Job demands and resources

One way to cope with the increasing overload is to consider the balance between the demands of a job and the resources you have available to respond to them. A framework called the job demands-resources model helps to address this balance.

The basic premise of the demands-resources model is that a continued imbalance created by experiencing higher demands than resources leads to exhaustion and the risk of burn-out. To address this imbalance, the model helps you influence the overload from two directions - by lowering the demands and/or increasing the resources.

The demands can be reduced by saying no to some requests, asking for more resources or adjusting the job description. there are both external and internal resources to deal with the overload. The internal resources consist of solutions that increase the feeling of control and self-efficacy. As the demands are often harder to address, personal resources become key to sustainable work. In fact, it is often not the amount of work in itself that drives the stress reaction, but rather the feeling of constantly being overwhelmed and not able to cope.