Are You Depressed Because of Workplace Stress?

If you're reading this article, chances are you are experiencing workplace stress, right?  There's also a good chance that your workplace stress have reached a certain level where you sometimes (if not all the time) feel depressed.

You are not alone.  All of us, at one time or another, have experienced workplace stress.  But how do you know that you are stressed?  More importantly, how do you know that you are depressed?


Aft.org have listed down physical and psychological signs that workplace stress (and other stressors) are getting to you:

Physical warning signs are:

• "headaches
• stomach problems
• over/undereating
• sleep disturbances
• muscle aches and pains
• skin rashes
• teeth grinding"*

Sound familiar?  Here's more:

Psychological warning signs include:

• "forgetfulness
• anger
• frustration
• anxiety
• depression
• irritability
• feeling powerless"*

Are you starting to see...you?

 Well, now let's see how serious your workplace stress is.  Is your workplace stress serious enough to cause depression?  How do you know that you are already a candidate for depression?

• Are you demotivated?  Do you hate waking up in the morning to go to work?  Do you have to force yourself, push yourself to get dressed and go to the office?  Are you losing interest on things you used to enjoy?
• Have you lost energy?  Are you tired most of the time?  Do you feel weak as if fatigue have taken over you? Don't you have energy, even if you just woke up?
• Have you become unproductive?  Is your to-do list getting longer and longer and you feel you have not accomplished anything at the end of each day?
• Do you procrastinate?  Do you find yourself putting off important tasks at an increasing rate?
• Are you feeling less and less confident about yourself?  Even feeling worthless at times?
• Do you withdraw from people?  Do you avoid relationships, wanting to be "alone" most of the time?

Workplace stress is one of life's realities.  Everyone get's stressed, especially at work.  It's either the demands are too much or your expectations are not being met.  Either way, if left unchecked, workplace stress can cause depression.  Start managing your workplace stress by acknowledging how stressed you are.  Then, start doing something about it before you get really depressed.
   
Sources:
* http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1137195340877175320#editor/target=post;postID=3832277600063123055
**http://www.lifescript.com/health/centers/mental_health/articles/how_to_keep_depression_from_wrecking_work.aspx

THE TRUTH ABOUT EMPLOYEE FUN DAY

THE TRUTH ABOUT EMPLOYEE FUN DAY

from the article “Employee Fun Day” Won’t Create Job Satisfaction
By Kelly Goldsmith and Marshall Goldsmith | August 25, 2010

http://www.bnet.com/blog/marshall-goldsmith/-8220employee-fun-day-8221-won-8217t-create-job-satisfaction/131?tag=content;drawer-container

"Over the last year, we surveyed thousands of respondents on their experience of happiness and meaning — both at work and outside of work.  While many of our findings were consistent with our expectations, one was a surprise.

We asked respondents to note the percentage of time they spent on activities that produced high amounts of short-term gratification (or happiness) but low amounts of long-term benefit (or meaning). We classified these activities — things like gossiping and watching TV — under the category “stimulating.” Then we conducted an analysis, comparing the number of hours respondents spent on the “stimulating” activities to their overall satisfaction with life at work and at home.

Companies that invest in activities that are supposed to be “fun” but are also meaningless are probably squandering their money and their employees’ time. “Employee fun day” may well be a waste — it only leads to increased cynicism. Most professionals are extremely busy. They don’t need to go to work to be entertained. They can do that at home."

"While a little fun time is great, a lot of it can do more harm than good. Rather than watching another TV show, it might be good if we challenged ourselves by finding ways to help other people in need. Finding meaning can be more important than finding amusement.

As always, we would love to get your thoughts on this topic.  What is meaningful for you?  How does your own search for meaning lead to higher overall satisfaction with your life?"

MY THOUGHTS

Yes, a little fun won't hurt.  A day away from work can do some wonders.  Short term.  If the bigger issues are not handled, employee fun day becomes meaningless.

