Long and difficult working hours / unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved with the available time and resources / person expected to multitask beyond her ability / excessive obsessive performance monitoring by seniors / expected to work unwanted overtime / less breaks and holidays / continuous pressure at work / not enough recreation room or activities / not enough learning and growing opportunities / not enough social events to know and play with office colleagues.

When overload is a chronic condition, not an occasional emergency there is little chance to recover, rest, and rejuvenate.   Psychologically it is proved that, several hours of a well-defined job with full concentration may do more good to your mental state than pure idleness.  Even one hour of chaos and confusion can wreak havoc on your ability to focus, sleep peacefully at the night, communicate with family, etc.  When you get down to work, you subconsciously define a set of expectations for your working day.  If these all go for a toss because of factors beyond your control, you end up with unmet expectations and thus – obvious stress.

Personally, I see any man who has spent an entire day doing nothing without feeling guilty as successful. There would be times when you have got to achieve a lot and there would be time for you to relax. Take both of them in your stride without getting personal about either.

To Be Continued …

Causes of Stress at Work

Office Politics: People form alliances or perceived alliances and that hinders the work for those around them.

Few People & Too much To Do: The doubling of workloads is one of the biggest causes of stress as people internalize their emotions to get gigantic jobs done by them.

Boss: Bosses who go crazy over simple mistakes, who scream and holler necessarily or un necessarily, who don’t know how to do their own jobs etc are a huge source of stress.

Unsure Future: Questions about a company’s and your own jobs stability always seem to cause stress in the workplace.

Cluttered Office: Quite simply, if a place looks like a dump on the outside; your mind is in the dumps on the inside.

Technical Problems: Technical problems and not knowing how to fix them can cause numerous office headaches as people get angry over issues out of their control.

It is unfortunate but true, that today we physically live longer than our ancestors; but die every moment by suffering perceived anxieties and worries. With stress we lower our sensitivity and the power to relax and be serene. Please don’t kill yourself over work, for what is the point of having work but not being around to enjoy its fruits.

To Be Continued …

Although everyone talks about stress, it often isn’t clear what stress is really about. Many people consider stress to be something that happens to them, an event such as an accident or a promotion. Others think that stress is what happens to our bodies; minds and behaviors in response to an event (e.g. heart pounding, anxiety, or nail biting).

At work-place, stress occurs when there is a gap in the person’s expectation and his ability to perform. When something happens to us, we automatically evaluate the situation mentally. We decide if it is threatening to us, how we need to deal with the situation, and what skills we can use. If we decide that the demands of the situation outweigh the skills we have, then we label the situation as “stressful” and react with the classic “stress response”. If we decide that our coping skills outweigh the demands of the situation, then we don’t see it as “stressful”.  Simply put; if we can deal with it – no stress; if not – big stress!

Important to note, not all situations that are labeled “stressful” are negative. The birth of a child, being promoted at work, or moving to a new home may not be perceived as threatening. However, we may feel that situations are “stressful” because we don’t feel fully prepared to deal with them. Even positive events of our lives can give us stress!

The dysfunctional aspects of stress could directly impact an organization’s performance and also affect the well-being of the employees. It is common knowledge that stress at the workplace is linked to absenteeism, higher attrition, and decreased productivity. Stress leads to fatigue, irritability, poor communication, and problems in giving consistent quality. Serious health problems are the final outcome of all the stress that we experience.

Let us understand a few things about Work-Stress and how to deal with it through these topics: Understanding stress, causes of stress, work overload, work environment, emotional intelligence at the workplace, thinking stress away, relaxation techniques and avoiding burnout.

The person, who doesn’t relax and take it easy once in a while, suffers from a grave danger of being a subject to the pricks and probes of the medical fraternity. I say you need relaxation most when you surely don’t have time for any.

Unconditional Love for & from Pets

Induce the relaxation response and lower your stress hormones, by cuddling your pet, giving an unexpected hug to a friend or family member, snuggling with your spouse, or talking to a friend about the good things in your lives. When you do this you not only become creative and help yourself but help others as well.

Therapeutic Massages

Massage is a known stress-buster and a relaxant. If you cannot take a massage from a professional than try giving one to yourself.

Being grounded in Silence

When you sense too many things happening too fast and bothering you, it’s time to stop and find a quiet place to sit or lie down and put the stressful situation on hold. Take a few deep breaths and concentrate on releasing tension and slowing down your mind & heartbeat.

Being grounded in Music

When the going gets rough, take a musical stress detour by aligning your heartbeat with the slow tempo of your favorite song, or classical music.

