Stress In The Workplace & Avoid Stress By Being Yourself

1. Stress In The Workplace - by: Lisa Branigan

According to the Australian Council of Trade Unions€™ (A.C.T.U.) 1997
survey, fifty per cent of workers had suffered some form of stress at work
in a 12-month period. The statistics in care professions were even higher,
with the Department of Education and Training in Western Australia
reporting in its 2002 Attitudes To Teaching Survey that seventy per cent of
teachers identified workplace stress as a cause for concern in their
teaching positions.

Stress in the workplace is becoming a major concern for employers, managers
and government agencies, owing to the Occupational Health and Safety
legislations requiring employers to practice €˜duty of care€™ by providing
employees with safe working environments which also cover the psychological
wellbeing of their staff.

One of the costs, for employers, of work place stress is absenteeism, with
the A.C.T.U. reporting that owing to stress, nearly fifty per cent of
employees surveyed had taken time off work. Other negative effects were
reductions in productivity, reduced profits, accidents, high rates of
sickness, increased workers€™ compensation claims and high staff turnover,
requiring recruiting and training of replacement staff.

While a certain amount of stress is needed to motivate individuals into
action, prolonged stress can have a huge impact on overall health. More
than two-thirds of visits to doctors€™ surgeries are for stress-related
illnesses. Stress has been linked to headaches, backaches, insomnia, anger,
cramps, elevated blood pressure, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and
lowered resistance to infection. For women, stress is a key factor in
hormonal imbalances resulting in menstrual irregularities, PMS, fibroids,
endometriosis and fertility problems. Stress can also be a factor in the
development of almost all disease states including cancer and heart
disease.

Each profession has its own unique factors that may cause stress; below are
some causes of stress that cross many professions:
Increased workload
Organizational changes
Lack of recognition
High demands
Lack of support
Personal and family issues
Poor work organization
Lack of training
Long or difficult hours
Inadequate staff numbers and resources
Poor management communication
Lack of control or input

So what can be done to effectively manage workplace stress?

Organizations can:
Educate their employees to recognise the signs of stress.
Where possible, give their employees the chance to be involved in
decisions and actions that affect their jobs.
Improve employer-employee communications.
Provide employees with opportunities to socialise together.
Be understanding of employees€™ personal and family responsibilities.
Ensure employee workloads suit their capabilities and resources
(provide more training and resources if not).
Provide support (internally or externally) for employees who have
complex stress issues.

Employees can reduce their overall stress by:

Regularly exercising, as this releases €˜happy hormones€™.
Eating a healthy diet, as stress depletes vital nutrients.
Getting adequate rest.
Using tea and lunch breaks to read, listen to a relaxation CD or have
a five-minute power-nap.
If appropriate, playing relaxing music at work and burning
aromatherapy oils.
Being more organized. Get up earlier to have more time.
Delegating responsibility where possible. Say no!
Taking time out to laugh by telling someone a joke. Start a laughter
group: by standing in a circle and all forcing a big laugh, it will
soon become real!
Avoiding caffeine and sugar. Although this may provide an instant
lift it later depletes the body of energy and nutrients.
Taking time to do things that bring enjoyment and pleasure.
Making the work environment pleasurable. Have relaxing sounds in the
form of music or a water fountain. Have enjoyable smells by burning
candles or aromatherapy oils.
Hang beautiful pictures or posters on the walls; have photos or
flowers on the desk.
Taking care of their overall health and wellbeing by practising good
self-care.

Sometimes trying to implement change (even for the better) can itself cause
stress and prevent a person remaining motivated. In this case it€™s
important to get support for your stress from a counsellor, doctor,
naturopath, friend, peer or life coach who specializes in stress issues.

The benefits of a systematic and joint approach to reducing work stress
are:
Increased productivity
Decrease in absenteeism
Improved morale
Decrease in workers€™ compensation claims
Reduction in workplace accidents
The most important benefit in reducing workplace stress is that it
will promote a pleasant work environment for all.

2. Avoid Stress By Being Yourself - By Janet Male

Ask a hundred different people how to deal with stress and you'll probably
get the same amount of different answers....

Which could result in more stress....

And therein lies the key.

Stress is often caused by too much information coming from too many
places.

There is more information in one daily newspaper than a person would have
received in their whole lifetime a few centuries ago. And that's without
even taking the internet into consideration.

No wonder we sometimes get stressed!

Naturally, other people's opinions can be interesting. But you don't have
to take them all on board. Trying to can just drive you crazy!

It's so important to take some quiet time each day to be on your own. The answers that are right for you are found inside of you, you just have to 'tune in'. Something that is 'right' just seems to 'bubble up' from
within. So if something is bothering you by all means chat it through with
friends if it makes you feel better. Just don't think you have to take
every opinion on board.

Never feel guilty if your opinion is different from anothers. The biggest misery in life can be trying to' fit in' with another's dharma. Dharma is
just another name for life path. A good example of this is the storyline
often seen in movies:

Child is miserable because mother/father wants him/her to follow in
his/her footsteps. Never under-estimate how traumatic this can be. If
something is not right for you and you're trying to make it fit then much
pain can result...

Just think of the 'ugly sisters' trying to fit into Cindarella's slipper!

So, if you're experiencing stress ask yourself:

"Am I being myself or am I trying to be what another would like me to be?"

The path to happiness is to be your true self. This in turn will make those around you happier because you will be also giving them 'permission'
to be themselves.

So spread happiness by being true to yourself.