Are you in danger of "Karo-shi"

Fight stress, stay healthy
By Lisa Hansen
Posted: 03/23/2011 11:30:46 AM PDT

http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/business/ci_17682522

The Japanese concept of "Karo-shi" can almost literally be translated as "death from overwork." The term first came into common usage in Japan during the 1980s after rising concern following the sudden death of several high-ranking business men who showed no signs of previous health issues. "Karo¯shi" has been attributed to a wide variety of stress-related medical issues, such as high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke, to name a few.

There have been extensive studies on the effects of stress on a workforce's overall health and well being. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), 54% of workers are concerned about health problems due to stress. And, Express Employment Professionals' recent Hiring Trends survey showed that 88% of company leaders say their current work stress is as high or higher than last year. It's a serious problem that companies and their employees are being forced to address.

So, how do you reduce workplace stress? There are a wide variety of techniques and countless books about eliminating stress in your life. But, the first and most important step is to know the warning signs of stress, which can vary between individuals. In a recent APA study, some of the most common indicators of excessive stress included fatigue, irritability, lack of interest or motivation, head and stomach aches, and insomnia. So it's important to find a stress reducing activity that best fits your symptoms and lifestyle to help eliminate tension and keep you healthy and happy.

Take short breaks

The human body wasn't made to sit in one position and stare at a computer screen for eight hours a day. Make it a point to stand up and take a quick walk around the office every hour or two. Go grab a small, healthy snack. Say hello to a coworker. Or simply just stand up at your desk and stretch. Find a quick and simple activity you can do throughout the day to get your body moving and break up the monotony. Make simple lifestyle changes

Get some exercise

Exercise can do wonders for your stress and anxiety levels. Just a half-hour a day a few times a week can make a huge difference in your stress level. The important part is finding an activity you enjoy so you don't think of it as something you have to do. Whether it's as simple as a walk through a local park, swimming laps at the gym, or taking a yoga class, a little bit of activity can go a long way.

Use your vacation time

If you have vacation time, don't be afraid to use it. Taking a few days here and there to escape the daily grind of the work week is one of the best ways to recharge your mind and body. If you're a leader at your company, it's also important to keep a close eye on the overall stress levels of your employees. When you do notice a spike in stress, act quickly. There are a variety of tactics you can use to help ease some of the tension. You just need to be aware and understand what causes the build up in stress and then act accordingly.

Some examples of changes you can make on an organizational level to reduce stress could include:

- Redistribute employee workloads or hire new full-time or temporary workers to help take some of the burden off your current employees' shoulders.

- Provide opportunities for fun and bonding outside of work.

- Open the lines of communication to be sure your employees understand their jobs and why they are important.

- Allow your employees to participate in discussions and decision making that affect the business.

- Help your employees define development goals to help guide their careers in the right direction.

The impact of stress on health and well being can be profound and indiscriminate. Employees at all levels are prone to developing stress-related illnesses, and those who choose to deal with the issue head on are the ones who stand the best chance of overcoming it.

---------

Lisa Hansen is the owner of Express Employment Professionals, 243 S. Main St. in Red Bluff. The Red Bluff office, at 243 S. Main St., is taking applications. Businesses seeking employees may call 527-0727 or visit the Express website at www.expresspros.com.
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MY THOUGHTS

The trick is in recognizing the early signs of work stress and doing something about it immediately.  Work stress becomes harder and harder to deal with as it becomes more serious. 

WAYS TO RELAX AT WORK

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. 

HOW TO DEAL WITH A NARCISSIST

How to Deal with the Office Narcissist
By Jessica Stillman | March 2, 2010

Poets might be known for their higher than average incidence of depression, but the world of business is famous for attracting those with another sort of psychological disorder; “psychologists have studied narcissistic traits in actors, chief executives and politicians, where such tendencies are all but built into the job description,” reports the NY Times.

What exactly is narcissism? According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, the diagnosis involves, “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration and lack of empathy… a grandiose sense of self-importance.”

