Stress Management: 5 Ways to Relax at Work
By Amy Levin-Epstein | Mar 31, 2011
Almost by definition, work is stressful — that’s why God (and/or HR) created vacation days. And these days, workplace anxiety is being felt at record high rates. “People, no matter what income levels, are feeling pinched,” says relaxation expert Darren Zeer, who has worked with companies like Maidenform and Del Monte Foods to ease employee stress. “Between the bad economy, smaller staffs and employment insecurity, it’s a brutal combination.”
From crazy clients to time-consuming conference calls, it’s easy to get worked up at work. Here are some great tips that will help you instantly feel better on the job, so you’ll be healthier and more productive:
Sip Chamomile Tea
A coffee break might put a pep in your step, but herbal tea will keep you calmer - and chamomile extract, in particular, has been shown to reduce anxiety. Bonus points if you take a quick walk to the corner deli to pick it up while getting some fresh air.
Clear Out Clutter
How clean is your desk? An organized workspace can keep you focused. “Having a clutter-free workspace means there’s no stress hunting down needed items, so time is spent more productively,” says professional organizer Sally Allen, CEO of A Place for Everything. Her advice: Keep the things you work on daily on top of your desk, the things you work on weekly in your desk, and the things you work on monthly around your desk. Everything else? Toss it.
Do a Desk Stretch
You can treat tension instantly with office yoga — but no need to go straight into Downward-Facing Dog. Zeer says a client favorite is his “Kick-back Log-on Pose.” To try: Interlace your fingers behind your head. Relax your elbows and shoulders. Smile, breathe, and stretch your elbows back. Let the tightness release slowly, and repeat throughout the day.
Feng Shui Your Bag or Briefcase
At a meeting and looking for your notes? If your bag is filled with old receipts, wrappers and other refuse, you are more likely to get distracted and make mistakes — and that’s certainly stressful. It’s time to start thinking of your purse or briefcase as a field bag, says Zeer: “Make sure you are well equipped for your meetings, and have your briefcase fully stocked with extra cell-phone batteries, a snack, and water. Empty out old material that is not needed,” he says. Another way to stay relaxed and motivated? “On the inside of your briefcase you can tape a picture of loved ones or an inspiring message for reassurance on the road,” he says.
Watch a Silly YouTube Video
Remember when The Office’s Michael Scott called himself the “King of Forwards”? That might actually have been good business sense, say some experts. Laughter — like the kind that comes after watching a dog skateboarding on YouTube — can improve mood and immune function and even lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, according to researchers from Loma Linda University. “Go online and look up jokes for a minute or two. This allows for a change in your physiology,” says study author Lee Berk, DrPH.
Have any other suggestions on lowering office stress? Please sign in below and share. And for more career advice, follow @MWOnTheJob on Twitter.
MY THOUGHTS
I am vouching for all these tips. They all work. A quick coffee break can help me relax but I agree that chamomile tea is a better choice. Walking around the block also does the trick for me. Knowing where everything is (almost everything, anyway) is a great time management tool. And the more successful you are in managing your time, the less stressed you would be. The best de-stressor, of course, is having a good laugh. Alone or with others-it really doesn't matter. What's important is you laugh your problems off without forgetting that the problems need to be dealt with.
Showing posts with label work balance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work balance. Show all posts
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
workplace stress? find out if you have a good job
Do you have a good job? Take the test
Today's job market favors employees. The attitude of most workers is that they should have a job that makes them happy. So it's no surprise that at any given time 70 percent of the workforce is job hunting, according to the Wall St. Journal.
Everyone is looking for the right position. But what exactly does that mean?
Here is something it's probably not: Prestigious. People who chase fame and prestige are generally not as happy as other people. If you're after fame, you are setting goals that are dependent on other peoples' approval. Conversely, goals about self-acceptance and friendship make you happy because you have more control over them.
You might think you're different – that you have a legitimate shot at fame. Ninety percent of young workers think they are in the top 10 percent of all workers, according to Business Week. Also, 40 percent think they will become famous. The reality is 1 or 2 percent ever achieve a modicum of fame.
A good rule of thumb when choosing a job to make you happy is to pick one that is based on the following list of attributes.
To test a job to see if it's good, give the job points for each attribute it has:
1. A short, predictable commute – 1 point
The problem with a long commute is that it is long in a different way each day. Sometimes it's the rain, sometimes there's an accident. Sometimes traffic is backed up for no apparent reason. Humans can acclimate themselves to a lot of traumatic stuff – even being a paraplegic, according to Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness. But you cannot acclimate yourself to something that is bad in a different way every day.
2. Workflow you can manage – 1 point
This is not about doing work. This is about managing your personal life, which you cannot do if you have no control over your workflow. You need to be able to predict when things will be difficult and when it's safe to focus more on your personal life. This is why management consultants are generally happy – they oversee their own schedule. But those who hold client-heavy jobs, such as lawyers or financial analysts, have to jump at a clients' whim.
3. Clear goals that are challenging – 1 point
Goals that are not challenging result in boredom, not happiness. But challenging work without a clear goal is a bad job waiting to happen because people want to know how they're doing. But you can't get feedback from a boss who does not set clear goals to manage your progress.
