Simple Techniques To Initiate Stress And Anxiety Relief At Work

Ricky Gervais and the BBC's stunningly successful sit-com "The Office" has been a huge hit around the world spawning countless spin off's and remakes.

The fact is that the comic situation transfers across cultural barriers. The exact idioms of the language may alter but essentially we see people in the show that we relate to in our own workplace - sometimes we even see ourselves.

The people are not the only aspect of the show tat transfers, so do the situations the characters find themselves in. Do these two quotes from The Office strike a chord?

Jim Halpert: Because right now, this is a job. If I advance any higher, this would be my career. And if this were my career, I'd have to throw myself in front of a train.

Michael Scott: This is our receptionist, Pam. If you think she's cute now, you should have seen her a couple years ago.

These lines may be funny yet they point to something basic and fundamental pertaining to the work place: stress and more specifically work related stress.

The UK Health and Safety at Work Executive (HSE); the UK government's Work related health and safety body define work related stress as: “the adverse reaction a person has to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed upon them."

A certain degree of stress is healthy, t keeps us on our toes and drives us to achieve. In essence stress will cause us to lead more fulfilling lives. The difficulty is here however, is how do we create a healthy balance of stress because too much stress and anxiety is certainly harmful to your health and well-being? What techniques can we apply to encourage stress and anxiety relief in our lives? Stay with me for a short while and we'll look at 10 simple ideas to initiate stress and anxiety relief at work.

Tune Into Your Body

A simple idea it may be, but one that is the key to unlocking the box to the other stress and anxiety relief techniques that we shall examine. Be aware of the degree of stress that you're experiencing at any one moment in time. First of all you need to know when your stress levels are rising.

Measure your stress level on a scale of 1-10. While you're at home find a time when you are alone and when you can lie down with your eyes closed. Put on your favourite music for relaxing or just sit in silence, whatever works best for you. Just let your mind wander and do not seek to hold your thoughts, no matter how fleeting. After 10 minutes or so you should be aware of level zero stress.

this is the gauge for measuring all other stress levels. During the day check into the scale and not the level of tension that you're feeling: are your shoulders hunched and tense; how does your gut feel, is it tight and churning; is your jaw clenched?

Take time to move

Movement is a great way to reduce stress levels. Just by getting out of your seat and moving around you will find that you will feel a measure of stress and anxiety relief. A brisk walk during your lunch break and a short jogging session at the end of the day will reduce tension. Generally aim to keep fit anyway.

Take time for deep breathing

Simply breaths deeply, inhaling through the nostrils, after holding the breath for a count of three exhale slowly through the mouth.

Take time to use your minds power of imagery

This is another great way to bring stress and anxiety relief into the workplace. Just take a moment or two to imagine that yo are somewhere else. Hear the sound of the sea, create the vivid colours of the sky in your mind, soar of to your favourite place and do not wait for that distant vacation; go there today. The more vivid the images the better this stress and anxiety relief technique will work.

Take time to challenge your irrational thoughts

Be aware of you inner voice and the messages that it is sending to you. Often these thoughts are based on previous mind conditioning and the thoughts will be harmful and create unnecessary levels of stress. For example if you are under pressure to get something done by a particular time you may find yourself thinking" I must get this done or else I'm fired and I'll need to find another job!" This is probably not the case and if it is then you're probably better looking for another job anyway.

Take time to plan work into smaller manageable tasks

A large taks can be overwhelming and may need to be broken down into simpler easier to complete jobs. We meet more step by step targets this way and feel agreater sense of achievment after each step is finished. Give yourselfa reward for completing the smaller taks and do not wait for the final task before you give yourself a pat on the back.

Take time to reduce cafine intake

Have you ever seen a two-year old completely wired after chomping through a few cookies or drinking cola? Well that’s exactly what happens to all of us when we take in too much sugar or caffeine. However, unlike the nipper at home we can’t very well run around the office making airplane noises, we just carry the excess stress.

Take time to have a play break

Some professionals keep “squish” balls, or stress balls, in their work space a simple squeeze is all that is needed for rapid relief of stress and anxiety. Other people take a few minutes to play a game . They’re quick (less than five minutes), easy to play, and many don’t require a download.

Take time to Blow Off Steam - but fairly

don't think that you can't vent a little, but just remember words spoken in anger can haunt you for a long time if they’re read or overheard by the wrong person. Don’t put anything in email you don’t want the whole office to see.

take time to understand that a little stress is worthwhile

Finally, remember that it’s natural to feel stress when you leave your comfort zone. Some stress must be endured as you expand your horizons, learn new tasks and earn new responsibilities. That kind of stress may not be much fun, but in the long run, it’s worth it!