Of course, most cubicle dwellers are normal, empathetic people, but your chances of running into a narcissist is probably higher among high achieving business leaders than, say, at a convention of dentists or pre-school teachers. So how do you handle a narcissistic colleague or client when you meet one? A blog post by Karen Leland on Web Worker Daily offers five tips from Connie Dieken, author of the book Talk Less, Say More:

* Give them options. Beneath their bluster, narcissistic people fear being left out of the loop. They crave control. It’s far better to offer them options to choose from, rather than feeding them ready-made decisions. They’ll tear other people’s decisions to shreds. Giving them options helps them feel respected and in control. It also prevents nasty hissy fits.

* Focus on solutions, not problems. When you explain a problem or a challenge to a narcissist, direct their attention to the solution. Don’t allow them to dissect the problem over and over again. Narcissists love drama and revel in the chaos. They’re easily agitated when frustrated. Define problems and present possible solutions, so they don’t smell blood in the water and tear you apart.

* Make them the hero. Narcissists are preoccupied with power and truly believe they are special and unique. They live for attention and admiration. Want them to do something? Tell them how great they are at it and watch them perform. Better yet, praise their performance in front of others. Just keep it real, please.

* Let them think it’s their idea. Narcissists often steal the credit for ideas that aren’t theirs. Why do they do that? Strangely, they truly believe that hijacked results are their own. Grabbing credit is a driving force for them. If this gets things done, I say learn to live with it. Over time, everyone will catch on — wink, wink. Meantime, graciously transferring credit for ideas to them makes things happen.

* Manage their emotional blind spot. Egomaniacs lack empathy. They’re so caught up in their own world that it doesn’t occur to them to consider your feelings or viewpoints. It’s a huge blind spot. You must put your own feelings on the table, if you choose to do so. Just be smart about sharing feelings with a narcissist. Brace yourself for the guilt trips and disparaging criticism that narcissists often dole out when others explain how they feel.

MY THOUGHTS

so, do you have this constant need to be admired? do you have this feeling of self-importance that's way beyond normal? do you lack the capacity to feel for others, understand their situation and actually feel what they are feeling? then you really should be reading about 'how not to be a narcissist".

but if you are on the end of the spectrum and you find yourself dealing with an 'egomaniac', read over the tips very carefully.remember, being honest is still necessary but you can't win with a narcissist if you fight them off.

SIGNS THAT YOUR JOB IS TOO MUCH FOR YOU

7 Signs You're in Over Your Head
By Steve Tobak | January 21, 2011

Nobody wants to believe they’re the problem. Why that is, I don’t know. But it’s far and away the stickiest issue that plagues organizations big and small. That’s why it keeps coming up again and again here.

In last year’s most clicked post - 7 Signs You May Be a Bad Manager - we talked about how most bad managers aren’t consciously aware that they are bad managers. That was news to a lot of people.

It seems that, while we talk about denial all the time, we don’t really understand what it means: that, on some level, we are aware of our behavior and our issues; we’re just not consciously aware. That requires a measure of self-awareness few of us possess.

As I alluded to at the time, this phenomenon isn’t at all limited to bosses, but applies to executives, managers, employees too. What that means is that, no matter who you are or what you do, you can be in over your head and not realize it.

As we all know, realizing a problem is the first step to resolving it. But, for those of you who still aren’t convinced that knowing the truth about your level of competency is a good thing, here’s a different way to say it: If you bury your head in the sand, you’ll likely suffocate. How’s that for motivation?

So pay attention to these 7 Signs You’re in Over Your Head

1. You’re more anxious and stressed-out than usual. Why is that a sign? Because, on some level, you’re aware that you’re in over your head and the disconnect between that awareness and the lie you keep consciously telling yourself - and others, in all likelihood - is causing you great anxiety and stress.

2. Goals you thought were reasonable now seem insurmountable. Congratulations, you’ve fallen victim to one of the most common pitfalls in the working world: pedestal thinking. Don’t feel too bad, it’s just god’s sick little gift to overachievers. Just remember that the next time your ego wants to write a check that your capability can’t cash.