Having a positive way of being

Envision anything that triggers a positive feeling; a vision of your childhood when you use to be carefree and having fun, vision of your child or spouse, the image of your pet, that great piece of jewelry you’re saving up to buy, a memento from a vacation…Conjuring up the thought will help slow your breathing, relax your tense muscles and put a smile on your face. Creating a positive emotional attitude can also calm and steady your heart rhythm, contributing to feelings of relaxation and peace with-in.

Some techniques that have worked for my clients and I presume will work for you as well are –

Living with Awareness

Mindfulness means focusing on one activity at a time. It’s all about approaching life like a child, without passing judgment or projecting what could, would or should be. Practice it by focusing on your immediate surroundings. If you’re outdoors, enjoy the shape and colors of flowers, hear a bird’s call or consider a tree. Look at things in your office; at your desk with total awareness; as if you are looking at them for the first time. Just be with those things.

Power of visualization and affirmations

Create a detailed mental picture using all your senses, of you being at your favorite vacation spot, a beach, or something that gives you pure joy. This helps to take your mind off your stress, and replaces it with an image that evokes a sense of calm.

Power of Meditation

Anything you do with total awareness is meditation. When you catch yourself thinking about your jobs to do, your relationships, or your lifelong to-do list, simply observe the thoughts and your body sensations at that moment. Every couple of hours do it for few minutes

Power of Breath

Stress causes tense, fast, shallow breathing, while a state of relaxation causes slow, deep breathing. So to turn tension into relaxation, change the way you breathe.

Take 10 very slow and deep breaths and as you breathe in let you abdomen move out without the chest moving. And as you breathe out let the abdomen move in without the chest moving. To make it easy you may put you right palm on the abdomen and the left on your chest. The duration of exhalation should be double the time taken to inhale.

To Be Continued…

When we get stressed a chemical is released into our bloodstream called cortisol, also known as the Stress Hormone. Though cortisol is important in proper body functioning, high levels of this hormone can lead to diabetes and skin problems. Besides, it also attacks our immune system and leaves us vulnerable to many of the bugs and viruses.

So please wake-up to the call of stress, and take a break…take rest. It is easier said than done, as most of us can never find the will or the way to stop the ever moving pendulum of ups and downs in our lives. At such times tell yourself – ‘Stop right there!’ Go outside – take a stroll or sit to catch your breath, and relax. To enjoy your life and feel good again you must slow down; you could read a book, or just sit and relax in the warm sunshine. Besides this one of the most powerful tools that I have found to combat stress is to smile, and stop frowning. Even a false act of smiling can transcend the state of being into a happy one. And you cannot stop the rolling effect of smile at you only, it makes others invariably smile back at you.

Just for today resolve that you would smile when alone at least five times and you will smile at least at three total strangers. Who knows you may end up with lots of happy and smiling faces. Keep smiling keep passing joy. God Bless!

To Be Continued…

I think it beautifully sums up the kind of effect that our work has on our relationships, fun things to do and life at large. But, we need to also take into consideration that it is impossible to enjoy doing nothing unless one has plenty of work to do. So find the right balance for you and your family.

It’s very important to minimize your levels of stress and you can do that by thinking rather than reacting. Don’t just keep repeating what happened when something happens and stop saying: “That makes me so angry” or “I hate it when that happens.” A problem occurs whenever you say, ‘I don’t like this or that.’ As long as you accept the issue at hand it is just one obstacle to be crossed and not a problem to be carried on your shoulders. At such times, take a breath and ask yourself, ‘what is a reasonable response to this situation?’ You always have a choice, because it is not the event that causes the stress, but the way you react to the event; so simply choose to react differently.

To Be Continued …

The ability to manage stress in the workplace can not only improve your physical and emotional health, it can also make the difference between success or failure on the job. Your emotions are contagious, and stress has an impact on the quality of your interactions with others. The better you are at managing your own stress, the more you’ll positively affect those around you, and the less other people’s stress will negatively affect you.

The best way to become aware of your stress and to manage it as well is to meditate. Meditate twice a day for 20 minutes each. Also during the day if the work pressure gets too much then stop; close your eyes and do deep breathing for 5 minutes and then get back to work. You will notice a vast difference in your performance. This technique comes with a money back guarantee!

Then again at workplace Stress is almost mandatory. Regardless of occupation, seniority, or salary level, we’re spending more and more of our work days feeling frazzled and out of control, instead of alert and relaxed.

While some stress is a normal part of the workplace, excessive stress can interfere with your productivity and reduce your physical and emotional health. Not only does it affect our own health we also transfer the stress to our family and friends and create ill health in them.

Whether to let the stress affect you or not is totally in your hands! Do I see some heads shaking? Do I read your thoughts; easier said than done? But it is! I mean it is easy to stay away from excess stress. Optimum stress is that level of stress that you can handle without letting it affect your health. Optimum stress is that level of stress which motivates you into performing better.

TO BE CONTINUED…