Continue reading »]]> Understanding and managing stress is key to leading a healthy, productive life in our hectic world. So many people say that they are stressed out without really understanding what that means. When you say that you are stressed out, what is it that you are really saying about yourself? Can we really be stressed beyond our limits or, by learning and utilising specific strategies, can we in fact turn stress around so that it is a motivating force in our lives?

Stress is a person’s response to a demand for change. We experience such demands on a higher or lower level every day of our lives. Faced with these demands, we may try to resist change while also trying to manage the stress associated with it. Not all change, however, is a bad thing just as not all stress is bad for us. Some stress is very useful to us and is even essential in certain circumstances such as learning. Research has shown that learning takes place under conditions of moderate stress. Your aim, therefore, is not to eliminate all the stress you experience but to understand and to manage it so that it remains at an acceptable level.

The best strategies for managing stress are those that are not destructive but which are healthy ways to prevent stress from increasing or to reduce the tension when stress builds beyond a moderate level. Destructive strategies for managing stress include smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol to excess, taking illegal drugs or misusing prescribed medication. While these strategies bring short-term relief this is at high cost to both mind and body. One of the worst strategies of all is to do nothing about a problem and hope it will go away. It hardly ever does and the stress of not dealing with it is far greater than that of following a constructive course of action.

Healthy, constructive strategies for managing stress include exercise, nutrition, employing relaxation techniques and exploring talking therapies. Simply sharing a problem or stressful situation with a friend or family member has been proven to markedly reduce stress. Other people may prefer to seek professional help or counselling and this, too, has high success rates. Regular exercise when carried out in conjunction with a healthy diet is enormously beneficial when it comes to managing stress and is far more effective than any pharmaceutical solution.

Another excellent idea is to journal on a daily basis or to write out specific problems and possible solutions as they occur. Seeing a problem or a worry on the page helps us both to define and to prioritise it. What may seem urgent or overwhelming to our minds can appear far less threatening on paper. Setting out a plan of action helps us to understand the problem and to manage the stress associated with it. Giving ourselves clearly defined steps to follow automatically empowers us to bring about positive change. With stress, as with so many situations in life, common sense coupled with a proactive, positive strategy produces optimal results.

If you’ve been desperately trying to relieve your stress and you just don’t know what to do, check out Stress Relief Secrets and you may find exactly what you are looking for.

Continue reading »]]> Can you really lead a stress-free life? In actual fact, living a stress free life is not a reasonable or desirable goal. What you should be aiming at is to deal with stress actively and effectively so that it does not become a destructive force. One way to do this is to study and copy those people who are naturally resistant to stress. These are the people who cope in the most appalling circumstances with what appears to be an uncanny serenity.

When researchers studied these people, they discovered that they all share distinctive habits. First off, they tend to focus on immediate issues rather than global ones. They couple this with an optimistic, explanatory approach. A stress resistant person may, for example, say something like, ëI am tired today,í rather than, ëThat’s it, Iím all washed up,í thereby assigning a temporary nature to their troubles and diminishing the associated negativity.

Stress resistant people also tend to be specific about circumstances and attributes rather than dealing in generalities. They may, for example, say something like, ëI have a bad habit,í rather than, ëI am a bad person.í They also give themselves credit when things go right and externalise their failures by, for example, saying something like, ëThat was a difficult audience,í rather than, ëI gave a horrible presentation.í By emulating these stress resistant people we can certainly lead a stress-reduced life if not a stress-free one.

Other known antidotes to stress include techniques such as meditation, massage and relaxation exercises. Exercise is another excellent way to manage stress as it increases the body’s production of morphine-like endorphins while improving the oxygen supply to the brain and releasing tension from the muscles. Other stress reduction and management options include yoga, biofeedback and music therapy. All of these techniques can be used in conjunction with one or more of the others so do what works for you.

But why is it that such vastly different techniques have similar benefits when it comes to combating stress? Experts agree that they work because they counteract the feelings of helplessness and powerlessness that often accompany stress. It would seem, therefore, that taking steps to manage and control stress moves us forward towards a life that, if not stress-free, is productive because of stress rather than in spite of it.