3 Quick and Easy Steps to Time Management Mastery

Time management is one of the least-mastered and most-desired skills in out fast-paced modern world.  Time management truly is critical to becoming successful, doing everything you want to, and achieving ultimate success.

What do you need to do to DOUBLE your time management ability?

Do these things NOW:

1)    Eliminate time wasters in your life.  Time wasters are things that interrupt you and you spend time doing, but you wouldn’t have chosen to do them given the choice.  Eliminating these time wasters is critical for time management:

•    Email---If you are spending more than 30 minutes per day on email (unless that is your business) you are spending too much!

•    Telephone---If you answer the phone live more than 5 times per day during your productive time (work, work at home, etc.) you are sacrificing time management and efficiency.  When you answer the phone, you interrupt your current productive flow and this kills your productivity.

•    Television---This must be limited for you to achieve ultimate control over your time.  My recommendation is 30 minutes per day, especially if you are not getting all the things done you need or want to.

2)    Make a list of what is genuinely important in your life and just start doing the    things on your list.  One of the keys to time management is prioritization---you absolutely must know what you want to accomplish and then go do it.  Today’s world has too many distractions and when you allow those distractions to become priority, you sacrifice time management.  Follow these steps:

•    Make of list of what you want to accomplish

•    Set time frames for accomplishing each item

•    Organize each item in order of importance

•    Create a game plan for achieving each of your goals in its respective time frame

3)    Begin to focus on time management throughout the course of the day.  Your consistent focus must be on managing your time.  Once you have determined your goals and your priorities, start focusing on simply getting those things done.  If something isn’t on your goals list for this week—don’t do it until all your goals are done.  When you prioritize every interruption that occurs and put your goals last, you will not accomplish your goals.  Instead, you will be a slave (as you probably are now) to interruptions and probably feel like you never accomplish enough.

An Ultimate Lifestyle Secret - The Power Of Self Confidence

Self confidence is not something that holds me back, in fact I really appreciate the level of confidence I enjoy and feel that I can make the choices and decisions I want without a feeling of concern or over riding fear. That is not to say that I am always successful, but I realize that even by trying I am moving closer to a higher level of confidence.

I did not always have a high level of self confidence. When I was younger, I had a lot of self confidence in my ability to do well in football and track, but my confidence in my ability to deal with life’s challenges was quite low. This was probably caused by a fear of not measuring up to my parent’s expectations and a little bit of social shyness. However, as I got older, I realized that my parents only wanted me to be healthy and to try my best at everything I did. As a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, I had a lot of social interaction with people from all walks of life and I lost most of my shyness. My job also required that I respond to all different kinds of situations. The more success I had, the more my self confidence rose.

Self confidence or confidence in yourself means that you know that you can do whatever task you are faced with. This does not mean that you have to do every task by yourself. It means that the ones you know you can do by yourself you do and the ones where you need help you know how to find it. Confidence is a learned trait, not something you are born with. It is the force which pushes you forward and allows you to find the right path amidst the confusion and chaos of life. Confidence is the necessity you must have to assist you in realizing your dreams and goals.

We all have the power of self confidence within us. Sadly many leave it unused for long periods of time while others use it sparingly like a miser. Forget about past worries and build the power of self confidence within you. Since you can’t change the mistakes of the past, don’t let them spoil the present or dim the future.

The first thing that you must practice is “don't hate yourself” before deciding to practice self confidence. It is very difficult to become self confident if you do not like yourself. Remember, just like everyone else, you were born into this world for a specific reason. Think about the things that you are good at doing. Work at becoming better at them. Don’t worry about the things that you are not very good at. As a very successful person I was talking to recently said, “Why spend your limited time here on earth working on things you are not good at. Instead perfect the things you are good at and hire someone to do the things you are not good at.”

Mediocrity and poor performance are often due to low self confidence but it is not something you have to live with. You can build your self confidence by challenging yourself to take action and do something. Even though you feel as if you lack confidence, it doesn't mean other people can tell. Building good self confidence is a wonderful thing, and it's much easier than you'd imagine. One of the easiest ways of building self confidence is to “take baby steps.” What I mean by this is to set small goals or projects that you have to complete. Each time you do one in the time you have set for yourself, you will build your self confidence. The accumulation of small “victories” will convince your subconscious mind that you can do what you set out to do. It will then convince your conscious mind that you have a lot of capabilities and your self confidence will grow. If you continue to do this over a period of months, you will find that your self confidence becomes greatly improved. With improved self confidence you can take on bigger projects and goals and as these are completed your self confidence will grow by leaps and bounds.

