5 Scientifically Proven Ways to Reduce Stress at WorkIs stress as much a permanent fixture at your job as the office coffee machine? If so, you’ve got plenty of company. According to the American Psychological Association, workplace stress costs American companies an estimated $300 billion annually. 

There’s been workplace stress as long as there have been workplaces, but if you think you’re more stressed now, you’re probably right. “Ability to do their job well and therefore keep their job is a major stress for most employees, especially in a fluctuating economy,” says Heidi Golledge, co-founder of CareerBliss.

But this doesn’t mean you’re relegated to spending 40 hours (or more!) each week as a bundle of nerves. Social scientists who study how, when and why our jobs stress us out have

Sit up straight. Your mother probably told you to sit up straight, but she probably didn’t know good posture can affect how well you do on the job. “Your posture influences psychology and that influences behavior,” says Andy Yap, a post doctoral associate and lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Yap conducted experiments and found that when we sit in tight, contracted positions — like squeezed into a too-small seat or hunched over our phone — we feel more stressed and less powerful. “Power buffers you from stress,” he says.

If your desk or workstation is cramped, see if you can move things around to give yourself a little more physical (and mental) breathing room. If that’s not an option, periodically strike “power poses,” where you take up more space and stretch out a bit.

Get organized. Researchers at UCLA found that just looking at clutter can spur the body’s production of stress hormones, so working in a messy office or cubicle can make you stressed even if the work itself isn’t high-stress. It’s OK to start small. “We know from research that little acts of neatness cascade into larger acts of organization,” UC Berkeley sociologist Christine Carter tells CNN. Tackle that pile of papers you never get around to filing, or the overflowing inbox.

“In general, clutter is simply a delayed decision,” says Scott Roewer, who owns organizing company Solutions by Scott & Company. “Start by simplifying the decision process by using these three categories: reference, action, and recycle,” he advises, then subdivide from there. “If you have 10 to 15 pieces of paper on your desk in an action pile, it may work for you, but as the number of action items grows, your system will become less productive. If you group your papers by the

type of action, you’ll be able to act on them more efficiently,” he says. Your tasks can be things like “call back,” “file” and “send out.”

Abandon unrealistic goals. Ambition is good, but sometimes we can fall into the trap of setting goals for ourselves that are too high, which just discourages us when we fail to reach them. Peter Creed, a psychology professor at Griffith University in Australia, studied nearly 200 college students and noted how they reacted when faced with an unachievable goal. “When contemplating unachievable goals, those with a higher capacity to adjust their goals… report less distress, more career planning, and more exploration.” Like many other things in life, being able to be flexible is key.

Aim high, but with the understanding that you can go back and change those goals. “Taking pride in everything you do, no matter how big or how small, is key to confidence and success,” Golledge says.

Try to avoid interruptions. Yes, it can be easier said than done when your phone is ringing and your voicemail light is already flashing, your email inbox is filling up and a co-worker sticks their head in to ask a question. But researchers in Germany found that addressing interruptions rather than staying focused less to stress. “Workflow interruptions had detrimental effects on satisfaction with one’s own performance, the forgetting of intentions, and irritation,” they wrote.

When the inevitable does happen, don’t let it derail you, Roewer says. “If you find yourself interrupted in the middle of a task, write a quick reminder to yourself about what and where you left off,” he suggests. “By using this method, you’ll have a reminder of where to begin when you return, and won’t lose time trying to retrace your steps.”

Embrace your stress. Yep, it sounds crazy. But researchers at Yale University discovered that experiment subjects who were presented with the idea that stress can be beneficial “reported improved psychological symptoms and better work performance” compared to other subjects who were taught that stress is debilitating. It didn’t take much to change people’s attitudes, either; subjects watched less than 10 minutes of video about stress, and that was enough to change their outlook about stress. Having a positive outlook on stress makes people more likely to rise to whatever challenge they’re facing when stressful situations occur.

12 Ways To Eliminate Stress At WorkThe average business professional has 30 to 100 projects on their plate. Modern workers are interrupted seven times an hour and distracted up to 2.1 hours a day. And four out of 10 people working at large companies are experiencing a major corporate restructuring, and therefore facing uncertainly about their futures. This may be why more than 40% of adults say they lie awake at night plagued by the stressful events of the day.