Can you really lead a stress free life? No – but then you wouldnít want to. Stress is a part of a life well lived, the sort of life that inevitably involves change. While change, or rather resistance to it, causes stress, by simply embracing it and re-framing it in positive terms we can use it propel ourselves forward to newer and even better things. As stress resistant people know, all situations are temporary. By externalising them when they are negative we prevent them from overwhelming us and by owning them when they are positive we set ourselves up for a healthy, stress resistant existence.

Check out Stress Relief Secrets to learn effective ways to manage and even eliminate your stress!

Continue reading »]]> Making a plan to manage your stress is the first, essential step everyone should take to conquer this debilitating condition. To develop your stress management plan, follow these steps:

1. Recognize that you are experiencing stress. Stress is a natural response to life’s events and is most certainly not a weakness. Stress can actually help us perform at peak efficiency when at moderate levels. When, however, stress is higher than normal or is not dealt with effectively then it produces real, harmful mental and physical reactions.

2. Learn to recognize the symptoms of stress. The physical signs of stress include raised blood pressure, fatigue, tense and aching muscles, decreased appetite and/or sex drive and weight gain or loss.

The emotional symptoms of stress can include irritability, forgetfulness, difficulty in concentrating, impatience and a sense of feeling overwhelmed.

Behavioral signs of stress can include changes in sleeping or eating habits, verbal or physical aggression, excess use of alcohol or tobacco, being more accident prone and avoiding certain situations or people.

Relational symptoms of stress include difficulties in communicating with others and increased conflict and dissatisfaction with relationships.

3. Learn to manage stress by adopting a problem-solving approach. Focus on those areas within your business and personal life where you can take control and responsibility. Here are four techniques that can help you to do this:

Set out and follow daily, monthly, yearly and longer term plans to help guide your decisions in both your business and personal life. Learn to say no to those things that do not support your goals.

When planning and making decisions, consult other people who may be affected by them. Before making a decision you should ask whatever questions you need to gather information and insight.

Understand the importance of listening and try at all times to use clear communication skills. First identify the situation you are addressing and then formulate your questions so that you get the information you need. When receiving that information, make sure that you listen.

Adopt a flexible approach when unexpected events occur that are out of your control. Choose a relaxed response over a stressed response by, for example, taking a few deep breaths and purposely loosening your muscles.

4. Develop stress management techniques that work for you. Here are some examples of stress reduction techniques that you can incorporate into your daily life:

Take 30 minutes each day for yourself. In that time you could go for a walk, read a book, listen to music or do something else that you enjoy.

Practice deep breathing. Shallow breathing brings in less oxygen leading to headaches, increased muscle tension and a feeling of being stressed.

Walk away from a stressful situation and take time to think about it. You will come back to the problem better able to solve it.

5. Take care of your body. Make sure that you get regular exercise and enough sleep. Eat healthily and avoid smoking, excess alcohol and drugs.

6. Manage your time effectively. It is all too easy to feel overwhelmed by your to-do list. Make a list of what needs to be done but prioritize it and do the most important things first. Tackle those things that you find hardest to face first thing in the morning when your energy levels are higher. Never try to take on too much.

When you have set out your stress management plan, make sure that you communicate it to your family, friends and colleagues. Do not feel guilty about it or allow others to make you feel guilty about taking time out for yourself. Making a plan to manage your stress is one of the healthiest, most positive things a person can do and you may find that once others see the beneficial effects, they make a stress management plan of their own.

Continue reading »]]> There are a number of stress therapy techniques that work well, two of the better-known ones being controlled breathing and progressive relaxation training. Progressive relaxation training involves a number of exercises that train your mind and body to gradually become more relaxed. Although there is something of a learning curve to this therapeutic technique, with practice this is an extremely effective method of reducing stress.

Controlled breathing requires less initial effort and works well as a stress therapy for people who find it relatively easy to clear their minds and regulate their breathing which, in turn, relaxes the rest of the body. This is sometimes hard to do because the majority of people who are stressed tend to breathe quickly and shallowly. A good therapist will be able to decide which technique is most suitable as they have vast experience of determining how individuals respond to particular treatments.

