Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Work Place Stress Management

By Raveendran Kandathil

Stress means constraining or impelling force of. Another meaning is demand upon physical or mental energy. What is stress? Stress is an adverse reaction to excessive pressure or demands. It can affect people mentally and physically. Look around you, in the family, in the neighborhood, in schools, in colleges, in hospitals, even in the work place, everywhere you can hear the word Stress.

Symptoms of Stress!

Some of the symptoms of stress are: feel very tired, feel very angry and some feel so help less. Some feel sorry for, some feel to run away from - family, friends, and relatives; even from work place and from all responsibilities. Excessive stress lead to anxiety and depression and depression can lead people to even extreme steps.

Factors Influencing Stress?

Factors influencing stress are: over working, chronic diseases like asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart problems, hyper tension, excess weight, failed love affairs, strained marital life, unsatisfactory sex or physical relationship, divorce, failure in exam, unable to get a job, loss of employment, death of a close relative, parents, siblings or even someone whom you keep in high esteem.

Some other factors influencing stress are emotional eating, smoking, addiction to certain drugs, TV and internet, excessive drinking, less physical activity and fear of failure. When the adrenalin pumps in, people tend to resort to angry outbursts and physical assault.

Causes of work place stress

The main causes of work place stress are due to over burden, negative attitude of a colleague, supervisor or manager. Wrong job methods and bad working environment or ineffective job design are also responsible for work place stress.

Sometimes it may be due to individual cause like financial problems, bereavement or illness. Unable to cope with harassment, demands of excess work, unachievable targets, unhealthy working conditions, long distance travel or even life threatening diseases.

Remedies for work place stress

When affected with work place stress related problems, it would ideal if you analyze the various causes that bother you and take remedial measures.

People with excess weight, diabetes, hypertension, cardiac problems, etc. can do a diagnosis test through an accredited lab, by doing a Lipid profile test (this consists of Total cholesterol, HDL Cholesterol, LDL Cholesterol, VLDL Cholesterol, TC/HDL cholesterol ratio and LDL/HDL ratio). If the test indicates an abnormal HDL/LDL/ Triglycerides ratio, it is high time to consult a doctor immediately for medical advice.

Managing Work Place Stress

One of the best ways to de-stress yourself is to control your anger. Take things as comes in. If needed leave the place for some time. Talk to a friend, take some deep breath, walk in the garden, or sip a warm cup of coffee or tea. You can also relax by listening to some soothing music.

The best to method of stress management in office is to restructure your daily routine. Manage time and delegate if necessary. Prioritize and attended to important and immediate tasks first. If you plan your day-to-day activities, it will be easy for you to manage things. Otherwise, it is just like leaving home without knowing where you are going?

Create a plan of action for each day that can include time for various activities like, exercise, work in the office, work at home, recreation, attending to family and children.

Flexible working

Flexible working can be in the form part-time working, flextime, staggered hours, job sharing, shift working and home working. Flexible working can help increase productivity, reduce absenteeism, sickness and stress, increase employee commitment and loyalty, increases the organization's ability to cope with change.

Tips for Managing Work Place Stress

1. Don't bring work place problems to home. Instead of taking everything as comes in, learn to say no to things that you can't. Similarly try to avoid people who stress you out. Speak out or discuss with your friends or confidents rather than keeping every thing inside your mind and burning on it.

2. Be willing to compromise if needed and at the same time be assertive, but politely. Also see challenges and opportunities. Another important thing is to learn to forgive. A positive attitude is always good for you and the people around you.

3. Routine physical activity like, yoga, regular exercises like walking and swimming can improve your health. Laugh a lot. If needed join laughters' club or if one is not there, form one and encourage people to join in it.

4. Another important need is to eat healthy food and at correct times. Reduce intake of sweetened snacks, coffee, tea, soft drinks, also avoid, cigarettes, drugs and alcohol.

5. Reach out for help. Find alternatives. Sometimes, it would be better changing the environment itself, like moving out of the place to a new place, go for a vacation in an exotic place or a hill station or an island. This way you feel more fresh and rejuvenated. It can do wonders on your over all physical and metal condition.

6. People who are averse to taking medicines can look for alternative remedies like Yoga, Pranayama and soothing Music therapies.

Article Source: www.ezinearticles.com

Stress At Work And Its Symptoms

By Bertil Hjert

Stress at work is not a new phenomenon. These days, in modern lifestyles, the nature of work has gone really stressful. One needs to do a lot in order to stay ahead in competition.

Most people don't even realize that they are undergoing a lot of stress in their life. They don't have time to realize that they are under stress.