“People are asking me for answers,” says Sharon Melnick, Ph.D., a business psychologist and author of just released Success Under Stress. “Everyone feels overwhelmed and overly busy.”Is there a way to maintain steady focus throughout the day? Is it possible to do everything that needs to get done and still have energy left over after work? How do you keep cool under so many demands? Informed by 10 years of Harvard research and field-tested by more than 6,000 clients and trainees, Melnick offers the following strategies to take your work stress down a peg, before it takes over your life.

Act Rather Than React“We experience stress when we feel that situations are out of our control,” says Melnick. It activates the stress hormone and, if chronic, wears down confidence, concentration and well-being. She advises that you identify the aspects of the situation you can control and aspects you can’t. Typically, you’re in control of your actions and responses, but not in control of macro forces or someone else’s tone, for example. “Be impeccable for your 50%,” she advises. And try to let go of the rest.

Take A Deep BreathIf you’re feeling overwhelmed or are coming out of a tense meeting and need to clear your head, a few minutes of deep breathing will restore balance, says Melnick. Simply inhale for five seconds, hold and exhale in equal counts through the nose. “It’s like getting the calm and focus of a 90-minute yoga class in three minutes or less at your desk,” she says.

Eliminate Interruptions“Most of us are bombarded during the day,” says Melnick. Emails, phone calls, pop ins, instant messages and sudden, urgent deadlines conspire to make today’s workers more distracted than ever. While you may not have control over the interrupters, you can control your response. Melnick advises responding in one of three ways: Accept the interruption, cut it off, or diagnosis its importance and make a plan. Many interruptions are recurring and can be anticipated. “You want to have preset criteria for which response you want to make,” she says. You can also train those around you by answering email during certain windows, setting up office hours to talk in person or closing the door when you need to focus.

Schedule Your Day For Energy And FocusMost of us go through the day using a “push, push, push” approach, thinking if we work the full eight to 10 hours, we’ll get more done. Instead, productivity goes down, stress levels go up and you have very little energy left over for your family, Melnick says. She advises scheduling breaks throughout the day to walk, stretch at your desk or do a breathing exercise.

“Tony Schwartz of the Energy Project has shown that if we have intense concentration for about 90 minutes, followed by a brief period of recovery, we can clear the buildup of stress and rejuvenate ourselves,” she says.

Eat Right And Sleep Well“Eating badly will stress your system,” says Melnick, who advises eating a low-sugar, high-protein diet. “And when you’re not sleeping well, you’re not getting the rejuvenating effects.” According to the CDC, an estimated 60 million Americans do not get sufficient sleep, which is a critical recovery period for the body. If racing thoughts keep you from falling asleep or you wake up in the night and can’t get back to sleep, Melnick suggests a simple breathing trick that will knock you out fast: Cover your right nostril and breathe through your left for three to five minutes.

Change Your StoryYour perspective of stressful office events is typically a subjective interpretation of the facts, often seen through the filter of your own self-doubt, says Melnick. However, if you can step back and take a more objective view, you’ll be more effective and less likely to take things personally. She recalls one client who sent a request to human resources for more people on an important project. When she was denied, she immediately got angry and defensive, thinking they didn’t trust her to know what she needed. Yet she never stopped to even consider there might be budgetary issues on their end. Once she was able to

remove herself from the situation, she called the HR director and said: Tell me where you’re coming from, I’ll tell you where I’m coming from and then let’s see if we can find a solution. Ultimately, it worked

Cool Down Quickly“When you feel frustrated or angry, it’s a heated feeling in your body that can cause you to react,” says Melnick. Instead of immediately reacting—and likely overreacting—she suggests trying a “cooling breath” technique: Breathe in through your mouth as if you are sipping through a straw, and then breathe out normally through your nose. Done right, you’ll feel a cooling, drying sensation over the top of your tongue. It’s like hitting the “pause” button, giving you time to think about your response. She says, “It’s so powerful it will even calm theother person down.”Identify Self-Imposed Stress“Learn to stop self imposing stress by building your own self-confidence rather than seeking other’s approval,” says Melnick. If you’re too caught up in others’ perceptions of you, which you can’t control, you become stressed out by the minutia or participate in avoidance behaviors like procrastination. Ironically, once you shift your focus from others’ perception of your work to the work itself, you’re more likely to impress them.

