Well Managed

From doing the contextual inquiry, I noticed that being overworked was a major cause of stress. The individual whom I watched was having a hard time just starting their work because they had so much to do that it was too overwhelming to even start. They were crying when they got off of work and had so much stuff coming up that they didn’t know where to start. All of this work for school on top of working 32 to 40 hours a week was the thing that was causing them to be so stressed out about everything, and feel like they didn’t have enough time to get everything done.

The stuff that helped this individual actually get started with everything was making a list of everything they needed to do and when they needed to have it done. After they did something for a little bit, they then took a mental break to do something that did not require that much mental effort. This included folding laundry, going to the gym, cleaning the kitchen, and taking a nap. Taking these mental breaks really helped calm this person down. Another thing this person does, which is outside of the contextual inquiry, is going to therapy, which helps them greatly with their stress as it helps them be able to talk about it in a comfortable way. With this, I can conclude that doing too much can cause stress from being overwhelmed and that the best ways to deal with it are making a list of everything that needs to be done and taking mental breaks every so often.

In conducting my survey, I expected a wide variety of answers regarding people’s experiences and relationships with stress. It goes without saying that everyone endures stress in their day-to-day lives but some people have different experiences with stress than others. Some respondents showed a positive relationship with stress. Stress allows them to motivate and push themselves to get things done. This is because a healthy amount of stress is necessary for setting and completing goals. In a lot of ways, stress is a good thing for some people. However, there are also instances where excessive stress can cause someone to be overwhelmed and negatively affect their time management and productivity.

I also found that excessive stress can have an effect on people's overall mood and desire to do their daily activities. A lot of the time, people’s hobbies are the best way to cope with the stress they deal with on a daily basis whether that be exercise, reading, socializing with friends, et cetera. However, when people experience an unhealthy amount of stress this could negatively affect their motivation to do the things they like. I found that it’s important to share your experiences with stress rather than being closed off and trying to deal with it alone. A lot of people experience the same types of stress and a lot of people cope with their stress in similar ways. It’s important to realize that everyone deals with stress and there is a healthy way to use this stress to be successful. I think that building a positive relationship with stress and realizing the benefits of stress can help you to cope with it and use stress to your advantage.

Throughout my interviews there were many common themes dealing with and coping with stress. Key insights and takeaways I observed in my interview are that many people deal with stress in different ways but might have the same goals in the end. Preparation and distracting yourself with hobbies were common responses in dealing with stress. There are certain stressful situations that call for different coping methods, their motivation can be in full swing to tackle that stressful situation head-on or by completely taking yourself out of that situation with keeping your mind off the stress impacting your life.

Stress does not only affect people negatively but also can have a positive influence on someone's life. Some stress can cause a person to become stronger and more intelligent by giving the person a “motor” to complete such a task or goal that caused the stress to begin with. The actions and emotions vary how they change per person but I concluded that stress frequently leads to frustration which then can turn into anger or being overwhelmed.  Hobbies were a key factor in dealing with stress because of the familiarity and the ability to conduct this hobby without thinking too much and thus taking your mind off that stressful situation.

The process of using the IDEO cards was intended both to put me in the user’s shoes as well as exercise and the motivation behind people’s drive to improve their physical and/or mental health. Ascertaining why people may prioritize one or the other was the ultimate goal of this research question. I hoped that I would be able to find an underlying goal that explained these motivations

With regards to physical health, it seemed that, in my experience, the practice of improving physical health was much more immediately validating as the physical response from your body was much more intense than what you walked away with from the mental health. The immediate response makes it seem like a lot of progress was made from your workout vs the long-term practice and value one gains from meditation. With meditation, the time it takes to actually make a dent doesn’t seem clear, as it can take days, weeks, even months to finally get the hang of things. Meditating was frustrating because of how much is going on in your mind. It takes time to calm that voice in your head down and really settle in. With that being said, I feel that physical health definitely gets prioritized over mental health in most cases.