Work stress is a type of chronic disease. It is caused by different conditions in the workplace that negatively affect an individuals performance. This also affects overall well being of body and mind of the person.

In certain cases, job stress can even be quite disabling. According to a study, one must go for psychiatric consultation. This will let him or her validate the reason and degree of stress related to work.

Sometimes working on a project also causes a lot of stress. The early stages of job stress are not much irritating as it can enhance the performance due to the efforts put in to the whole thing.

However, in case, the condition goes unchecked the body faces stress on a regular basis the body tends to get affected adversely.

If you want to know whether you suffer from work stress, here are certain symptoms you need to look for:

Insomnia or sleeplessness

Family conflict or constant dispute

Lack of mental concentration

Anxiety; Depression; Extreme anger

Frustration

Physical illnesses such as migraine, stomach problems, headaches, heart disease and back problems.

Substance abuse

Absenteeism on a frequent basis without any regular reason

There are several causes of work stress. Here are some of the visible ones that would let you know how to handle work stress.

1) Insecurity at work place

These days, one requires to do a lot at job in order to survive the tough competition. There is a lot of reorganization, mergers, takeovers, and downsizing. All these situations lead to stress for employees. They need to work hard to survive and let their organization survive the competition.

2) Demand for performance

Today, employers, managers and team leaders keep unrealistic expectations and set unrealistic goals for their employees. This results in unhealthy and unreasonable pressures on the employee.

Now, this can be really tremendous and the person may suffer from serious depression. Big targets make employees work for long hours and physically stressed out. They may also require to travel a lot and too much time away from family results in emotional stress.

3) Balance

For women, it becomes really difficult to strike a balance between work and home. After spending stressful work hours, it becomes difficult to work at home. There may be situations where women face sexual harassment in the work place.

It is easy to cope with stress at work if you want to. You can do a lot of things to keep yourself away from stress. Here are some tips:

Develop positive attitude towards stress

Find time to refresh yourself

Take a short leave and enjoy time with your family.


Article source: www.freearticledirectory.co.uk

7 Proven Tips To Beat Office Stress

By Dillon McRamey

Office stress getting you down? You're in good company. Stress at work is reported as being associated with health complaints more frequently than any other life stressors, including family or financial issues. With the current economic climate, those who haven't been let go must pick up the slack left behind by fewer workers. With more work, more interruptions, and higher expectations, it's no wonder the stress levels in offices are at all-time highs.

If you find yourself in a stressful office environment, here are 7 proven tips to help you beat that stress and keep your cool under fire:

1. Have a plan. Start your day with a plan for what you want to accomplish. Whether you take the time for this planning at the end of the previous day or at the start of your new day, what matters is that you have a roadmap for what needs to be done. If you aren't focused on accomplishments, you'll be easily swayed by distractions.

2. As important as planning is, stopping after a full day's work is equally important. If you've been focused and have accomplished the items in your plan, your work day could be over after 8 hours. If you've been distracted, you may have to work a bit longer to get the tasks in your plan accomplished. But whatever the case, stop when your day is done. Don't take work home. That's time for recharging and unwinding. Don't shortchange the importance of getting away from work.

3. Focus on one activity at a time. As necessary as you may think multitasking needs to be, it's not. Multitasking is another name for doing many things poorly. This single item may contribute the most to your office stress. Work on one thing at a time. Do it well. Complete it. Then move on to the next item. Working on only one item will help your subconscious let go of the other items you're juggling when you're multitasking. This will mean less stress for you.

4. Since we're talking about your subconscious, be sure to put all of your to-do's down on paper. If your subconscious knows that you've captured all of the things you must keep track of, it can focus on accomplishing the current task at hand. It doesn't have to keep working at remembering those items that constantly pop into your head.

5. Work hard for a little while, then take a break. Our minds start wandering after prolonged focus. So instead of fighting the urge to drift off, take a break. Look up, take a short walk, get something to drink, but don't start browsing on the Internet. If you do, you'll soon find yourself an hour later still not back at the task at hand.

6. When you do take a break, have something in your work environment that can district you momentarily. Family pictures, vacation trophies, even plants or small aquariums can offer momentary relief from the tedium of work.

7. Finally, have something nearby that can allow you physical relief from the stress of work. Squeeze balls, Nerf guns, wastebasket basketball, whatever is appropriate for your work area can give you some fun and a little exercise when you find yourself getting up tight. Don't overlook these as being important to your ability to keep an even keel throughout the day. Office stress , especially on a long term basis, can cause numerous emotional and physical issues. The first step in dealing with stress is to understand what it is and what it does to you. http://www.Stress-Relief-Action-Guide.com is a website you can visit that goes into extensive detail into the causes of stress and how you can manage or eliminate stress from your life.

