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6 
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Welcome to Mr Aslanov’s Lessons 
QUESTION-TYPE BASED TESTS 
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TEST 6 – Stress of Workplace 
 
A. 
How busy is too busy? For some it means having to miss the occasional long
 
lunch; for others it 
means missing lunch altogether. For a few, it is hot being
 
able to take a “sickie” once a month. Then there is 
a group of people for whom
 
working every evening and weekend is normal, and franticness is the tempo of
 
their lives. For most senior executives, workloads swing between extremely busy and frenzied. The vice-
president of the management consultancy AT Kearney and its head of telecommunications for the Asia-
Pacific region, Neil Plumridge, says his work weeks vary from a “manageable” 45 hours to 80 hours, but 
average 60 hours. 
 
B. 
Three warning signs alert Plumridge about his workload: sleep, scheduling and
 
family. He knows 
he has too much on when he gets less than six hours of sleep
 
for three consecutive nights; when he is 
constantly having to reschedule
 
appointments; “and the third one is on the family side”, says Plumridge, the
 
father of a three-year-old daughter, and expecting a second child in October. “If I happen to miss a birthday 
or anniversary, I know things are out of control.” Being “too busy” is highly subjective. But for any 
individual, the perception of being too busy over a prolonged period can start showing up as stress: disturbed 
sleep, and declining mental and physical health. National workers’ compensation figures show stress causes 
the most lost time of any workplace injury. Employees suffering stress are off work an average of 16.6 
weeks. The effects of stress are also expensive. Comcare, the Federal Government insurer, reports that in 
2003-04, claims for psychological injury accounted for 7% of claims but almost 27% of claim costs. Experts 
say the key to dealing with stress is not to focus on relief—a game of golf or a massage but to reassess 
workloads. Neil Plumridge says he makes it a priority to work out what has to change; that might mean 
allocating extra resources to a job, allowing more time or changing expectations. The decision may take 
several days. He also relies on the advice of colleagues, saying his peers coach each other with business 
problems. “Just a fresh pair of eyes over an issue can help,” he says.