Good and bad stress in portfolio careers

We all know that a bit of stress and pressure is good for keeping us on our toes but too much is bad for our health. The quantity of stress isn’t the only factor. I believe there are good and bad types of stress. Good stress is about feeling under pressure in areas that put fire in your belly and that you feel really matter. Bad stress is frustration and apathy. The types of issues that might crop up in a portfolio career and cause good and bad types of stress could include:

• Too many projects
• A variety of demands on our time from different directions
• Time management problems
• Shifting from one skillset to another
• Managing relationships with a wide variety of colleagues

Any of these things could be good or bad types of stress depending on your attitude towards them. I take the view that ‘good’ stress means feeling under a certain amount of ‘enjoyable’ pressure from the types of work you want and choose to be engaged with. Doing work you don’t care about and that just pays the bills to my mind is a recipe for ‘bad’ stress and is something I associate with some single track careers. One way a portfolio career can help you maintain a positive attitude towards the types of stress you encounter is that nothing need be forever of you don’t want it to be. If projects you are working begin to drift away from your core values and strengths, it’s not the end of the world if you choose to stop working on them because the other elements of your portfolio career will still be there to provide a cushion as you replace that project with another.

Staying true to your values is definitely a key way to avoid ‘bad’ stress and keep your portfolio a vibrant reflection of your skills and integrity.