Prioritize Your PrioritiesWith competing deadlines and fast-changing priorities, it’s critical to define what’s truly important and why. That requires clarity, says Melnick. It’s important to understand your role

in the organization, the company’s strategic priorities, and your personal goals and strengths. Cull your to-do list by focusing on those projects that will have the most impact and are best aligned with your goals.

Reset The Panic ButtonFor those who become panic-y and short of breath before a presentation, Melnick says you can quickly reduce your anxiety with the right acupressure point. Positioning your thumb on the side of your middle finger and applying pressure instantly helps regulate your blood pressure.

Influence OthersEven if you’re responsible for your behavior and outlook, you’re still left dealing with other people’s stressful behavior, Melnick notes. She advises confronting a problem coworker or employee by stating the bad behavior in a respectful tone, describing the impact on the team and the individual, and requesting a change. For example, constant negativity might be addressed in this way: “When you speak in a critical tone, it makes others uncomfortable and less likely to see you as a leader. I understand your frustration but request that you bring concerns directly to me, so we can talk them through.” By transferring the ownership of the problem, you’re more likely to resolve it.

Be Your Own Best CriticSome 60,000 thoughts stream through your mind each day, Melnick says, and internal negativity is just as likely to stress you out as an external event. The fix? Instead of being

harsh and critical of yourself, try pumping yourself up. Encouraging thoughts will help motivate you to achieve and ultimately train you to inspire others.

Coping with stress at workEveryone who has ever held a job has, at some point, felt the pressure of work-related stress. Any job can have stressful elements, even if you love what you do. In the short-term, you may experience pressure to meet a deadline or to fulfill a challenging obligation. But when work stress becomes chronic, it can be overwhelming — and harmful to both physical and emotional health.Unfortunately such long-term stress is all too common. In 2012, 65 percent of Americans cited work as a top source of stress, according to the American Psychological Association's (APA) annual Stress in America Survey. Only 37 percent of Americans surveyed said they were doing an excellent or very good job managing stress.A 2013 survey by APA's Center for Organizational Excellence also found that job-related stress is a serious issue. More than one-third of working Americans reported experiencing chronic work stress and just 36 percent said their organizations provide sufficient resources to help them manage that stress.You can't always avoid the tensions that occur on the job. Yet you can take steps to manage work-related stress.

Common Sources of Work Stress

Certain factors tend to go hand-in-hand with work-related stress. Some common workplace stressors are: Low salaries. Excessive workloads. Few opportunities for growth or advancement. Work that isn't engaging or challenging. Lack of social support. Not having enough control over job-related decisions. Conflicting demands or unclear performance expectations.

Effects of Uncontrolled Stress

Unfortunately, work-related stress doesn't just disappear when you head home for the day. When stress persists, it can take a toll on your health and well-being.In the short term, a stressful work environment can contribute to problems such as headache, stomachache, sleep disturbances, short temper and difficulty concentrating. Chronic stress can result in anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure and a weakened immune system. It can also contribute to health conditions such as depression, obesity and heart disease. Compounding the problem, people who experience excessive stress often deal with it in unhealthy ways such as overeating, eating unhealthy foods, smoking cigarettes or abusing drugs and alcohol.

Taking Steps to Manage Stress

Track your stressors. Keep a journal for a week or two to identify which situations create the most stress and how you respond to them. Record your thoughts, feelings and information about the environment, including the people and circumstances involved, the physical setting and how you reacted. Did you raise your voice? Get a snack from the vending machine? Go for a walk? Taking notes can help you find patterns among your stressors and your reactions to them.

Develop healthy responses. Instead of attempting to fight stress with fast food or alcohol, do your best to make healthy choices when you feel the tension rise. Exercise is a great stress-buster. Yoga can be an excellent choice, but any form of physical activity is beneficial. Also make time for hobbies and favorite activities. Whether it's reading a novel, going to concerts or playing games with your family, make sure to set aside time for the things that bring you pleasure. Getting enough good-quality sleep is also important for effective stress management.

