Even More Ways To Manage Stress At Work.

"Finally", I hear you say, "He is coming to an end with suggesting things to do at work to manage my stress levels!" These last few suggestions focus on your emotional brain, the most important part as far as I’m concerned. 

Look Forward - When sitting at your desk feeling low, usually between 2 and 3 in the afternoon, lift your spirits by thinking of something exciting coming up. It could be something that you are going to do after work, that night, or in the weekend. If you have a vacation coming up, or planning one, think of that.

Fond Memories -  I speak a lot about always being in the moment and looking forward for a very good reason, it helps us to focus on the positive. However, you can look back provided you are only looking back in time to learn from your mistakes or to think of positive memories. For some reason which research is still working on, the only positive memory we hold in any great detail is holidays. So, if you can't think of something positive coming up, think of the fun you had while on your last holiday.

Give Something - Altruism is a powerful tool for supporting your emotional brain, giving something. Help someone at work who is struggling, start a fundraiser, or perhaps volunteer to tidy a part of the office that everyone avoids.

Smile - Smiling has an amazing impact on your brain. There are muscles on either side of your face that are unique, they send a signal to your brain that you are happy. Hence the saying in call centres, 'Smile before you dial', it changes your attitude and your voice.

Hugging - Careful with this one, appropriate hugs please. Hugging - just like talking, smiling and giving - is part of our socialisation system that we need as humans to bond with each other. We are social creatures and need social bonding to support our emotional selves.

Keep a positive diary - Some experts will say that you should write down things that annoy you across the day so that you can find a pattern of behaviour to avoid those things in the future. In my humble opinion this is the wrong thing to do because we know that writing things down imprints the message in your brain. Why not write down the good things that happen to you across the workday and find the positive pattern so you can do more of what makes you happy.

Set Goals - Setting short and long term goals gives us something to aim for and keeps us focused on what we want to achieve. Personal goals don't necessarily have to be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound - they can be as broad as you want them to be. 

Spiritual Practices - I've saved the best for last. In order to keep our brain under control and focus our mind so that we only hear a good voice inside of our head (yes, we all have one), we must totally focus the brain for as many periods across the day as we can. Prayer is good, meditation is good, thinking only about positive thoughts is good, visualisation is also good. For men, in particular, who may have trouble with the aforementioned suggestions, reading action fiction novels has been found to be beneficial for the emotional brain. 

I encourage you to go back over the posts from the last three days, choose just one technique that resonates with you, and concentrate on that. Don't overwhelm your brain with lots of things all at once, your brain is uncomfortable with change and hates surprises. After a week or two, introduce another technique, and so on.

There are lots of things that you can do to help yourself to deal with stress. Know that if you don't start taking control of things within your control, such as your thoughts, you may end up regretting it in the future.

So what have you go to lose except stress… 

More Ways To Manage Stress.

If your job is truly that stressful and it is effecting and affecting you negatively then by all means leave your job. It's just not worth it for your health. However, if you have a job that you enjoy and you don't want to leave yet it is a stressful role, here's some other things that you may want to try;

Make a List - Often we get overwhelmed with work and believe that we are so busy that we can't keep up. As we get busier we tend to move quickly from task to task without any structure. This is associated with our brain jumping from one task to another in its feeble attempt to help us, the result being that you jump from task to task. STOP, write a list of tasks, then prioritise these according to importance and work your way methodically through the list. To gain faster control, prioritise your list from the easiest to the hardest which will give you momentum - always pick the low hanging fruit first...

Stop Every Hour - Take 10 minutes every hour away from your work to recuperate and rejuvenate.

Control Your Breathing - As we get under pressure we tend to hunch over and our breathing becomes faster and shallower, we don't get enough air into our lungs to provide that much needed oxygen to our brain. Sit up straight and take long slow controlled breaths as you work.

Ask For Help - If you are like me, you want to do everything yourself and if you are struggling with a problem you want to work it out yourself. Ask for help, delegate work if you can, look for a mentor, or find a more efficient way of doing it.

Imitate Others - Look around you, is there someone you look up to or who seems to be handling the pressure better than you? Examine what they are doing, or better still ask them, and follow their example.

Accept Change - Change is here to stay so get familiar with it. As we struggle to get our head around change we may try to resist it. When you resist the inevitable it plays on your mind and makes things seem worse than they actually are. ‘Resistance is futile’ as the saying goes. Get on board with change, find out what it is and use it as much as you can.

Don't Procrastinate - In a similar way to resisting change, procrastination adds to your bucket of stress by playing on your mind. It niggles at you and reminds you that you have to do it eventually. Do it now or put it on your list and do it as soon as you get to it.

Laugh A Lot - Laughter is the best medicine, the research is overwhelming on this. Be around happy people, read humorous books, or simply smile as much as you can.

These are just some of the little things that you can do to reduce stress in your workday. Most importantly, stop 'thinking' that you are stressed, you aren't. You are just busy and under pressure. No one can make you stressed, they can only try to. More on this tomorrow.

I Can't Leave My Desk, What Can I Do?

Following my post yesterday on overcoming the leading workplace stressors, I was reminded that not everyone has the ability to get up from their desk every hour, to take time off when they are sick, to manage difficult people, to have some control over what they do or to change their work environment.

What we are talking about here are those who work in call centres, factories, warehouses, shops, and some offices. Here are a few tips for those who have a job where there may be tighter restrictions on what you can and can't do;

Breaks - Legislation dictates that you must get at least three breaks each day, use them to walk about, to stand if you have a job that requires you to sit, to go outside, and to talk with others. If you have a computer based role, look away from your screen as much as possible, stretch often, stand while working, and use any downtime to walk about even if it is simply stepping forward-and-back or side-to-side. If your job requires you to move around a lot, then rest during your breaks. Essentially, when you have a scheduled break, try to do the opposite of what you are required to do in your work.