Article Source: www.ezinearticles.com

Is There A Way Of Reducing Stress At Work?

By Andy D Gallagher

In this fast moving world, it is becoming more and more difficult to cope with work challenges. The stress that we take with us to workplace, and the stress that awaits us there, are increasing day by day. Whether we are employers, managers or workers, we are all facing this pressure. Some stress is normal but a lot of it affects our health and hinders our productivity. Therefore, we should find ways to keep this stress under control, and fortunately there are ways to do so.

Workplace stress for a worker is different from that of an employer. A worker has pressure on him due to the troubled economy. He is uncertain because of lay offs, budget cuts or job security. His ability to manage stress makes him a good worker. This stress can be reduced by a little attitude change.

First of all, a worker should take responsibility of his work. Secondly, he should get rid of negative thinking, and thirdly, he should develop better communication skills to improve his relationship with fellow workers and his employer.

The workplace stress for employers is different in the sense that it has direct impact on the employees. They have to make themselves role models so that their workers can work smoothly under their supervision. A good employer is the one who knows the positive and negative points of the workers. He knows how to manage them intelligently and increase productivity. It is the duty of the employer to provide a stress free environment to his employees.

Following are some suggestions that employers should take for reducing stress at work. They should improve communication, by sharing information with their workers to reduce their fear of job uncertainty. The responsibilities of employees or workers should be clearly defined. This communication should be friendly and efficient.

The employees should be consulted in company decisions that affect their jobs that will reduce fear of losing jobs. There should be realistic deadlines so that they can work without pressure. The individual effort of the employees should be valued. Career development opportunities should be provided. Their emotional intelligence also plays an important part in reducing stress. This, fortunately, is not something that a person is born with, but can be developed.

An employee, who is stressed at work, should do the following things. Firstly, you can breakaway from the stressful situation by taking some time out, walk for a while, sit on a bench in the park, meditate for some time or listen to music. Secondly, you can talk it out with someone. It is the best stress reducer to share your troubles with someone. Thirdly, you can make friends at work place that can assist you if you are in pressure, and can reduce your workload. Fourthly, you can try to find humour in stressful situations.

Stress at workplace can be managed by wise actions. There are number of ways to do it. If you can manage your time well, you would be able to manage and complete your tasks efficiently. If you take healthy diet, drink well and avoid toxins, you would have good health, which would help you perform well on the job. If you sleep well and do daily exercise, your mind becomes fresh, and hence, productivity is increased.

Andy D Gallagher is a training consultant. For more information you can visit the recommended website at http://www.inspire360.co.uk.

Article Source: www.ezinearticles.com

Learn How To Handle Stress At Work Using Four Simple Methods

By Dan Fitzmartick

You have three projects you are working on at the moment. Plus, two customers want answers to questions that involve a substantial amount of research. Your boss keeps telling you that you need to spend more time selling because the company is hurting right now. To top all of that off, you need to be in two places at once. Isn't stress great? Learning how to handle stress at work is a pretty important skill that will help you to excel and climb the corporate ladder.

Companies demand more and more out of their workers these days and rightfully so. The world really is flat. Companies are competing on a global scale now instead of just against the business down the street. This has really upped the stress levels at American corporations. Luckily, you've stumbled on some great advice for dealing with that increased stress.

Four great work stress reduction tips:

* Get organized. The easiest and most substantial impact you can make on your stress level is by improving your organizational skills. It is common sense. The more organized you are the more work you can get done in one day. You'll be able to find answers to questions quicker. You'll be able to finish the small projects so you can spend more time on the big ones.

* Focus on what Stephen Covey calls quadrant two activities in his book called Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. You need to focus on doing things that are important in the long run. By focusing on those, you reduce the number of short term fires you'll need to put out.

* Develop a new mindset. Sometimes the stress is self induced. Actually it is always self induced. People just won't admit that it is. They like to blame some external event. If you develop the right mindset, the stress will have less impact on you. You'll be able to maintain a clearer head which will allow you to combat the things causing the anxiety more effectively.

* Develop systems for handling anything that is repetitive in nature. This is basic business 101 by the way. You should be implementing systems, even small ones, for handling many of the mundane tasks that you will encounter every day or every week. For instance, you could develop a system for processing mail that is put on your desk at a certain time every day. Throw out all of the junk mail immediately and file the rest of the mail in an appropriate place.