It is worth noting that the primary cause of workplace burnout is not the amount of time spent working, but whether the work you did can make a difference. For example, nurses on the pediatric burn unit have high turnover because it is exhausting to be taking care of children without being able to stop their suffering. Conversely, entrepreneurs are typically happy because they have so much control over workflow and goals.
4. Two co-workers you're close friend with – 3 points
If you have two good friends at work, you are almost guaranteed to like your job, according to Tom Rath, the author of Vital Friends. This is, in part, because you can process the bad parts of a job more productively with friends by your side to help you.
So finding a job you like or turning a bad job in to a good job might actually be totally under your control; you can decide you are going to be likable and make friends, or not.
Test results:
0-2 points, probably not a good job
3 points, probably a good job
4 – 6 points, probably a really good job
MY THOUGHTS
so, do you have a good job or not? remember,happiness is a state of mind. if you're ready to be happy, then you will be. don't make a mistake of leaving your job because it sucks. you'll find the next job sucks,too. why? the problem is not out there.
Today's job market favors employees. The attitude of most workers is that they should have a job that makes them happy. So it's no surprise that at any given time 70 percent of the workforce is job hunting, according to the Wall St. Journal.
Everyone is looking for the right position. But what exactly does that mean?
Here is something it's probably not: Prestigious. People who chase fame and prestige are generally not as happy as other people. If you're after fame, you are setting goals that are dependent on other peoples' approval. Conversely, goals about self-acceptance and friendship make you happy because you have more control over them.
You might think you're different – that you have a legitimate shot at fame. Ninety percent of young workers think they are in the top 10 percent of all workers, according to Business Week. Also, 40 percent think they will become famous. The reality is 1 or 2 percent ever achieve a modicum of fame.
A good rule of thumb when choosing a job to make you happy is to pick one that is based on the following list of attributes.
To test a job to see if it's good, give the job points for each attribute it has:
1. A short, predictable commute – 1 point
The problem with a long commute is that it is long in a different way each day. Sometimes it's the rain, sometimes there's an accident. Sometimes traffic is backed up for no apparent reason. Humans can acclimate themselves to a lot of traumatic stuff – even being a paraplegic, according to Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness. But you cannot acclimate yourself to something that is bad in a different way every day.
2. Workflow you can manage – 1 point
This is not about doing work. This is about managing your personal life, which you cannot do if you have no control over your workflow. You need to be able to predict when things will be difficult and when it's safe to focus more on your personal life. This is why management consultants are generally happy – they oversee their own schedule. But those who hold client-heavy jobs, such as lawyers or financial analysts, have to jump at a clients' whim.
3. Clear goals that are challenging – 1 point
Goals that are not challenging result in boredom, not happiness. But challenging work without a clear goal is a bad job waiting to happen because people want to know how they're doing. But you can't get feedback from a boss who does not set clear goals to manage your progress.
It is worth noting that the primary cause of workplace burnout is not the amount of time spent working, but whether the work you did can make a difference. For example, nurses on the pediatric burn unit have high turnover because it is exhausting to be taking care of children without being able to stop their suffering. Conversely, entrepreneurs are typically happy because they have so much control over workflow and goals.
4. Two co-workers you're close friend with – 3 points
If you have two good friends at work, you are almost guaranteed to like your job, according to Tom Rath, the author of Vital Friends. This is, in part, because you can process the bad parts of a job more productively with friends by your side to help you.
So finding a job you like or turning a bad job in to a good job might actually be totally under your control; you can decide you are going to be likable and make friends, or not.
Test results:
0-2 points, probably not a good job
3 points, probably a good job
4 – 6 points, probably a really good job
MY THOUGHTS
so, do you have a good job or not? remember,happiness is a state of mind. if you're ready to be happy, then you will be. don't make a mistake of leaving your job because it sucks. you'll find the next job sucks,too. why? the problem is not out there.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Everything You Know About Productivity is Wrong
Everything You Know About Productivity is Wrong
By Jessica Stillman | February 17, 20
Want to get more done at work? You need to buckle down, work consistently and hard for longer hours and quit procrastinating, right? Only if you work on a factory floor, counters blog Chief Happiness Officer from author and consultant Alexander Kjerulf. And as you’re reading a blog right now, you probably don’t work in an industrial job.
“For knowledge workers,” asserts Kjerulf, the old ideas about productivity “are not only wrong, they’re actively harmful.”
Instead, he suggests five new rules of productivity:
Your productivity will vary wildly from day to day. This is normal. In an industrial setting, you know that if the plant operates for X hours tomorrow you’ll produce Y widgets. For knowledge workers, you can’t possibly know in advance whether tomorrow will be a day where you reach a brilliant insight that saves you and your team weeks of work, or the day where you spend eight hours gazing dejectedly into your screen. This variation is normal -– if a little frustrating. You shouldn’t judge
your productivity by the output on any given day but rather by your average productivity over many days.
