5 ways in which you may be creating stress for other people in life and at work

Liz Makin Author

Feb 03, 2026 |

A look at ways in which you may be creating stress for other people. The article may also give you ideas as to the cause of your own stress.

Stress is the state that you experience when you perceive that you cannot adequately cope with the demands being made on you. You feel under pressure and don't have the physical and mental reserves to cope. 

How often do you think about the impact you are having on others? Could you be creating stress for others by your actions and behaviours? 

Here are 5 ways in which you may be creating stress for others. If you think about this the other way round these may give you ideas as to the cause of your own stress:

1. Your communication skills. How do you talk to and communicate with other people? Do you really listen to people when they are talking to you? You may be creating stress for other people with your poor communication. You may be abrupt, you don't speak clearly, you don't have time for others, you don't ask questions to understand, you never really listen to other people and you allow your emotions to negatively impact your relationships with others.

2. Being inconsistent. Are you inconsistent in life and at work? You can cause other people to feel stressed by being inconsistent. You may change your mind all the time, keep changing your priorities and plans and move from one thing to another without finishing anything off properly.

3. Poor decision making. Are you indecisive, inconsistent or slow in your decision making and does every decision have to come through you? Dealing with or working for someone who has poor decision making skills can be very stressful as opportunities can be missed, you may not be able to get on with anything as you are always waiting for a decision or you may be always confused about what you should be doing.

4. Being reactive. Are you proactive or do you just wait for things to happen and react to them? Dealing with someone who is very reactive is very stressful, as you never know what they will do next and everything they do is very short term and last minute.

5. Blaming others. Do you blame other people for things that go wrong? On the other hand do you take the credit for things going well? It can be very stressful for the people who are blamed for things that go wrong, and also for those that do well but that someone else takes all the credit for.

These are just five of the many ways that you may be creating stress for other people. What stress are you creating for other people and what do you need to change?

And if you think about this the other way round these may give you ideas as to the cause of your own stress. What stress are other people creating for you and what do you need to do to address it with them?

Do you want to explore more about stress and how to reduce and manage stress?

If you want practical tips and strategies to help you manage stress positively in your life and at work our stress management online courses are for you. They contain information on stress, how to reduce stress and lots of stress management tips and strategies.

Take a look at our stress management online courses by clicking on the links below:

Stress management for life: how to reduce & manage stress

Stress management for work

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You can take a look at our range of online personal development courses and bundles, including current special offers, at https://onlinecourses.makinithappen.co.uk

Categories: : Business, Life, Online courses, Personal development, Stress management, Work