Lecture 52- Problem-Focused Coping-II — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:17Namaskar friends and welcome back to
2. 0:20module 11 of the stress management
3. 0:23course.
4. 0:25We are dealing with lecture two of this
5. 0:28module which is a sequence of lecture
6. 0:32one and we will learn about some more
7. 0:36problem focused coping skills in this
8. 0:39seg segment.
9. 0:43This time we will be doing
10. 0:48important discussions about strategies
11. 0:52to maintain a to-do list. Doing
12. 0:55self-reflection,
13. 0:58trying easiest problem first,
14. 1:01prioritizing our task,
15. 1:04of course, asking for help, challenging
16. 1:08negative self-t talk, taking regular
17. 1:11breaks,
18. 1:13don't assuming the worst, and finally we
19. 1:17will try to appraise the effectiveness
20. 1:21of problem focused strategies. is
21. 1:26by assessing their pros and cons. Let us
22. 1:30begin with our discussion.
23. 1:35Some other problem focus strategies can
24. 1:39involve having a to-do list that can be
25. 1:43created on a daily basis.
26. 1:46What happens that if I try to remember
27. 1:50everything in my mind, it can increase
28. 1:53the cognitive load a lot. If I try to
29. 1:57remember that okay at the workplace I
30. 2:01have to do these 10 things today and at
31. 2:04uh the family level I have to complete
32. 2:08this this this task or maybe the next
33. 2:12week I have to do this and I have to do
34. 2:14that. It is going to cause a lot of
35. 2:17cognitive burden for me. That can easily
36. 2:21be handled to paper or a laptop or a
37. 2:27mobile phone.
38. 2:29By doing so, I can spare my cognitive
39. 2:33resources to be spent on more productive
40. 2:37and meaningful things. So creating a
41. 2:41to-do list is something very beneficial
42. 2:45because first it reduces my cognitive
43. 2:49load. Second, it reduces the possibility
44. 2:54of forgetfulness.
45. 2:56If I have jotted everything down on a
46. 3:00piece of a paper, on a diary, in a
47. 3:03mobile phone, in my laptop, wherever I
48. 3:07find it convenient,
49. 3:10I reduce a chance to forget and miss
50. 3:14something important.
51. 3:17Once you forget something important, it
52. 3:20creates additional stress.
53. 3:24So I can simply
54. 3:27compile it at one place and then as I
55. 3:32keep completing the task I can simply
56. 3:35strike them off. So once I revisit the
57. 3:39list at the uh end of the day, it will
58. 3:44give me a kind of motivation also that
59. 3:47okay I listed 10 task today and I
60. 3:51successfully completed eight out of 10.
61. 3:54So my productivity is almost 80%.
62. 3:59So if I try to review this,
63. 4:03this will be beneficial for me again as
64. 4:06it gives me good feel a feel of
65. 4:10achievement and then it also motivates
66. 4:14me to improve my performance. Suppose on
67. 4:18the very first day I can accomplish only
68. 4:2155 or 60% task. I can find myself
69. 4:26motivated to stretch the limit of this
70. 4:31uh success up to 70% the next day and
71. 4:35then up to 80 or 90% in the next week
72. 4:39and so on. So creating a to-do list is
73. 4:42something very beneficial. It avoids
74. 4:46undue stress and also helps in reducing
75. 4:50the stress which is already present in
76. 4:54my situation.
77. 5:00Then comes the strategy of
78. 5:02selfreflection.
79. 5:04Selfreflection means I'm working,
80. 5:07working and working and at some point of
81. 5:10time I may feel like as if I'm
82. 5:13overwhelmed with the situation, with the
83. 5:16thoughts, with the ideas and somehow I
84. 5:19need some time to reorganize myself. Uh
85. 5:24sometimes we all feel like as if we are
86. 5:27running after the goal, maybe after
87. 5:30several goals simultaneously.
88. 5:34And then we need a pause so that we can
89. 5:38rethink.
90. 5:39We can rethink about what we are doing,
91. 5:42why we are doing so, what is the
92. 5:46effectiveness of the actions that we
93. 5:48have taken,
94. 5:51do they need restructuring?
95. 5:54Do they need any kind of changes?
96. 5:58For all these discussions, for all these
97. 6:02reflections,
98. 6:03we can take small breaks after a
99. 6:07schedule of maybe 12 hours or maybe
100. 6:11after 2 or 3 days I can sit back and
101. 6:14have a self-reflection
102. 6:16reflection session
103. 6:19depending upon my own requirement.