Working more hours means getting less done. A client asked me to conduct a study on the effects of work hours on productivity and errors, my findings were quite simply that… productivity decreased by half after the eighth hour of work. This may be counter-intuitive but it’s important to grasp: for knowledge workers there is no simple relationship between hours worked and output!
Working harder means getting less done. In an industrial environment, you can most often work harder and get more done. For knowledge workers, the opposite is true. You can’t force creativity, eloquence, good writing, clear thinking or fast learning -– in fact, working harder tends to create the opposite effect and you achieve much less.
Procrastination can be good for you. Sometimes you’re in the mood for task X and doing X is ridiculously easy and a lot of fun. Sometimes doing X feels worse than walking barefoot over burning-hot, acid-covered, broken glass and forcing yourself to do it anyway is a frustrating exercise in futility. Sometimes procrastinating is exactly the right thing to do at a particular moment.
Happiness is the ultimate productivity enhancer. The single most efficient way to increase your productivity is to be happy at work. No system, tool or methodology in the world can beat the productivity boost you get from really, really enjoying your work.
For me, selling accomplishment without sweat and pain is a bit like selling snake oil. Writing, creativity and learning sometimes do involve beating your head (metaphorically) against the screen for hours, and every burst of inspiration is backed up by hours of donkey work. Still, I agree with Kjerulf’s point that outright misery is counter-productive and that allowing for humans to actually be human (quirky, variable, susceptible to exhaustion and inspiration) is essentially productive. It’s all a matter of balance. Do you agree?
MY THOUGHTS
"it's all a matter of balance". and this balance has to flow from the top. how can people below balance things when the demands given to top management are unrealistic. naturally, the domino effect would be unrealistic demands (and work hours) for people way down below. this is the biggest challenge for middle-management though. you don't really have control (not very much) on the supposedly strategic goals. you can influence it. but at the end of the day, your job is to implement what has been decided upon. so, if the the demands are unrealistic from way up, middle managers task is to ensure that demands are less unrealistic for the staff. otherwise, you're bound to lose people. and then top management will get your hide. and so, the unrealistic demand will be on your shoulders. and dno't say you don;t have a choice. you do.
By Jessica Stillman | February 17, 20
Want to get more done at work? You need to buckle down, work consistently and hard for longer hours and quit procrastinating, right? Only if you work on a factory floor, counters blog Chief Happiness Officer from author and consultant Alexander Kjerulf. And as you’re reading a blog right now, you probably don’t work in an industrial job.
“For knowledge workers,” asserts Kjerulf, the old ideas about productivity “are not only wrong, they’re actively harmful.”
Instead, he suggests five new rules of productivity:
Your productivity will vary wildly from day to day. This is normal. In an industrial setting, you know that if the plant operates for X hours tomorrow you’ll produce Y widgets. For knowledge workers, you can’t possibly know in advance whether tomorrow will be a day where you reach a brilliant insight that saves you and your team weeks of work, or the day where you spend eight hours gazing dejectedly into your screen. This variation is normal -– if a little frustrating. You shouldn’t judge
your productivity by the output on any given day but rather by your average productivity over many days.
Working more hours means getting less done. A client asked me to conduct a study on the effects of work hours on productivity and errors, my findings were quite simply that… productivity decreased by half after the eighth hour of work. This may be counter-intuitive but it’s important to grasp: for knowledge workers there is no simple relationship between hours worked and output!
Working harder means getting less done. In an industrial environment, you can most often work harder and get more done. For knowledge workers, the opposite is true. You can’t force creativity, eloquence, good writing, clear thinking or fast learning -– in fact, working harder tends to create the opposite effect and you achieve much less.
Procrastination can be good for you. Sometimes you’re in the mood for task X and doing X is ridiculously easy and a lot of fun. Sometimes doing X feels worse than walking barefoot over burning-hot, acid-covered, broken glass and forcing yourself to do it anyway is a frustrating exercise in futility. Sometimes procrastinating is exactly the right thing to do at a particular moment.
Happiness is the ultimate productivity enhancer. The single most efficient way to increase your productivity is to be happy at work. No system, tool or methodology in the world can beat the productivity boost you get from really, really enjoying your work.
For me, selling accomplishment without sweat and pain is a bit like selling snake oil. Writing, creativity and learning sometimes do involve beating your head (metaphorically) against the screen for hours, and every burst of inspiration is backed up by hours of donkey work. Still, I agree with Kjerulf’s point that outright misery is counter-productive and that allowing for humans to actually be human (quirky, variable, susceptible to exhaustion and inspiration) is essentially productive. It’s all a matter of balance. Do you agree?
MY THOUGHTS
"it's all a matter of balance". and this balance has to flow from the top. how can people below balance things when the demands given to top management are unrealistic. naturally, the domino effect would be unrealistic demands (and work hours) for people way down below. this is the biggest challenge for middle-management though. you don't really have control (not very much) on the supposedly strategic goals. you can influence it. but at the end of the day, your job is to implement what has been decided upon. so, if the the demands are unrealistic from way up, middle managers task is to ensure that demands are less unrealistic for the staff. otherwise, you're bound to lose people. and then top management will get your hide. and so, the unrealistic demand will be on your shoulders. and dno't say you don;t have a choice. you do.
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