise happening around you, plans change things happen and contingency plans are inevitable. During these times the term stress is an understatement.

The 10 Truths About Stress

Stress is bad news.

I know exactly how it feels and one thing I've promised to myself is to make sure that I control it at ALL times. As an aviation professional have you made the same promise to yourself?

Here are 10 truths about stress you may not have known:

Stress has been called “the silent killer” and can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, chest pain, and an irregular heartbeat.
Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, liver cirrhosis, and suicide.
Chronic stress floods the brain with powerful hormones that are meant for short-term emergency situations. Chronic exposure can damage, shrink, and kill brain cells.
Stress makes the blood “stickier,” in preparation for an injury. Such a reaction, however, also increases the probability of developing a blood clot.
Chronic stress increases cytokines, which produce inflammation. Exposure to constant inflammation can damage arteries and other organs.
Chronic stress worsens irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a condition that irritates the large intestine and causes constipation, cramping, and bloating.
Chronic stress decreases the body’s immune system’s response to infection and can affect a person’s response to immunizations.
Stress can result in more headaches as a result of the body rerouting blood flow to other parts of the body.
The hyper-arousal of the body’s stress response system can lead to chronic insomnia.
When cells shrink due to exposure to stress hormones, they disconnect from each other, which contributes to depression.

*Reference

With all you know now, is stress worth it? Not a chance.

But you're human and it's inevitable. Life and work pressures will always push your limit. You must be proactive and regulate how much you let it affect you.

Aviation professionals need to manage their stress

The primary reason to manage stress is for your health. Let's just get that clear. This is the single most important reason you should get it under control.

But there's more to stress than just your health. When you're highly stressed you're more likely to make mistakes. [TWEET THIS]

Maybe it's purchasing a wrong part or forgetting to follow-up with a vendor. Whatever it is, you have a much greater chance of screwing up then when you're level headed.

[dropshadowbox align="none" effect="lifted-both" width="autopx" height="" background_color="#f09825" border_width="1" border_color="#dddddd" ]Stress also makes you tired and your energy level sinks. This not only affects your productivity but you become a tyrant to work with.[/dropshadowbox]

When you sit back in your chair, really think hard. Think about when you're stressed and your energy level drops. How much does the lower productivity and mistakes cost?

Whatever the number is, it's still greater than if you were thinking clearly.

As an aviation professional stress is an epidemic. Did you know pilots are rated with having one of the most stressful jobs in the world?

In my opinion. I think many aviation maintenance and engineering departments have one of the most stressful jobs in the world.

Wouldn't you agree?

The point here is to manage your stress. You'll not only be more productive and increase the bottom line, you'll also be a healthier you.