> After a number of years, I think I have cracked the code: Stress is the feeling one gets when there is so much to do that it can't be done without cheating. F

> After a number of years, I think I have cracked the code: Stress is the feeling one gets when there is so much to do that it can't be done without cheating. For most people, cheating is unpleasant. In order to get the courage to cheat, we need another unpleasant feeling to whip us into it. And that feeling is called stress. In my experience overloaded people are not stressed because of "cheating". Either the author in their mind is redefining cheating, stress, or linking the two incorrectly. Stress is indeed a state of worry or mental tension because of a difficult situation. Put in another way, it is biological response to a perceived threat. I think stress for people with too many things to do are from all kinds of things (e.g., time pressure, perfectionism, lack of control, fear of failure, interpersonal conflicts, lack of support).