3. You’re feeling depressed when you should be feeling fine. You’ve been given a chance, an opportunity to prove yourself, maybe even a promotion. You should be on top of the world … but you’re not. Again, that’s the disconnect talking. And maybe, just maybe, you can’t help but wonder if you haven’t been given just enough rope to hang yourself with.

4. Your schedule is constantly slipping. Maybe your budget, headcount, and capital requirements, too. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. And management’s starting to get really tired of it. Every time they ask, “Is that going to do it,” you say “Absolutely.” But you have no idea if that’s true or not. Dangerous game to play.

5. I can do this has turned into I’m going to do this if it kills me. Well, it probably won’t kill you, but it might set your career back a bit or even get you fired. The point is that there are diminishing returns when it comes to being so driven that you push yourself to do things you’re either not ready for or are not capable of doing. And frankly, nobody wins when you do that. Nobody.

6. You find yourself working even when you’re not … and shouldn’t be. You find yourself thinking about work at all times of the day and night? While you’re eating, sleeping, on weekends, even during sex? Working longer and longer hours but coming home with less and less accomplished? Yup, that’s a sign alright. Been there many times.

7. You’re screwing up … and you’re not a screw up. I know it sounds sort of obvious, but I can remember times when I made excuses for errors in judgment that I probably wouldn’t have made if I wasn’t stretched so thin or pushing the envelope. Why did I do that? I guess I’m not the sort of guy who gives up easily. But again, there comes a point when that can actually work against you.

Once you’ve recognized that you’re in over your head, what do you do about it? In a nutshell, it’s always a good idea to be honest with yourself and face the fact that maybe you need to get some help, i.e. fess up to your boss, ask for more time and resources, that sort of thing.

If you’re a young up-and-comer who’s just pushing the envelope, i.e. no pain no gain, I’d give you a pass for sticking your neck out and taking risks, as long as you learn from the experience and don’t make it a regular thing.

If this is chronic with you, then there’s a distinct possibility that you’ve risen to your level of incompetence, i.e. the Peter Principle. In that case, you might want to read What’s the One Thing Limiting Your Success? and deal with it.

MY THOUGHTS

this can happen. absolutely. you're not good. you're very,very good. in fact, you're excellent. all you past performances can back that up. so, here you are. in a new post. a new assignment. and you just can't hack it. believe, the signs outlined in this article? these are killers. and the more you postpone getting help, the risk that you're setting yourself up for failure gets higher and higher.

Win Over Your Boss

How to Win Over Your Boss
By Steve Tobak | January 20, 2011

In Getting a New Boss? Interview Again for Your Job, career coach Priscilla Claman outlines three steps to get yourself “rehired,” as she calls it. Since BNET blogger Sean Silverthorne called her advice “absolutely brilliant,” I thought I’d check out the three steps:

1. Update your resume.
2. Set up a meeting.
3. Present yourself.

Now, I happen to think that this sort of “me-centric” approach can easily backfire. But, the original post does have some decent points and Claman herself has a disclaimer at the end, “I find that the higher up you are, the less successful the “rehiring” method is.”

In any case, if your boss isn’t behind you 100 percent, it can make your life miserable. Believe it or not, you can win him over just by asking a few questions that show him you “get it” and are management or senior management material. Whether he’s newly promoted, newly hired, the result of a merger or acquisition, or has been your boss forever, here are:

10 Simple Questions That Will Win Over Your Boss

1. Ask what he thinks you can do to be more effective.
2. Ask what her top three priorities or goals are.
3. Ask what you can do to make him more effective.
4. Ask what you can do to make the team more effective.
5. Ask if he’s interested in knowing what will make your job easier.
6. Ask what her take is on the company’s top priorities and goals.
7. Ask what he thinks you should do differently or improve upon to be more effective.
8. Ask if she’d like to meet periodically, one-on-one, and if so, how frequently and what format would she like the meeting to take. Then set it up.
9. Ask what his philosophy is on your shared functional responsibility, whatever that is, i.e. marketing, HR, IT, engineering, finance.
10. And, if the meeting’s open-form and you feel it’s appropriate, ask about her background. Most people like to talk about themselves and how they got there, as long as they don’t feel like they’re being grilled, pumped for information, or played in some way.