104. 6:22So revisiting the situation with a clear
105. 6:25mind always help us to cope with the
106. 6:30situation in a better way and to put
107. 6:34things into correct perspectives.
108. 6:39Another strategy is to tackle the
109. 6:44easiest problem first. Remember what you
110. 6:48used to do in your mathematics paper
111. 6:52when you were studying in your school.
112. 6:56Probably whenever you get the question
113. 6:59paper, you go through the paper and then
114. 7:02you try to put a tick mark on those
115. 7:05questions which were easier for you
116. 7:10which you would solve easily and you
117. 7:14were confident about solving them. So if
118. 7:18you solve two or three easy questions,
119. 7:22this will improve your engagement with
120. 7:26the situation and also give you a kind
121. 7:30of confidence
122. 7:32that you can manage the situation. On
123. 7:36the other hand, if you read the first
124. 7:39question and the very first question
125. 7:43appears to be very difficult to you or
126. 7:46you realize that you have simply uh
127. 7:50missed learning that particular section
128. 7:53or you are you do not remember the
129. 7:55answer of that
130. 7:58what kind of emotions used to be there
131. 8:00in your mind just think about it.
132. 8:04So having an easy start is important
133. 8:09because it induces a feeling of success
134. 8:13which boosts your self-esteem, boosts
135. 8:16your confidence, motivates you to get
136. 8:20engaged with the situation in a more
137. 8:24effective manner. Similarly,
138. 8:27prioritizing your task. You have
139. 8:30prepared a to-do list. Maybe 8 to 10
140. 8:33tasks are listed there.
141. 8:37Of course, including the workplace
142. 8:39assignments and the home assignments
143. 8:41which you are supposed to carry out
144. 8:44carry out.
145. 8:46uh prioritizing those task will tell you
146. 8:50which task must be taken up at a at the
147. 8:54time of the day when you are the most
148. 8:57productive and at the time of the day
149. 9:00when you are the least productive.
150. 9:03See mostly what happens that 80% results
151. 9:07are derived from 20% efforts.
152. 9:12So those 20% efforts are to be made in
153. 9:16the best part of the day. Now what do I
154. 9:20mean by the best part of the day?
155. 9:23Whether the parts of the day that is
156. 9:26morning, afternoon, evening, night, they
157. 9:29differ in terms of their goodness. No, I
158. 9:33don't mean that. I actually mean to tell
159. 9:37you that we should go by our own
160. 9:41biological clock.
161. 9:44We all know that during some time of the
162. 9:49day we find ourselves more energetic,
163. 9:53more enthusiastic,
164. 9:56in a shape to work
165. 9:59better as compared to other times of the
166. 10:02day.
167. 10:04So if uh for me the morning time is one
168. 10:09when I feel more energetic or evening 5
169. 10:13to 7 5 to 8 is there when I find myself
170. 10:18very much motivated to work properly. I
171. 10:22should keep my important assignment for
172. 10:25those hours instead of keeping important
173. 10:30assignments for the parts of the day
174. 10:33where I do not find myself energetic and
175. 10:37motivated to work maybe the afternoon
176. 10:40hours. So whatever tasks are there
177. 10:46we must assign a priority index to them.
178. 10:50The most important assignments must be
179. 10:53taken up when you find the most
180. 10:56energetic and then you can schedule the
181. 11:00other tasks accordingly.
182. 11:06Again I would reiterate as I did in the
183. 11:10last lecture also
184. 11:12one must not be afraid of asking about
185. 11:16help.
186. 11:19If I'm engaged in doing a big assignment
187. 11:24or
188. 11:25I'm taking a big project which
189. 11:28encompasses a number of things to do
190. 11:31even I'm organizing an event a function
191. 11:35at my home
192. 11:38I need to do so many work and of course
193. 11:41I'm the only individual
194. 11:44if I'm the only individual to do
195. 11:47everything
196. 11:49it will tax my existing capacities a
197. 11:52lot. So it is better not to keep all
198. 11:56responsibilities with me only rather to
199. 12:00distribute it among the available family
200. 12:04members or team members.
201. 12:09Uh again I must keep in mind that asking
202. 12:13for help is easier in collectivistic
203. 12:16cultures like one we live in the Indian
204. 12:21culture.
205. 12:22But this very simple and obvious thing
206. 12:26can be very difficult for people coming
207. 12:30from highly individualistic cultures
208. 12:34where asking for help can be seen as a
209. 12:38sign of incapability.
210. 12:42So this point has been reiterated
211. 12:46to tell people that asking for help at
212. 12:51appropriate times is a strategy to
213. 12:55overcome stress not an indicator of your
214. 12:59own inefficiency.