Another stress therapy technique that works well is cognitive restructuring. This is particularly suitable in cases of accumulated stress and for people who have a tendency to over or under react to potentially difficult situations. During cognitive restructuring your therapist will help you to examine situations so that you can see them for what they really are rather than what you imagine them to be. Many of us, for example, make assumptions or have unfounded worries that are entirely inappropriate to a situation. A therapist can help identify those inappropriate thoughts and feelings and can point out how they actually contribute to stress.

By learning how to catch yourself when you are reacting in this way, you can also learn how to use logic to revise your reaction to an appropriate level. This method works well for people who are feeling stuck or who tend to get upset at the smallest things. As this method teaches you to question how you think or feel about things, it also helps people to feel more comfortable when standing up for themselves and therefore enables them to be more effective in their daily lives.

Assertiveness and communication skills training are sometimes used alongside the above stress therapy techniques or can be effective when used on their own. Both of these techniques teach you to deal with problems in a fair and logical manner, taking into consideration the rights and needs of all those involved. Many people avoid dealing with stressful situations because they do not feel they have the right to ask for what they want or fear that they will make matters worse. Learning how to speak up for yourself in an effective way is an excellent therapeutic technique when it comes to reducing stress.

Whatever stress therapy technique you choose, remember that you should feel comfortable working with your therapist. Take your time to choose the therapist who is right for you and who endorses a technique with which you feel comfortable. Remember that you can mix and match techniques and that some work better than others for individual people. No two human beings are the same and it may take some time to find the stress therapy technique that works well for you.

Continue reading »]]> There are many potential sources of stress at work – learning what to do about it is extremely important for both your health and your career. Some of these potential sources of stress include:

ï Role conflict
ï Role ambiguity
ï Working relations
ï Overload
ï Control (or lack of it)
ï Feedback (or lack of it)
ï Support from colleagues (or lack of it)
ï Uncertainty over job future

This list does not include stressors outside of the workplace that can also affect your performance. These may, for example, be family demands which place particular strain on dual career or single-parent households. Marital problems, caring for elderly parents, health issues affecting a family member and concerns over children can all affect us at work. There are, in addition, sources of workplace stress that should never be tolerated. These are sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions and violence in the workplace. These three sources of workplace stress need to be taken extremely seriously and addressed at managerial level.

Generally speaking, workplace stress arises in four main areas:

ï Lack of control over your work or working environment
ï Uncertainty over work-related issues
ï A prevailing dysfunctional conflict
ï The general demands of work or specific tasks

It is important to address each of these areas when attempting to reduce stress in the workplace. Managers and employees need to work together to develop effective stress management policies and programs. Stress at work does not just come from the individual stressors listed earlier but can be a direct result of job demands such as a heavy workload and long hours. If these job demands result in too high a level of stress than they need to be adapted on all levels, including policies and procedures, as well as on the part of the worker.

Company climate sets the tone for the amount of stress experienced in the workplace. If the working environment is one where personal needs and feelings are considered, the potential amount of stress will be decreased. If, however, the working atmosphere is one where people distrust one another and indulge in gossip and back-biting then correlating stress will be increased. Another source of stress in the workplace is uncertainty over, for example, job security, changes in management or changes in working practices.

A lack of clear direction in the workplace also places a great deal of stress upon workers. Effective guidance, on the other hand, reduces costly errors which may, in fact, occur as a result of stress caused by ambiguity. The more critical the task, the greater the need to communicate it directly and clearly to those involved in its execution. Clear communication improves individual and group performance and greatly decreases workplace stress.

As stress in the workplace impacts not only individual workers but the performance of the company or organization as a whole, it makes sense to learn how to address it so that it is managed and eliminated where possible. Learning how to deal with stress at work is vital for our health, wealth and wellbeing, whether we are employers or employees. Follow the guidelines in this article and you will be well on the way to achieving the ideal of a working life free from unnecessary, unproductive stress.

Continue reading »]]> Everybody experiences stress but teenagers experience it more than most given the rapid rate at which their lives and bodies change on an almost daily basis. All change results in stress, whether good or bad, and learning to handle it is vital to our health and happiness. Stress management for teens is therefore an essential skill set that needs to be learned. Read on to discover how to do this in simple steps.

The first thing a teen needs to do is to identify their stress limits. This can be done by asking the following questions:

1. What makes me explode?
2. How often am I angry, frustrated, nervous or frightened about something?
3. What do I do when things don’t happen the way I like?

