Tips for Coping with Stress in the Workplace

[Adam's Apple]

Here's How to Cope with Anxiety
By Shari Rudavsky, The Indianapolis Star
November 15, 2005

• Research shows that one of the most important resources for dealing with stress is a good social support system, either inside or outside the workplace, says Brenda Lyon, an associate professor at the Indiana School of Nursing. Keep in mind, though, that it helps if your support system consists of individuals who understand the challenges of your job.

• If it's an increased workload that's upping your stress, figure out if you can delegate some of the responsibility to some of your co-workers, suggests Dr. Geoffrey Fortner, a staff psychiatrist at Community Hospital North.

• Communicate with your co-workers about issues you want to discuss with them and bring these out into the open, Fortner adds.

• Try to negotiate if the situation leaves you feeling out of control, says Dr. Peter Schnall, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California at Irvine. Come up with concrete suggestions for how to improve the situation.

• Block out a certain time each day, if possible, to engage in stress relief and relaxation techniques after work, the experts suggest. Even better, if you can, try some of these methods at work if things get hairy.

• Exercise regularly to abate stress if you can. Eat a healthy diet and make sure you get sufficient rest. For some people, spirituality will relieve stress.

• Make time as often as possible to do the things you enjoy doing so "the everyday does not become the grind," says Dr. Linda Therkildsen, chief of staff at Westview Hospital.

• Learn how to breathe, Bogdewic suggests. "It's impossible to be anxious or angry and breathe deeply at the same time," he says.

• It's not that you can't afford to take your vacation time, it's that you can't afford not to, Schnall says. People who take their vacations tend to have lower markers of stress and also be more productive.

for full article:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051115/LIVING01/511150324&...

 

[William Joyce]

Good tips, but in my life I've discovered that there are two kinds of workplaces: ones you fit into, and ones you don't. For the latter, no amount of coping advice can help. It's a lost cause. Find another job or ask for a transfer. It can improve your life drastically. What makes it or breaks it comes down to one thing: the people you work for, especially your boss (or bosses). If they're nuts (or, if you must, not compatible with you), you can't do much to reform them. Working for yourself is another solution, but that can be its own kind of pain in the ass.

 

[Hobbit]

According to "Businessweek," increased stress from the workplace is caused by the fact that the hours worked by highly educated professionals are getting longer. Across all jobs, including the less in demand unskilled jobs, hours worked per week are only down by 2%, and the real pay given to those who work only 40 hours a week hasn't increased at all while the real pay for those who work 55+ hours has gone up by about 14%. Now, what has caused all this increase in work hours despite a drastic increase in productivity (per hour)? Mindless communication structures and employee evaluation based on hours worked rather than results. In the global communications age, ideas can be communicated instantly across the planet, yet aging execs still insist on having physical meetings and memos and insisting that hard copies of proposals go through about 15+ layers of management before it hits somebody who can make a decision. It appears to be a transitional phase, but it's tough on people in the here and now.

 

[Annie]

Here's How to Cope with Anxiety
By Shari Rudavsky, The Indianapolis Star
November 15, 2005

• Research shows that one of the most important resources for dealing with stress is a good social support system, either inside or outside the workplace, says Brenda Lyon, an associate professor at the Indiana School of Nursing. Keep in mind, though, that it helps if your support system consists of individuals who understand the challenges of your job.

• If it's an increased workload that's upping your stress, figure out if you can delegate some of the responsibility to some of your co-workers, suggests Dr. Geoffrey Fortner, a staff psychiatrist at Community Hospital North.

• Communicate with your co-workers about issues you want to discuss with them and bring these out into the open, Fortner adds.

• Try to negotiate if the situation leaves you feeling out of control, says Dr. Peter Schnall, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California at Irvine. Come up with concrete suggestions for how to improve the situation.

• Block out a certain time each day, if possible, to engage in stress relief and relaxation techniques after work, the experts suggest. Even better, if you can, try some of these methods at work if things get hairy.

• Exercise regularly to abate stress if you can. Eat a healthy diet and make sure you get sufficient rest. For some people, spirituality will relieve stress.

• Make time as often as possible to do the things you enjoy doing so "the everyday does not become the grind," says Dr. Linda Therkildsen, chief of staff at Westview Hospital.

• Learn how to breathe, Bogdewic suggests. "It's impossible to be anxious or angry and breathe deeply at the same time," he says.

• It's not that you can't afford to take your vacation time, it's that you can't afford not to, Schnall says. People who take their vacations tend to have lower markers of stress and also be more productive.

for full article:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051115/LIVING01/511150324&...

Other than breathing, none of these really apply to teaching.

 

[manu1959]

i flirt.......works like a charm

 

[Annie]

i flirt.......works like a charm

No one to flirt with. The 8th grade teacher is the only male and he's an ass.

 

[manu1959]

No one to flirt with. The 8th grade teacher is the only male and he's an ass.

i would quit....

 

[Annie]

i would quit....

The mortgage gets in the way. Want to hire me? Umm, I can't draw, but have the constitution down pretty well...

 

[manu1959]

The mortgage gets in the way. Want to hire me? Umm, I can't draw, but have the constitution down pretty well...

can you run the HR / admin department?

 

[Annie]

can you run the HR / admin department?

I can run short distances, does that count? As for HR/admin if it involves mucho paperwork, well let's just say I'm a mess. I'm more the creative type, just lacking ability to draw a line.