Build healthy sleep habits by limiting your caffeine intake late in the day and minimizing stimulating activities, such as computer and television use, at night.

Establish boundaries. In today's digital world, it's easy to feel pressure to be available 24 hours a day. Establish some work-life boundaries for yourself. That might mean making a rule not to check email from home in the evening, or not answering the phone during dinner. Although people have different preferences when it comes to how much they blend their work and home life, creating some clear boundaries between these realms can reduce the potential for work-life conflict and the stress that goes with it.

Take time to recharge. To avoid the negative effects of chronic stress and burnout, we need time to replenish and return to our pre-stress level of functioning. This recovery process requires “switching off” from work by having periods of time when you are neither engaging in work-related activities, nor thinking about work. That's why it's critical that you disconnect from time to time, in a way that fits your needs and preferences. Don't let your vacation days go to waste. When possible, take time off to relax and unwind, so you come back to work feeling reinvigorated and ready to perform at your best. When you're not able to take time off, get a quick boost by turning off your smartphone and focusing your attention on non-work activities for a while.

Learn how to relax. Techniques such as meditation, deep breathing exercises and mindfulness (a state in which you actively observe present experiences and thoughts without judging them) can help melt away stress. Start by taking a few minutes each day to focus on a simple activity like breathing, walking or enjoying a meal. The skill of being able to focus purposefully on a single activity without distraction will get stronger with practice and you'll find that you can apply it to many different aspects of your life.

Talk to your supervisor. Healthy employees are typically more productive, so your boss has an incentive to create a work environment that promotes employee well-being. Start by having an open conversation with your supervisor. The purpose of this isn't to lay out a list of complaints, but rather to come up with an effective plan for managing the stressors you've identified, so you can perform at your best on the job. While some parts of the plan may be designed to help you improve your skills in areas such as time management, other elements might include identifying employer-sponsored wellness resources you can tap into, clarifying what's expected of you, getting necessary resources or support from colleagues, enriching your job to include more challenging or meaningful tasks, or making changes to your physical workspace to make it more comfortable and reduce strain.

Get some support. Accepting help from trusted friends and family members can improve your ability to manage stress. Your employer may also have stress management resources available through an employee assistance program (EAP), including online information, available counseling and referral to mental health professionals, if needed. If you continue to feel overwhelmed by work stress, you may want to talk to a psychologist, who can help you better manage stress and change unhealthy behavior.

Nine in 10 emergency services staff affected by poor mental health

Grace Lewis     6 Mar 2015

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Libor-fixing fines to fund new well-being programme for ‘Blue Light’ personnel

Nearly 9 in 10 (87 per cent) employees and volunteers have experienced stress, low mood and poor mental health while working for the emergency services, according to new data from mental health charity Mind.

The online survey of over 3,500 emergency services staff also revealed that more than half (55 per cent) had experienced mental health problems at some point.

This is a sharp increase from the findings of the 2011 CIPD report, Focus on mental health in the Workplace, which revealed that 26 per cent of respondents had experienced a mental health problem.

Last year, mental ill-health was said to have cost the UK economy between £70m and £100m in lost productivity and sickness absence. Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has pledged an extra £120mto fund the improvement in mental health care in the NHS and help combat some of these challenges.  

Research has shown that those working in the emergency services have a greater risk of developing poor mental health, due to the unique set of difficulties these challenging roles present. But Mind’s latest study also indicated that emergency service workers find it harder than other professions to say when they’re not at their best and are less likely to take time off sick as a result.  

Just 43 per cent of survey respondents said they had taken time off work due to poor mental health, compared to 57 per cent among the general workforce.

As a result of the growing need for support and guidance around mental health in the profession, Mind is launching a mental well-being programme for ‘Blue Light’ personnel. Funded by £4m worth of bank fines from the Libor-fixing scandal, the Blue Light Programme, aims to tackle the stigma and discrimination at an organisational level as well as across the wider public.

Under the programme, managers, employees and volunteers will be offered bespoke mental health training, and help on building the mental health resilience.