Awareness is key to managing stress for teens. If you are a teenager, tell yourself that when you are aware of your actions you can control them before things get out of hand. It is important to know when you are stressed out so that you can deal with it. Here are some indicators that you may be stressed out:

ï You can’t seem to stop crying – everything hurts your feelings.
ï You hurt others with your words or actions.
ï You try things that seem like they might make the pain go away except they don’t work.
ï You are tired all the time.
ï You are too hard on yourself or too much of a perfectionist.

There are a number of emotional and physical changes that you need to watch out for as these are known signs of stress in teenagers. These stress symptoms can include:

ï Anger
ï Anxiety
ï Changes in eating or sleeping habits
ï Headaches
ï Irritability
ï Lack of energy
ï New or increased use of alcohol, tobacco or other drugs
ï Decreased concentration
ï Sadness or depression
ï Feeling uptight or powerless
ï Stomach problems
ï Excess worry

There are a variety of ways that these symptoms, and the underlying stress that causes them, can be managed. These are particularly important for teenagers experiencing stress as they help to not only deal with the immediate problem but also to set up healthy stress management habits for later life. Here are some suggestions as to how a teenager can manage stress:

1. Don’t expect too much of yourself and ask for help when necessary.
2. Think positively and surround yourself with others who do the same.
3. Be flexible and understand that you cannot control everything in your life.
4. Break down large tasks into several smaller steps.
5. Take time out to relax – meditate, read, listen to music or do something else that you enjoy.
6. Eat healthily and get plenty of exercise.
7. Avoid alcohol, tobacco, drugs and excess sugar, all of which aggravate stress in the long term.
8. Remember to laugh and have fun.
9. Share your problems with family, friends or someone else that you trust such as a teacher.
10. Learn from your mistakes and don’t beat yourself up about them.

It is not easy being a teenager but knowing how to manage the stress involved can really help during those difficult teen years. A certain amount of stress makes life interesting but too much can lead to serious health problems. For the sake of future health, safety and happiness it is essential that every teen learns to recognize and manage stress before it does long-term harm.

To help your teen learn stress management techniques, check out Stress Relief Secrets.

Continue reading »]]> Taking an exam is nearly always a stressful experience. Stress responses vary from person to person but some of the typical symptoms include headaches, nausea, muscle pains and changes in eating and sleeping patterns. Clearly all of these will have a negative impact upon exam performance. Coping with exam stress is therefore vital if you are to do yourself justice.

One of the best ways to cope with exam stress is to prepare thoroughly in the weeks leading up the exam. This means that you should think about how much time you have before your exam and carefully plan how you can spend that time to best effect. It is important to also think about how you will revise and to understand that simply reading through a textbook or your lecture notes will not suffice.

In the days before the exam you need to formulate a strategy so that you can tackle it without becoming stressed. You may, for example, work out how much time you intend to spend on each section of the exam and in what order you intend to work through these sections. You could also consider how you will approach multiple-choice questions as opposed to essay questions. Preparing in this manner will greatly reduce the inevitable stress that arises when you first look at your exam paper.

If at all possible you should try to visit the exam hall before the day of the exam so that you know what to expect. Students have been known to experience anxiety attacks simply due to the unfamiliarity of the exam environment. If you have already seen where the exam will take place this is far less likely to happen.

Another good idea is to make a list of the things that you will need to take with you to the exam so that you don’t get stressed out when you discover you have forgotten something. Plan how you are going to spend your time in the hours before the exam, for example deciding what time you will leave and how you will get there. On the day of the exam, stick to your plan and try to talk positively to yourself all the way through. Remember that coping with exam stress is just as important as taking the actual test.

If, despite all your preparations, you start to become stressed out then you need to take a few moments to get yourself back into the right frame of mind. Stop what you’re doing and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths to reduce your stress levels and try to think positively even if you don’t know the answer to the questions. You may find that once you feel calmer, what seemed impossible a few minutes before now appears achievable. Always remember that it is you who are in control of your stress levels and that you do not need to give in to them.