215. 13:02Then one must be ready to challenge the
216. 13:06negative thoughts which comes to their
217. 13:09mind. Then
218. 13:12instead of thinking that you will never
219. 13:16be able to handle this or I will never
220. 13:18be able to handle this. This is just
221. 13:21impossible. This is not my cup of tea.
222. 13:25Um others can do it but of course I'm
223. 13:28not the person suitable for this.
224. 13:31I can just remind myself of my past
225. 13:36successes or about the fact that many
226. 13:40other many others who were very much
227. 13:43like me in terms of education, in terms
228. 13:47of resources, in terms of you know
229. 13:50capacities,
230. 13:51they also managed to go through it
231. 13:54successfully. Then why not me?
232. 13:59There are so many ways to keep myself
233. 14:04motivated, to keep myself convinced
234. 14:07about the fact that if others can do it,
235. 14:11I can do it also.
236. 14:16We must not think of the worst outcome
237. 14:20at the end
238. 14:22because if I keep thinking about the
239. 14:25worst outcomes all the time, this will
240. 14:29demotivate me, discourage me from
241. 14:33putting best of my efforts.
242. 14:37I put best efforts when I trust in my
243. 14:41own capacities and I also believe in the
244. 14:45fact that the final outcome is somehow
245. 14:51contingent upon my own actions. So if I
246. 14:55throw my head, heart and hand in doing
247. 14:59something, this will definitely lead to
248. 15:02desired effects.
249. 15:05Therefore, there is no use of thinking
250. 15:09pessimistically about the situation all
251. 15:12the time. Rather, one must be optimistic
252. 15:17and hopeful about managing things
253. 15:20properly.
254. 15:22Then it is also important
255. 15:26to take break of self-reflections and
256. 15:30introspection
257. 15:32and one must know when to take these
258. 15:35breaks so that it is not too late to
259. 15:39reflect upon it. If I have completed an
260. 15:43action almost 90%
261. 15:46and then I sit back and start reviewing
262. 15:49the consequences of my actions or
263. 15:53reviewing the impact of my action.
264. 15:58It will be of barely any use because the
265. 16:02action is mostly completed or it is on
266. 16:05the verge of completion.
267. 16:09Therefore, it is said that periodic
268. 16:12reflections
269. 16:14are more important.
270. 16:17You do something and then after a
271. 16:20reasonable time you can just review what
272. 16:24you have done and what kind of effects
273. 16:27or impacts are you seeing through your
274. 16:31actions.
275. 16:32If those effects
276. 16:35indicate in the direction desired then
277. 16:40you can continue with those kind of
278. 16:42efforts. Otherwise it is better to think
279. 16:46of changes that can be made in order to
280. 16:51improve the effectiveness of the
281. 16:53actions.
282. 16:55then
283. 16:57it is the time to evaluate the benefits
284. 17:01and the cost of the problem focused
285. 17:07coping strategies.
286. 17:09First of all, problem focused coping
287. 17:12strategies
288. 17:14give you a chance to work upon the
289. 17:18stressful situation itself and to do
290. 17:22away with the stressor.
291. 17:26If you really
292. 17:29remove the element of a stress from the
293. 17:32situation,
294. 17:34that would be the best part because then
295. 17:37you don't have to suffer from the stress
296. 17:40created by that particular element
297. 17:42anymore.
298. 17:44But even if you are not able to
299. 17:48eliminate it completely,
300. 17:51you can substantially
301. 17:53change its form so that its stress
302. 17:58genenic effect is reduced significantly.
303. 18:06It also empowers yourself because you
304. 18:09get a feeling that you changed the
305. 18:12environment according to your own
306. 18:15priorities
307. 18:17instead of yielding to the pressure of
308. 18:20the situation
309. 18:22and keep changing yourself to adjust
310. 18:26with the situation.
311. 18:29It develops a sense of control in
312. 18:31yourself
313. 18:33which is very important for future
314. 18:37situations in which you may need to
315. 18:41manage a stress.
316. 18:46It may give you quicker outcomes
317. 18:49sometimes. For example, if I am not
318. 18:52feeling well, if I am suffering from
319. 18:54some kind of physical or mental
320. 18:57discomfort and I keep on denying it, I
321. 19:01keep on uh trying that it's okay. I can
322. 19:06continue with it. I can continue without
323. 19:08medication. I can continue without
324. 19:11consulting the doctor. it will somehow
325. 19:14put an extra pressure on me on my
326. 19:17physical and mental symptoms systems. On
327. 19:22the other hand, if I try to resolve this
328. 19:25situation by acting upon the situation
329. 19:28itself by acting upon the root cause of
330. 19:32the problem itself and fix up an
331. 19:35appointment with the doctor or or if I
332. 19:39take a suitable medication for myself,
333. 19:42for example, if I uh find feverish, I
334. 19:46can just get a paracetamol and take it.
