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Mellowing out at work

By SCOTT BARANCIK
Published February 15, 2005

Aside from spending our hard-earned cash on unproven remedies, what can the average worker do to stymie stress on the job?

Bob Losyk, a Davie consultant and author of the 2004 book Get a Grip! Overcoming Stress and Thriving in the Workplace provided two lists of tips: a self-help guide for workers and one for employers who want to help their staff relax.

But if taking a time-management class or reading the cartoons every morning doesn't cure you of the stress caused by a nasty boss or an excessive workload, consider several other options:

One is to seek professional help. Psychologists and other mental health professionals can help determine what's causing your stress and how best to deal with it. Antianxiety medications can address symptoms.

Consider these structural approaches, too: It's possible your boss, your company's culture or even your profession is simply a bad fit for you. Does being outdoors make you happy? You might turn in your computer for a gardener's tools. Tired of dealing with customer complaints? That call-center job may not be for you after all.

TEN WAYS TO STOP STRESS ATWORK

1. Question your attitudes. How you react to negative events is as important as the events.

2. Watch what you say to yourself. Your body hears everything your mind tells it. Don't make yourself sick from stress.

3. Learn effective stretching techniques. Muscles get tight from sitting and stressing all day. Do stretches at your desk and consider bringing a small exercise mat to work.

4. Don't work through your breaks, and don't use your breaks and lunch hour just for food and coffee. Take deep breaths for seven or eight seconds, hold the air for two or three seconds, and then let it all out.

5. Sit in a chair and let your body relax and go limp. Take a few deep breaths and then begin breathing normally, counting each breath. This is a form of meditation. Continue for five minutes.

6. Do five minutes of exercise at work, four or five times per day. Doing exercise in short bursts relieves stress.

7. Walk more - it is heart healthy. Park the car farther away from your job, and take the stairs rather than the elevator.

8. Join a gym or health club for aerobics and strength training. Learn yoga or similar practices.

9. Eat healthy snacks and foods. Foods with highly refined carbohydrates, excessive salt, high fat or too much sugar increase not only our weight but your stress level.

10. Add more humor to your life. Look for cartoons, stories, jokes, books and movies that make you laugh. Seek out positive, funny people. They can help you stay calm when life is hard.

TEN WAYS EMPLOYERS CANHELP

1. Take a stress survey of your staff to determine their key stressors. Address root causes where possible.

2. Have your training department or a consultant offer stress-management seminars.

3. Bring in people to teach meditation, yoga, tai chi or other relaxing practices. Bring in a fitness instructor, too. As with many such initiatives, money invested now can reduce business costs, including health insurance and absenteeism, later.

4. Encourage your staff to take a "stress break" for several minutes every day. Create a fitness room.

5. Contact groups such as the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, National Wellness Council and National Fitness Council about free wellness services.

6. Invite employees to join an at-work Weight Watchers or other nutrition program and subsidize the cost.

7. Offer subsidized, at-work massages to employees. Contact the American Massage Therapy Association (www.amtamassage.org or toll-free 1-888-843-2682 for a list of local massage therapists.

8. Offer time-management courses. The more organized workers are at work and home, the less stress they will feel.

9. Because money problems and other issues brought from home can contribute to stress, provide financial planning seminars. The nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service (www.cccsintl.org or toll-free 1-800-873-2277 in your area may offer speakers and private counseling.

10. Be as family-supportive as you can. Any time you can help people meet their family obligations through flexible scheduling and working from home, you lessen stress and build company loyalty.

[Last modified February 16, 2005, 01:26:21]