After the exam is over, try not to compare your answers with those of your fellow students. Although it is important to reflect on your stress coping strategies and any adjustments you may need to make to them before your next exam, you need to realise that the exam is over and it is time to move on and focus on the next one. Going through your answers with your classmates may simply throw up little mistakes you have made or highlight points that you omitted. This achieves nothing other than knocking your confidence before your next exam. Instead, go back through your stress plan, adjust it where necessary and then implement it for your next exam.

Continue reading »]]> Unemployment can be extremely stressful. Not only do most people have to cope with the inevitable financial concerns but they also have to deal with the negative impact upon their self-esteem and self-confidence. It is important when coping with unemployment stress to learn how to manage it rather than give in to it. Stress management is all about self-care and can even be a lot of fun.

Some enjoyable ways to approach stress management include techniques such as meditation, music, dancing, taking aerobic exercise and seeking social support. All of these lead to the increased sense of well-being that is especially important when dealing with unemployment. Simply experimenting with something you have never tried before can not only alleviate stress but also lead to the sense of achievement necessary to boost self-esteem.

In order to cope effectively with unemployment stress you have to become your own best friend. You need to be supportive, constructive and appreciative of yourself and your strengths. Make a list of all of your personal skills and resources and then think about situations in your life that you have resolved by utilizing them. Think about the times that you have gained positive feedback and about the achievements that make you proudest. Also think about the things that you enjoy doing most and recall those times, considering ways you can replicate them.

All of your skills, abilities, qualities, attitudes and knowledge add up to your assets. How can you capitalize on these assets to take yourself forward to new employment? Now think about your key external resources – those people, places and things that can be included as part of your support system right now. How can you utilize or develop these resources to help you cope with the stress of being unemployed?

Another excellent stress management technique when out of work is to ask productive questions. You could, for example, ask yourself what is good about unemployment. It could mean that you now have the opportunity to spend more time with family and friends, to study or to pursue other interests. Even thinking about the bad side of unemployment can be a positive experience when it comes to tackling the associated stress.

Some aspects of the situation may be out of your control but there are always things that you can do to turn around the negatives. Rather than feeling lonely, for example, you could think about the steps you can take to create a daily structure which involves interacting with your peer group. Or you could find situations in your daily life where you could apply your professional skills by, for example, volunteering or donating your time to charitable enterprises.

It is important to examine your core beliefs when coping with unemployment stress as these drive so many of our thoughts and actions. You need to consider how you interpret your situation and if your thoughts are realistic, compassionate and balanced. Ask yourself if you’re taking all your experience into account, whether you have considered all possibilities and if you have all of the information that you need. If you shared your core beliefs with someone who cares about you, do you think they would accept your interpretations or would they offer an alternative point of view?

We can only cope with stress effectively when we are responding to reality rather than some imagined negative scenario. Keeping the focus on reality also stops us obsessing over negative self talk that is both stressful and unhelpful. Rather than asking yourself: ëWhat is wrong with me?í think about the value you have offer a potential employer. Instead of wondering when your situation will ever end ask yourself what small step you can take right now to help yourself feel better. Approach each day in this positive manner and you will find coping with unemployment stress far easier which, in turn, will put you in a much better position to find a new job.

Continue reading »]]> Jobs stress is estimated to cost American industry $150 billion per year in diminished productivity, health insurance, direct medical expenses, absenteeism and compensation claims. These job stress costs are more than 15 times that of all strikes combined. Stressed out workers:

Smoke more
Have more problems with alcohol and drugs
Have more family problems
Are less motivated at work
Have more problems with co-workers
Experience more physical illnesses

Simply reducing the most highly strained jobs will, in turn, reduce the high cost of job stress and will result in a healthier, more productive workforce.

There are a number of strategies for combating job stress. It is important to understand that job stress is the result of multiple causes and therefore has to be addressed through multiple solutions. Simply tackling the stress issues of individual workers will not solve the wider ranging problems of occupational stress. Organizational change is vital to bring about a lasting reduction in the high cost of job stress.