I think you'll agree that those four methods would drastically reduce the amount of work related stress and anxiety you currently are experiencing. If you don't believe me, I challenge you to try it. You will soon discover that it really does work.

Dan is a small business owner who publishes articles to help people achieve maximum results in their careers. He has published many popular articles including How To Get A Raise. He also runs an advice blog for employees of small businesses. Dan is a recognized small business expert and has a very loyal reader base.

Article Source: www.ezinearticles.com

Reduce Stress With Time Management Strategies

By Elizabeth Scott


It's OK To Say No:
Many people end up overscheduling themselves because they feel uncomfortable saying "no" when people ask things of them. This may be because they don't want to admit to themselves that they can't "do it all," or perhaps because they don't want to disappoint others. Unfortunately, they ultimately disappoint themselves by not having enough time to do what's important to them. Does this apply to you? If so, learning to say no might be a good time management priority. Here's a resource on how to say no. Use it to create space in your schedule for what's important to you.

Be Clear On Your Priorities:
Others become overscheduled because they add activities to their schedules for the wrong reasons, and end up spending their days doing things that don't reflect their values and priorities. Then they find themselves struggling to fit in what's important to them. Necessities like adequate sleep and other healthy habits fall by the wayside. Is this you? To find out, make a list of what's most important to you. List things like family, friends and career. Then look at how you spend your days. See how much time goes to these things. Is it a good match, or are you spending an inordinate amount of time doing things that aren't as important to you? It's never too late to make changes. (See this article for more on setting priorities in your schedule.)

Map It Out:
A common time management trap many people fall into is that they don't know where their time goes, or they overestimate the amount of time they have available and underestimate the amount of time each activity takes to complete, and become overcommitted. How many times have you found yourself adding new activities to your schedule when you don't really know how you'll find the time to do them? If you remember several such instances, you may need to keep a careful schedule, writing down everything you do. Don't agree to new activities until you've found a way to pencil them in, overestimating the amount of time you think it will take to complete them.

Manage Money Wisely:
It's become increasingly common for people to work more than they'd like because finances demand it. Many people are working longer hours and even more than one job. Do you find that you're working hard to pay the bills, and when you're not working, you're still worrying about money? Do you know where your money goes? To get out from under debt and financial woes, you need a plan that involves spending less, saving, paying off debt, and possibly earning more (not by working more but by getting paid what you're worth). The Financial Stress section of this site can help you with all of that.

Stay Organized:
In addition to keeping an organized schedule, as mentioned above, it's important to maintain an organized home. Most people don't realize how much time and money are sucked up (not to mention stress created) by living in an environment where things are difficult to find and relaxation is a challenge. This section on staying organized can help you to stop the drain on your time that a messy home can create.

To Thine Own Self Be True:
Knowing yourself well can also help you to avoid getting overwhelmed. How? For one thing, by knowing your limitations, you avoid taking on too much. For example, if you know you're not the best manager of people, you can avoid putting yourself in a position where you'll be asked to do management-type tasks, saving yourself stress and the extra time and energy it would take to learn to do this better. Also, if you constantly put yourself in a position of taking on more than you can handle, take an honest look inward to help you figure out what's behind this. That way, you can stop.


Article source: www.about.com

Stress Relievers For Busy People

By Elizabeth Scott

If you find yourself wanting to manage stress in your life, but you feel you just don't have time to learn a new technique or take on a time-consuming regular activity, you're in luck. These are stress relievers for busy people like you: they're easy, quick, or fit into your schedule with little fuss. If you don't have a lot of time to devote to change, these will give you a good return for little effort

1. Take Your Vitamins

Taking your vitamins in the morning really can help you feel less stressed throughout the day. In particular, you may want to take a Vitamin B complex, Calcium and Magnesium, and Vitamin C. You should always talk to your doctor before beginning any new vitamin regimen to be sure you take a mix that is safe for you and your particular situation, but vitamins are a quick and beneficial way to relieve stress if taken appropriately.


2.Listen to Music During Your Regular Activities

Music has proven health and stress relief benefits, and can be easily used in daily life to relieve stress. Busy people can turn on music during their morning routine, commute to and from work, during dinner, or at other times to relieve stress as they go about their daily activities. It takes virtually no extra time, and provides real benefits. (Learn how to use music in daily life for stress relief.)


3. Practice Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises are a great way to relieve stress anytime and anywhere. They're simple to learn, simple to use, and can be done on the spot when you feel tension, immediately helping you to feel better. One very effective exercise is to 'inhale peace' and 'exhale your stress'. For more effective techniques, read this article on breathing exercises.