In case it isn’t obvious, you don’t just plop down in your boss’s office with a notepad and start an inquisition. Ask for a one-on-one meeting because you’d like to know what you can do to be more effective and help him be more effective, wherein you ask a few questions, as appropriate, etc.

And, contrary to the aforementioned HBR advice, do not tell her about your role and your team. Instead, ask if she’d like to hear your perspective on your and your team’s role. If she says, “absolutely,” then set it up. But I still say it’s better to ask for her perspective on your and your team’s role. Get the difference?

And whatever you do, don’t present yourself, your resume, or your achievements either. Frankly, your boss, new or old, isn’t primarily interested in any of that stuff. He’s primarily interested in meeting his objectives and helping his boss meet hers.

The closer you come to demonstrating that that’s your priority as well, the sooner you’ll win him over because you “get it.” And the sooner you’ll be viewed as management or senior management material.

MY THOUGHTS

hmmm. food for thought. calls for some heavy thinking. i remember asking a new boss what my job description was. he said - "NONE". i wanted to resign right then and there. i stayed. wise decision. he said he didn't want to limit what i can do by having a list of tasks. i figured, from where he's from, the term "perform other tasks that may be assigned" does not appear in JDs. demanding as he was, he was also very wise. true enough, my stint with him proved to be very rewarding. there was no limit to what he wanted to achieve. i worked along side him. in other words, i won him over. and he won me over,too.

Turn Enemy to a Friend to Lessen Workplace Stress

How to Turn Your Office Enemy into an Ally
By Margaret Heffernan | August 26, 2010

Being professional at work implies not letting personal likes and dislikes enter into our relationships with co-workers. It’s a high ideal that can be hard to achieve, especially when you encounter the colleague who, quite simply, just doesn’t like you.

That’s the situation a fine executive at GE encountered some years ago. For obvious reasons, she will remain anonymous -– but you can trust me, it’s a true story.

Carol, let’s call her, joined a new division and, being smart and experienced, dared to make a comment at her first meeting. “I disagreed with a comment one of my colleagues made about a strategic issue,” she told me. “After the meeting was over, he said, ‘Carol, don’t you know you’re just the cunt at the table? No one cares what you think.’”

What’s impressive is the way Carol responded. “I wanted to scream, but I didn’t. And I didn’t run around telling everyone what he said, even though I really wanted to. I knew he would use every opportunity he could to disparage me, sabotage me and hurt my credibility. Instead, when he made good suggestions in other meetings, I endorsed them. If my department was doing something that helped his, I let him know. And if I disagreed with him, I let him know that, too. Gradually he saw I was really good at what I did. He saw that my department could make him look good. He became an ally.”

“A few years later, he left to become president of another company. He called to ask me to be his COO. And no, I didn’t consider it for a moment.”

What’s impressive about Carol’s story is that she was able to see that the wasn’t about her; it was about her colleague. And while he might not always be professional, she always was. In other words, she seized the moral high ground and held it.

This is very tough to do. But it’s essential. You will, at some point in your , encounter someone who just doesn’t like you -– because you’re male, female, short, tall, fat, skinny or because you remind them of a former failed relationship. You won’t be able to change whatever history has formed their impression. What you can do is determine the level of your response.

“It’s really important to recognize that insulting, degrading, ridiculous comments aren’t about you -– they’re about the person saying them,” Carol explains. “Don’t take the remarks personally but do take them seriously, because you need to know what’s really going on.”

Encounters like Carol’s occur at every level in an organization, from the print room to the C suite. You can’t stop them happening; all you can influence is your own response.