A well-designed job stress reduction program works on three levels. These are:

1. Individual
2. Small groups
3. Organizational and/or structural

Individual intervention strategies are designed to help the individual employee cope effectively with job-related stress. Examples of these strategies include:

ï Diet
ï Exercise
ï Assertiveness training
ï Relaxation training
ï Cognitive techniques

Small-group intervention strategies are designed to help employees develop more social support both at work and at home. Examples of these strategies include:

ï Team building
ï Family counselling
ï Supervisory training
ï Training on issues such as racism and sexism

Structural or organisational intervention strategies are directed towards improving working conditions, thereby alleviating job-related stress. Examples of these strategies include:

ï Increasing skills
ï Enabling workers to make more decisions
ï Modifying shifts
ï Reducing or eliminating physical hazards
ï Adapting training and technology
ï Improving career prospects

Many of these strategies are both simple and inexpensive to implement. When compared with the high cost of job stress, they are certainly a sound investment. With stress levels set to soar in this uncertain economy, it is vital that employers and employees work together to tackle this debilitating problem. In order to do this effectively, it is essential to ensure that clear communication exists between workers and management. Only then can an organization work as a unit towards eliminating or at least reducing stress in the workplace.

For the self-employed and small and medium-sized enterprises, it is particularly important to spot the signs of stress before they exceed acceptable levels. This is because individuals and smaller companies may not have access to some of the resources available to larger organizations. They are also particularly vulnerable to the detrimental effects of stress within the workplace and to the economic impact of these effects. The cost of job stress is especially high for these people and enterprises and they should therefore tackle the root causes and symptoms as soon as they arise.

There is no need for any worker to suffer from job-related stress when information and resources are widely available to both employers and employees. No country, never mind company, can afford the high cost of job stress in a cutthroat global economy and at a time of enormous change in international trade and manufacturing. It is up to us as individuals and as organizations to manage stress in the workplace so that we can guarantee a brighter economic future for our children.

Continue reading »]]> When someone feels threatened, their body automatically falls into the fight or flight response which is our default short-term response to stress. Learning how to handle these short-term effects of stress is essential for our overall health and well-being. This is because the fight or flight response is an ancient one and generally inappropriate in modern day situations. Being confronted by a rampaging woolly mammoth is not the same as feeling overwhelmed by a situation at work, for example, but our bodies cannot differentiate between these two scenarios and it is therefore up to us to learn to handle the physiological changes that occur.

These changes include:

• The diversion of blood from less vital to more vital organs
• An increase in heart rate to supply blood more efficiently
• An increase in respiratory rate to take in more oxygen
• An increase in blood pressure to supply blood more efficiently
• The breakdown of glycogen stores in the liver and muscle to obtain more glucose
• The formation of more glucose from non-carbohydrate sources

The signs and symptoms of these functional adjustments within the body include:

• Palpitations or chest pain
• Cold, clammy skin
• Breathlessness
• Dry mouth
• Looking flushed and feeling warm
• Diarrhoea
• Abdominal discomfort
• Feeling low in energy
• Aggrivation of existing peptic ulcer
• Aggravation of skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis
• Headache, backache or neck pain
• Decreased libido
• Sleep problems
• Loss of appetite
• Depression
• Anger outbursts

When dealing with the short-term effects of stress, it is important to use techniques such as deep breathing or progressive muscular relaxation. Deep breathing is a simple but highly effective method of relaxation that will enable you to handle the often distressing symptoms of short-term stress. It also works very well when used in conjunction with progressive muscular relaxation. To practice deep breathing all you need to do is sit or lie in a comfortable position and inhale and exhale in a slow, measured fashion. Allow your body to relax more with every out breath. Try to inhale as much air as you exhale as this will quickly alleviate the feelings of light-headedness or breathlessness that are a result of our bodily response to short-term stress.

Progressive muscular relaxation helps to alleviate the muscular tension that is an inevitable result of the fight or flight response. The idea is to tense up a group of muscles so that they are as tightly contracted as possible and then to hold them in this state of extreme tension for a few seconds before letting go. Once you have let go, consciously relax the muscles even further using deep breathing to achieve a state of total relaxation.

Although tensing your muscles may at first seem counterintuitive, it in fact allows you to then relax even more than if you had tried to relax your muscles directly. You can try a simple form of progressive muscular relaxation by clenching one hand into a fist as tightly as you can and holding it there for a few seconds. Relax so that your hand is in its normal state and then consciously relax it so that it is as loose as possible. You should feel a sense of deep relaxation in your hand muscles and it is this same sense of relaxation that will help you handle the short-term effects of stress.