335. 19:50uh what happens that it may provide me
336. 19:54immediate relief and gives me a time
337. 19:59period where I can plan for longlasting
338. 20:04strategies to resolve a stress like
339. 20:08longlasting strategies to keep myself
340. 20:12healthy or to look for the possible
341. 20:15causes of fever you know so that I can
342. 20:20really intervene into the situation in a
343. 20:24better and effective manner.
344. 20:28Then concentrating on resolutions
345. 20:32over feelings
346. 20:35has a power to push you towards leaving
347. 20:39a harmful situation.
348. 20:42Now what happens that suppose I have a
349. 20:46friend
350. 20:48which is highly possessive
351. 20:51or who believes in criticizing me so
352. 20:55that he can establish his or her own
353. 20:58superiority on me.
354. 21:02Or there is somebody who keeps guiding
355. 21:05me all the time and wants me to comply
356. 21:09with all kind of guidance. he or she
357. 21:12provided
358. 21:14without giving me any opportunity to try
359. 21:17my own abilities of handling the
360. 21:21situation
361. 21:23and things like that are going on and on
362. 21:28and on for a long time without any kind
363. 21:32of change. The relationship can become
364. 21:35very difficult for me to handle.
365. 21:39What can I do? If I simply try to
366. 21:42console myself, I will be in that
367. 21:46relationship. And of course, trying to
368. 21:48change my own emotions about it. Trying
369. 21:52to change my own emotions means try to
370. 21:56reduce the pain and agony associated
371. 22:00with the negative emotions I will go
372. 22:03through as a result of such toxic
373. 22:06relationship
374. 22:08or maybe change in my job so that I need
375. 22:13to uh adjust with a new kind of work
376. 22:17culture a new job role or something like
377. 22:21that
378. 22:23uh so if I try to you know keep working
379. 22:27on my own emotions and uh trying to
380. 22:30adjust myself according to the situation
381. 22:33all the time uh it can make it all very
382. 22:38frustrating and exhaustive for me.
383. 22:43Whereas concentrating on restructuring
384. 22:46the situation, resolving the stressor
385. 22:50which is present in the situation can
386. 22:53give me a power to actually disconnect
387. 22:57myself to relocate myself leaving that
388. 23:02problematic context behind if I'm not
389. 23:06successful in intervening in the
390. 23:09situation.
391. 23:13It also provides you with the substitute
392. 23:16of emotion focused strategies.
393. 23:20Uh for some people managing emotion is
394. 23:23not very easy. Those people may not be
395. 23:26very good at emotion regulation.
396. 23:29So for them uh the problem focused
397. 23:33coping strategies are a very suitable
398. 23:37alternative to reduce the stress
399. 23:41for others. They can of course work on
400. 23:44their own emot emotions and adjust
401. 23:47themselves. But one must be aware of the
402. 23:51fact that pursuing any strategy
403. 23:56endlessly indeterminantly will
404. 23:59ultimately lead to exhaustion and
405. 24:02burnout. Especially if the strategy is
406. 24:05related to the adjustment of one's own
407. 24:10self according to situation.
408. 24:14So it is beneficial
409. 24:16to concentrate upon both sides
410. 24:20concentrating upon the resolution of the
411. 24:24stressful situation as well as making
412. 24:28appropriate adjustments and regulations
413. 24:31of one's emotions. Also
414. 24:35coming at the drawback side of course
415. 24:38every coin has two sides. So if I talk
416. 24:41about the advantages, I must talk about
417. 24:44the drawbacks or shortcomings of that
418. 24:48strateg strategy also.
419. 24:51Sometimes
420. 24:53uh focusing on the problem itself
421. 24:58without taking care of the emotional
422. 25:01state one must be in it may fail to
423. 25:06acknowledge or address the emotional
424. 25:08reactions
425. 25:10linked to that event and this can
426. 25:13potentially give rise to unpleasant
427. 25:16emotions in the mind of people.
428. 25:20Suppose I find that uh uh going to
429. 25:24Kolkata from Vanessi takes 6 to 8 hours
430. 25:29maybe 8 to 10 hours by route
431. 25:33and this is slowing down the
432. 25:36transportation. This is slowing down the
433. 25:39business activities.