Illness - No one can (or should) make you work when you are ill. Loyalty to your work colleagues is one thing, spreading your germs is another. On this point, there are simple things that you can do to stay healthy at work - sanitise your desk work area, wash your hands often, drink plenty of water, eat smaller meals more often, and avoid caffeine or sodas. For your mental health, personalise your workspace with one object such as a photo or small item that you can look at from time to time that reminds you of something happy.

Difficult People - If it is a colleague, avoid them wherever possible. If it is your boss, arrange a meeting with them in private and outline your concerns in this order - this is what you are doing, this is how it is viewed/received, this is what I think would be a better way for you. Do it respectfully. If you can't avoid the person who annoys you or you don't want to confront the issue, then it is up to you to change your perception of the situation. Tell yourself that what they are doing or saying is a reflection of them, not you. Don't allow their actions to annoy or frustrate you. Most of all, don't take it personally. 

Lack of Control - You have the ability to control how well you do your job. Firstly, focus on what you do well, this will give you satisfaction and momentum. Then, if you are weak in a particular area or dislike doing something then it is important that you do more of it. I call it 'confronting your fear'. Find someone who is good at what you aren't so good at and get them to help you. Lastly, make polite suggestions on how to strengthen your role – join a committee, become an employee advocate, organise social events, anything that empowers you.

Environment - Keep your workspace tidy, interact with others when possible, have a positive attitude, help others, make suggestions, get away from your workspace whenever possible, and embrace change. If you can't change the physical environment you can certainly change the emotional one. 

Some say “If you don’t like your job you should get another one”, I say “Change the way you do your current job”.

The Five Leading Workplace Stressors

You HATE your job - deadlines are looming with so much to do and not enough time to do it in, you are ill and can't take time off to recuperate, someone in the office is bugging you or your boss is micro-managing your work at every turn, you feel as though you have no control over your work, and the place that you work in is cramped, dirty, or lacks natural light.

How did I do? Did any of these resonate with you?

I read somewhere that we spend upwards of eleven hours each day at work if you actually work an 8-hour day. You think about work when you first get up in the morning, when getting ready to go to work, on the travel into work, while at work, on the drive home from work, when you check your phone/messages at home and also several times in the evening as you go back over the workday.

With us sleeping an average of seven hours each night, that doesn't leave much time for ‘you’. So, it is important (imperative) that you start to take some control of the stressors of work. Relying on others to change things isn’t an option in most cases.

The five leading causes of workplace stress are; insufficient breaks, illness, difficult people, a lack of control and, the environment. Here's what you can do to start changing things for the better;

 Breaks - You should take a break of 10-minutes duration (or more) every hour. It is important to get up out of your chair and move around to get the blood flowing and to refresh your brain. Importantly, you must have a break away from computers and mobile devices during this break time – a screen break.

Illness - If you are sick, stay at home, as simple as that. Your colleagues don't want your germs and going to work when sick will only extend your illness. Plus, you will not be at your best therefore tasks will be more difficult for you than usual.

Difficult People - This is a hard one. Most workplaces have at least one person who is either grumpy, annoying, loud, arrogant, overbearing or just downright rude. Apart from bringing the shortcoming to their attention, which may be an option if done correctly, don't let their actions affect and effect you. Ignore them, or better still, become their friend. Find out more about that person who annoys you and you may well realise why they are the way that they are and this will change your opinion of them. 

Lack of Control - I have heard it said that "You can only control what you can control". Why not make a suggestion as to how to change things, or perhaps offer to assist in some way to make things better, or even change the way that you do things as long as it is within the policy. You may also want to concentrate on what you do have control over and do that really well so people start to look at you for direction.

Environment - We all need natural light for our circadian rhythm, as well as for other things. If you work in a place where there is no natural light, then you need to get outside during your scheduled breaks to get sunlight. We need at least 20 minutes of sunlight each day to produce melatonin and serotonin, the stuff that aids sleep.

Changing just one of these five workplace stressors will change your life, and that’s what this is all about, your life.

I Am Stressed, Or Am I?

I hear people say that they are under enormous pressure, stressed, and even depressed. Mostly, they aren't. They just aren't managing their work/home life balance correctly and as a result their brain is looking for ways to help them by working overtime.

We all need pressure - pressure keeps us at our best, our brain likes to work at problems, likes to be moving, likes to discover new things. If we don't have a little bit of pressure in our lives, we would soon become bored. 

The problem is that pressure can build up on us if we don't take time out to relax or to do something to help our brain. When pressure builds up, we start to say to ourselves that we are stressed, so we become stressed. I love the quote "If you think that you are stressed then you are." 

If we stay stressed for too long you may become depressed which is a low mood.

So, what are the signs that you aren't getting the balance right? For most people it is tightness and sore muscles across their back and shoulders. This is due to the muscles constantly being tight from the flight-or-flight response.

Then you might get 'busier' to take your mind off the fact that your brain is continually in overdrive, you can't sit still, you bury yourself in your work, you become focussed on yourself rather than what’s around you. All the things that you shouldn’t be doing!

You might also start to have sleep problems; you may start to eat lots of sugary or processed foods & drinks to keep your energy levels up. Your coffee intake will likely rise also.

If you do not do something at this point, your brain will automatically start to look for ways to help you – your brain will always look at the negative rather than the positive while it searches for the answer. 

At this point you need to take back control, you control your conscious brain but need to work harder to control your sub-conscious brain. If you don't, the consequences can be devastating. 

The next few posts will focus on simple things that you can do to keep a balanced lifestyle and what to do if you are starting to become stressed.

Until then, relax!