Commenting on the funding, Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said: “The programme we’ll be delivering over the next year aims to ensure that the estimated quarter of a million people working and volunteering within police, ambulance, fire and search and rescue divisions are able to talk openly about their mental health and access the support they need to stay well, recover and continue doing the vital and challenging roles they do serving the community.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg welcomed the programme and said it was “vital” that greater support was offered to the people who support us most.

"Emergency service workers save lives every day, helping people in trouble or in need, but we need to support them as they deal with the incredibly stressful and sometimes harrowing situations they face in the line of duty,” he said.“With initiatives like this we’re helping to drive a culture change so that one day we’ll see parity of esteem between physical and mental health,” he added.

The Best Cures for Workplace StressIs your perpetually frazzled state making your work life more onerous?

Forget misfit teenagers or a rocky romantic life. The responsibilities of work are filling up the majority of space in the stress vacuum. That's according to a 2013 Consumer Health Mindset report by Aon Hewitt, a retirement and health solutions company. Of the 2,800 employees and their dependents surveyed, four of the top five reasons for stress were work-related: financial situation (46 percent), work changes (37 percent), work schedule (34 percent), work relationships (32 percent) and influence and control over how the employee did work (32 percent).

Stress has both emotional and physical consequences, according to Bob Rosen, psychologist and CEO and chairman of the consulting firm Healthy Companies International. "Stress is a condition we experience when our minds and bodies respond to changing conditions," he wrote in

an email. "Too much stress creates excessive fear and anxiety, conflict and defensiveness, feelings of overwhelm and burnout, and chronic inflammation in the body."

If you're already in a demanding job, laboring under such conditions can only make it that much harder. Below are some issues you may face as well as steps you can take to alleviate some of your workplace stress.

Others feel your wrath. If you're bogged down in heaps of work each day, you may show little restraint in voicing your frustrations with colleagues. While the tongue-lashing of your boss and colleagues may provide some momentary relief, it can create a hostile and distrustful work environment. "This can affect relationships with co-workers in that we can snap at them more often, be more short-tempered, relate to them in a less positive way, which can create more stress not just for us and them, but that can permeate the workplace," says Elizabeth Scott, a stress expert for About.com and author of "Eight Keys to Stress Management."

Cure: Blow off steam by exercising. Let your frustrations boil out during your lunch workout in the company gym. If your workplace doesn't have a gym, walking up and down the office stairs or around a nearby park for 15 minutes are great substitutes. "Those who exercise regularly are less reactive to stress when they experience it," Scott says, adding that doing so unleashes an "influx of endorphins" and makes you "more resilient to stress."

Focusing is a struggle. Between fretting about your low salary and the high demands of your boss, your body may be overwhelmed by the emotional toll and release cortisol – a hormone unleashed as a result of stress. Scott explains that this can inhibit logical reasoning, reaction time and other areas of cognitive functioning.

Cure: Meditate. Give your brain a break from the multitasking nature of your job by stepping away from your desk and finding a private area for a few minutes of meditation. According to Rosen, meditation is one of the most effective ways to relieve stress. "It forces us to stop, sit quietly within ourselves, identify the sources of our excessive stress, and focuses us on calming ourselves down, living in the moment – not hijacked by the past or worrying about the future," he says.

There's also evidence that the practice can benefit your brain. In 2011, a team of Harvard-affiliated researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital conducted an eight-week mindfulness meditation program. Meditating for 27 minutes each day, the 16 participants showed measurable changes in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.

Lunchtime means a fast food trip. Along with altering your ability to think, the release of cortisol can also make you crave calorie-rich, sugary foods. "When we're stressed, we may not take care of our bodies nutritionally as well," Scott says. "We tend to crave sugary foods, junk foods and things that will affect how sharp we're thinking."

Cure: Commit to a healthier diet. Come lunchtime, you may crave a meal loaded with calories if you're feeling frazzled. "[But] making a conscious effort to cut down on unhealthy eating when stressed, and then actively engaging in healthier stress-relief habits, can help break the cycle," Scott says. She recommends reducing portions, snacking on nutritious options such as peanut butter and sliced apples, and resolving to eat only healthy food – and only when hungry