434. 25:41So I started looking for a solution.
435. 25:46I tried to intervene into the situation
436. 25:50itself by making a fourlane highway or
437. 25:54an expressway from Vinasi to Kolkata.
438. 26:00But if I completely ignore the emotions
439. 26:04of people who have to give their lands
440. 26:07for this purpose and I do not try to
441. 26:11convince them appropriately, I simply
442. 26:14offered them compensation and I found it
443. 26:17an enough solution to their emotions.
444. 26:22It may actually
445. 26:25uh not like that. It may not work like
446. 26:29that you know. So sometimes it is
447. 26:33important to
448. 26:36complement the emotion focused
449. 26:38strategies with the problem focused
450. 26:41strategies. And the second important
451. 26:45thing to be noted here is all aspects of
452. 26:49the situations are not really
453. 26:51changeable.
454. 26:53If it is too cold outside,
455. 26:56what can I do about it? Can I increase
456. 27:00the temperature by asking the sun to
457. 27:04give more warmth to the planet earth?
458. 27:07No, I can't do it. I have to make
459. 27:10modifications
460. 27:12in my arrangements.
461. 27:14I can switch towards
462. 27:17uh options which can keep my
463. 27:20surroundings warm. I can look for more
464. 27:24warmer clothes or anything like that. So
465. 27:27all aspects of the situation are not
466. 27:31changeable.
467. 27:32One must not waste their effort trying
468. 27:36and trying different kind of problem
469. 27:40focused strategies after a situation
470. 27:44which doesn't
471. 27:46have much scope for change.
472. 27:49So if we are trapped in such kind of
473. 27:51situations, it is better to look at the
474. 27:55emotion focused strategies.
475. 27:59If an individual uh lacks
476. 28:04the the realization of emotional states
477. 28:09of people
478. 28:11uh
479. 28:13their problem solving skills can also be
480. 28:16compromised. So of course that uh that
481. 28:20coldhearted approach must not be adopted
482. 28:24which seems to neglect all kind of
483. 28:27emotional reactions in a stressful
484. 28:30situation.
485. 28:33Finally
486. 28:34selecting appropriate technique of
487. 28:37resolving the problem if I'm going to
488. 28:40take my resort on problem focused
489. 28:43strategies is also very important. There
490. 28:46are two approaches. One ask you to
491. 28:50confront with the problematic situation
492. 28:52in an head-on manner. So direct
493. 28:55collision or confrontation with the
494. 28:57problem
495. 28:59where the problem can come with its
496. 29:02maximum energy and intensity.
497. 29:06The other approach is easiest problem
498. 29:10first that we discussed in earlier
499. 29:13slides that is start with an easier
500. 29:16problem and try to solve it. We must be
501. 29:21aware of the suitable approach also. If
502. 29:26in the beginning I do not have a
503. 29:28capacity to handle a lot of stress and I
504. 29:32chose the bang on approach.
505. 29:36The stress resulted from this collision
506. 29:41can simply overwhelm me as an individual
507. 29:46and it can induce a number of negative
508. 29:49emotions in me. So I can go for easiest
509. 29:54problem first approach. But if this
510. 29:57approach is not working,
511. 29:59I keep working on easy problems but I
512. 30:04never find myself prepared
513. 30:07to take up more severe and actual
514. 30:11problems. It is better to adopt a bang
515. 30:15on approach where I'm going to take the
516. 30:18problem head on. H so selection of a of
517. 30:23an appropriate problem solving strategy
518. 30:26is also a must.
519. 30:29That's what we had in today's lecture.
520. 30:33And here is a recap of the content for
521. 30:36you.
522. 30:38We today talked about creating a to-do
523. 30:42list. Take a pause and take a breath.
524. 30:46Starting the easiest problem first to
525. 30:48boost our own confidence. Prioritizing
526. 30:52task, asking for help, challenging
527. 30:55negative self-t talks
528. 30:58and not assuming the worst to happen. We
529. 31:02also discussed the good and challenging
530. 31:06aspects of using problem focused coping
531. 31:10skills while resolving a stressful
532. 31:13situation. As always,
533. 31:16here is a list of references and
534. 31:20recommended readings for you that can be
535. 31:23used to enhance your knowledge.
536. 31:28These are mostly the books which deal
537. 31:31with stress management as a whole. So
538. 31:35they can be read to gain an
539. 31:37understanding about so many topics
540. 31:40related to stress management. That is
541. 31:43why these books have been referred again
542. 31:46and again.
543. 31:48Thank you very much for your kind
544. 31:50attention.