MY THOUGHTS

if the workplace is full of machines and not people,i doubt there would be a term as 'workplace stress. but the minute you enter into an office, you encounter a guard, a receptionist, HR people who will provide you with orientation. there won't be a day in your work life when you will just sit in front of your laptop and not deal with people. you're in front of your laptop because you're dealing with email. and your emailing people. so, this article is such a welcome reminder. when i encounter difficult co-workers. the real ____holes. i pray.i pray for guidance.i pray that God will help me turn this enemy into a teammate. better yet,a friend.my best friends are still those i have formed bonds with while at work. some of these friendships started out badly. and i don't mind having more friends. even if you don't even want to hear this person's name in the beginning.

Want to Avoid Workplace stressand be more productive? Stop Working

How to Be Productive: Stop Working
By Margaret Heffernan | August 10, 2010

Industrial companies put a lot of effort into “asset integrity” — which really just means protecting critical plants and machinery from damage and wear and tear. At companies like BP, it’s clearly more of an aspiration than a reality, but anyone trained in a manufacturing environment learns that asset integrity is a top priority. But what about service industries — companies where the only assets are the brains of the people who work there? Shouldn’t they worry about asset integrity, too? Astonishingly, most of them don’t. Instead, financial services, consulting, the law and even the medical profession perpetuate working hours where all-nighters are heroic, driving with jet lag is the norm and anyone who actually has lunch risks becoming lunch.

But, they argue, we’re in the midst of an economic downturn, the worst recession in our lifetimes. Shouldn’t we all be working as hard as we can? Who has the luxury of time? What do you mean weekends aren’t for working?

Well, for the last 100 years, every productivity study in every industry has come to the same conclusion: after about 40 hours in a week, the quality of your work starts to degrade. You make mistakes. That’s why working 60 hours may not save you time or money: you’ll spend too much of that time fixing the mistakes you shouldn’t have made in the meantime. That’s why software companies that limit work to 35 hours a week need to employ fewer QA engineers: there isn’t as much mess to clean up.

In a knowledge economy, where thinking and creativity are the raw materials from which products and profit flow, brains are assets. They need to be cherished, nurtured and protected, not abused. Leaders need to take seriously a century’s evidence that 1) overwork doesn’t make us productive, it makes us stupid, 2) looking away from a problem is often the best way to solve it, and 3) burnout is what happens when people are asked to work in ways that obliterate all other parts of their lives.

Also: we need to hammer the last nail into the coffin of multi-tasking. No, you can’t safely drive and hold conference calls, nor can you text while driving. And checking emails while in meetings means you may as well not be there. What modern businesses need isn’t distracted Blackberry addicts but human beings who haven’t forgotten the gifts of focus, concentration and mindfulness.

When the cognitive scientist Dan Simons looked at the vast mountain of evidence that demonstrates the futility of multitasking, he was inevitably asked whether there were anything we could do to enlarge the capacity of our minds. The answer was an emphatic “no.” There are hard limits to what our brains will do, and no amount of Baby Mozarts or Brain Trainers will alter that. Practice, Simons says, will improve specific skills but not general abilities. Doing Sudoko will make you better at Sudoko; it won’t raise your GMAT scores.

Is there anything that truly enhances cognition? Yes, says Simons: exercise. Experiments by his colleague Arthur Kramer showed that walking for a few hours a week led to large improvements on cognitive tasks. Stretching and toning exercises had no cognitive benefits, but aerobic exercise, which increases blood flow to the brain, did. Seniors who walked for just 45 minutes a day for three days a week showed better preservation of their brains in MRI scans. Exercise, Simons concludes, improves cognition broadly by increasing the fitness of your brain.

Care about asset integrity? Get out of the office and go for a walk. And make sure the people who work for you do, too.

MY THOUGHTS

the short but brisk walking helps. i walk around the block sometimes if i need to work well into the night. clears the brain, relaxes the muscles and makes me more productive.

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.