4. Learn to Say No

How much less busy could your schedule be if you said no to all new commitments? It's sometimes hard to say no, however, especially if you're concerned about disappointing or offending people. Learning to diplomatically say no is quick and simple; this article on how to say no can help you get started, and with a little practice, you'll do it easily and without thinking.


5. Develop a Positive Attitude


Optimists and positive thinkers experience better health, less stress, and more 'luck' in life. While it takes a little practice to develop a more positive frame of mind, the practice takes little extra time and can really change your whole experience of life and how you live it. After some initial learning and a bit of practice, and the rewards are continual, which is a pretty big payoff.



Article source: about.com

5 Top Tips For Dealing With Stress At Work

By David Moore


It’s common these days for many people to feel stressed at work. Sometimes it’s the nature of the work itself that causes these feelings of stress, other times it’s the sheer volume of work that needs doing and the constant pressure of deadlines that have to be met can make today’s workplace a stressful and frustrating place to be.
The following 5 tips may help to relieve some of that built up stress…

1. Smile

It’s a simple fact that smiling makes you feel good. Not only that, a genuine smile can help brighten the day of those that receive its good wishes. Not many simple acts can help lift your mood as quickly as a smile and as well as being completely free, its benefits are shared with those around you.

Don’t feel like smiling? It doesn’t matter as it’s the physical act of smiling which helps reduce stress and helps you to feel better. Just try it!

2. Breathing exercises

At times when your stress levels become excessive instead of venting your steam at your unwitting colleagues, try slowly counting to 10. Whilst counting try to slow your breathing by taking deep breaths. Not too deep mind you as you don’t want to end up either passing out or hyper ventilating as although this may temporarily reduce your stress levels, chances are you’ll end up being given the kiss of life by Keith from your I.T. department…

3. Have a massage at work

Sitting for up to 8 hours a day in front of a computer can take its toll on the human body. Although the benefits of massage have been well documented, it’s often difficult to find the time to fit in an hour long massage treatment in the evenings or weekends.

Luckily there are now companies that specialise in providing qualified massage therapist services in the workplace. Treatments durations can range from 5 – 30 minutes and can either be delivered at the desk or in a separate meeting room and are an ideal way for companies to increase employee morale and motivation.

4. Adopt a positive attitude

The great philosopher Marcus Aurelius once said “Our life is what our thoughts make it”.

Therefore if we think that we are stressed at work, we will inevitably feel stressed at work. Changing how we feel through adopting a positive internal dialogue can help ensure that all problems are viewed as challenges that can and will be overcome.

5. Listen to some relaxing music

Music can have a deeply calming effect on us all and there are a whole host of relaxation CDs available to create a stress free environment. To prevent you’re co-workers from complaining about your choice of relaxation music you may need to use head phones plugged into your PC or ipod.

If you’ve already tried all of the above techniques and you’re still feeling close to assaulting your co-workers with the contents of your in-tray it may be worth taking a 10 minute walk in the fresh air to help put things in perspective. Sometimes it’s worth remembering Richard Carlson’s wise words “Don’t sweat the small stuff… and that it’s all small stuff”.


Article source: www.amazines.com

How to Deal With Stress With Basic Stress Management Tips

By Brenda Hoddinott

How to deal with stress. Stress causes the sympathetic nervous system to release stress hormones during the fight or flight response. These hormones need to be in balance. When released on a continuous basis due to chronic stress it has an effect on your nervous system.

There is a simple way to gain control of this. When you feel stressed Breath Deep! By using effective breathing exercises you can lessen the effects that stress has on your body. Activate your parasympathetic nervous system, how?

Relax, you can be seated or lying down for this exercise. Take a deep breath, watch your chest and stomach rise. Then let it out. Focus on those breathes. Repeat this 5 to 8 times. Do this daily.

The parasympathetic nervous system helps our body's to relax from the fight or flight response that was activated by the sympathetic nervous system. So, by breathing deep you are letting your body communicate with your brain. The message is De- Stress.

Breathing exercises are very healthy for the body. When we have poor breathing habits it steals our needed energy, impairs your concentration, and leads to muscle stiffness. This is because you are unknowingly depriving your body of the proper amount of oxygen. Breathing exercises are very popular. This is because of their effectiveness in stress relief and you have the ability to practice this virtually anywhere! Whether you are at work seated at the desk, or watching a movie with the kids you can do this simple exercise.

The fact in life is we are all faced with different types of stress. Recent medical studies show that stress affects health. Putting into practice basic stress management techniques can help you to relieve the stress you feel from the pressures of life. Good health to you.

Article source: www.amazines.com