The document discusses various sources of workplace stress and provides 10 tips for managing stress. Some common sources of stress mentioned include unrealistic goals, job losses, relocations, losing coworkers, and bad bosses. The 10 tips provided to help reduce overall stress include maintaining a sense of personal power, practicing effective communication, developing good working relationships, choosing the right job, being flexible, managing anger, having realistic expectations, adjusting one's attitude, tying up loose ends, and taking time to revive.
2. The workplace holds an excess of anxiety-producers. Many are from unpredictable sources such as unrealistic goals, sudden job losses, relocations, losing co-workers to downsizing or having bad and/or multiple bosses in quick succession
3. 10 Tips to Help You Reduce Your Overall Stress We can't eliminate stress, but there are ways to manage it. The following 10 tips can help you reduce your overall stress and ease specific sources of anxiety
4. 1. Maintain a sense of personal power A study of high-pressure work environments by ESSI, a San Fran research firm, shows one factor that predicts which employees would become ill and which stayed healthy: people's perception of their personal power or lack of it. Personal power is defined as how much control you feel you have over your life, your ability to function and express yourself.油 Ideally, your work environment will be an organization where colleagues and superiors listen to your problems and solutions and you're consulted when your role is redesigned, given the resources and information needed to perform the job and can contribute your ideas.
5. 2. Practice effective communication Communication is essential for preventing and easing tensions. Whether you head a team or are a team of one, how effective you are at communication depends on how well you understand others' verbal and nonverbal messages . Pay attention to co-workers' gestures, tone of voice and posture .
6. 3. Develop good working relationships Trust, respect, understanding and compassion are necessary in any relationship. Co-workers have to function as a team and reach a common goal. But they often focus all their attention on their tasks and very little on how they treat each other.油 Good work relationships will relieve stress and can buffer you from other stresses. Spend five minutes of each hour considering how to get along with your co-workers.
7. 4. Choose the right job During interviews, ask the questions that help you make sure the job's right for you. Get a realistic picture of the company or department's culture, working relationships, problems and hidden agendas
8. 5. Be flexible Recognize and accept that things change. If you need to hold on tightly to the status quo, you need to loosen up. Think of your organization as a space ship. It's constantly correcting its course " to go where no man has gone before " in the marketplace. You have to change with it. Be proactive. You're in a better position to maneuver if you are primed and ready.
9. 6. Manage your anger When you feel a surge of anger rising, back off and leave the scene as soon as you can. Repeat in your mind: "let go" or "relax." Breathe deeply until you feel your tension leave.油 Ask what's the real reason for my anger? Gain perspective and plan your next step. Practice what you'll say and how you'll say it. Make sure you're calm and in control of your emotions. Approach the person with a win-win attitude and desire to resolve the problem and have a good working relationship
10. 7. Have realistic expectations Don't set yourself up for disappointment or put yourself on an emotional roller coaster. Try to be optimistic and realistic at the same time. This outlook doesn't mean you shouldn't have desires or expectations. Just make sure you're not always longing for the impossible.
11. 8. Adjust your attitude Your attitude-- how you make others feel about you and how you make them feel about themselves- -can make or break your future.油 How's your attitude? Do you complain the moment something doesn't suit you, or do you take things in stride? Try to see yourself through the eyes of others. Do you make others happy or miserable? If you need to, make an attitude adjustment.
12. 9. Tie up loose ends Not being able to finish a task can be unsettling to those who like to shut doors and end sentences with a period. Most people need some kind of closure on projects, even the little ones.油 If you're on a treadmill where you're always beginning new tasks before finishing old ones, make a list of what's left hanging. This exercise can make projects seem more manageable. How can you structure your time to tie up those loose ends?
13. 10. Take time to revive People aren't built like machines. They can't run with their engines revved up continuously. Eventually they wear out. That's why there are coffee and lunch breaks. It's long been recognized that people need to take a little time off every few hours to revive. They return to their tasks with renewed enthusiasm.油 If you can, try not to take work home. Every now and then a project may take some extra time, but work shouldn't be devouring your life.
15. I 油am not sure exactly how this works, but this is amazingly accurate. 油 The 油picture below has 2 identical dolphins in it. It was used in a case study on 油stress levels at 油the Mayo Clinic and later at Fletcher Medical Center in Burlington 油 Look 油at both dolphins jumping out of the water. The dolphins are identical. A 油closely monitored, scientific study revealed that, in spite of the fact that the dolphins are identical, a person under stress will find many differences 油between the two dolphins. 油 The 油more differences a person finds, the more stress that person is 油experiencing. 油 油 Look at the photograph and if you find more than one or two differences you may 油need to take a vacation.