So what other techniques are available to anyone wishing to develop more self confidence? It should be no surprise to you when I tell you that the single most influential person on your self confidence is you, or more specifically, your mind. This probably sounds very basic but are you using your own thoughts to reenforce your self confidence and self esteem? Talk positively to yourself all the time. Become your own best friend and supporter. Encourage yourself to do more. Congratulate yourself on every small or large victory. Remember that very few people are successful the first time they try to do something. You didn’t ride a bike the first time you tried. Thomas Edison didn’t invent the light bulb on his first attempt either. It took him more than 10,000 attempts before he made the first successful light bulb and it only lasted a few minutes. The biggest thing to remember is that you are never defeated in doing anything you want to do until you quit. Donald Trump, during a recent interview, stated that he was richer than most people because he failed more times than most. However, in his case, he learned from his mistakes and tried again. Why? Because he was confident that he could do what he wanted to do if he just continued trying. You are no different from Donald Trump. Do what he did. Just keep trying until you succeed. When you do, your self confidence will soar and you will realize that you can do anything you want to as long as you continue trying.

Another technique is to watch other people. When you see someone that stands upright and moves with a sense of purpose watch to see if they give you the impression that they have a lot of confidence. If they do, duplicate the physical characteristics of these confident people and you will start to gain the confidence they display.

One thing that you must ensure that you do not do is listen to people who talk down to you or try to tell you that you cannot do something. Usually these people can’t do these things themselves, so they try to convince others that they can’t do them either. If something like this keeps happening to you, tune these people out and stop associating with them. Your inner confidence needs to be liberated from this constant barrage of negative thoughts and statements from the dream stealers around you. Your limitations are in your mind, not in your reality.

Here are some tips for everyday practice. If you want to develop and build confidence, associate with positive uplifting people. Good people around you will help you build self confidence. If you want to build up your confidence, do something new every day. Each of these small acts will add to your confidence and also make your life more enjoyable. The most sacred thing in life is self confidence because it is the secret of all miracles. When you have confidence in yourself, you arouse everything that is stronger, greater and superior in you. In consequence, the more confidence you have in yourself, the more you will attain and accomplish. A person who knows the power of self confidence walks a path of inner growth and achievement. With self confidence a person of mediocre ability can achieve more in life than those with exceptional talents and little self confidence.

Supreme self confidence is a birth right for every person so isn’t it about time you claimed yours?

10 Tips to Stop Smoking for Good

With so many tips and suggestions on how to stop smoking it is really easy to see why so many people really do not quit.  The vast majority of people are completely confused by the entire process!  What of the conflicting messages passed around?  The fact is that with so much information passed around that is confusing to people it is often much easier to just continue smoking and hoping for a simple solution.  Actually taking the necessary steps to really quit smoking is not easy.  It means coming to terms with the fact that stopping smoking really is best for you, as well as your health.

Most people are readily aware that stopping smoking can improve their health, but learning how to really conquer the urges to smoke is not easy.  With so many temptations circulating around, as well as the stresses of daily life it is easy to see why jumping into a pack of cigarettes seems like a good idea. 

Tip #1 You need a good reason to quit.  Simply deciding to quit because the sky is blue is not a sufficient reason.  The need to quit smoking is obvious, but the desire to quit needs to come from inside in order for the process to be successful.

Tip #2  Look for small rewards that you can give yourself as you make progress.  You are not likely to just quit cold turkey with no complications.  Set up small rewards that will help you to want to make progress towards ultimately quitting.  This can be a great motivation to keep you on target.

Tip #3  Plan out your quitting strategy.  Decide how you want to try to quit and stick to it.  Set a specific amount of time for your plan.  If after a time, say six weeks you have not quit, work on a new plan.  This will allow ample time to try each method, while still giving yourself flexibility to try something else.

Tip #4  Work to overcome your struggles.  If you are smoking due to stressful things in your life, you need to deal with the stress before you can successfully quit.  Regardless of the reason why you are smoking, it needs to be dealt with in able to quit for good.

Tip #5  Set up a punishment for yourself.  For example, if you generally stop at Starbucks each day for a coffee you might consider skipping that on days when you have fallen short of your goals for smoking.  Whatever punishment you select, make sure it is something that you care about.

Tip #6  Seek out help from your friends and family.  You need support as you are trying to quit, and this will help you to ensure that you are not alone in the entire process.

Tip #7  Look for someone to quit with you.  If you are entirely on your own, you are going to be much more likely to slip back into smoking.  If someone is working with you and holding you accountable, you are more likely to struggle to succeed.  Working to quit smoking is not easy, but hard tasks are much easier to accomplish with a partner.

Tip #8  Ensure you are getting plenty of sleep.  The job of quitting smoking is quite difficult.  If you are not getting the rest you need, you are much more likely to be cranky, upset and angry with the world.  This is very counterproductive to your goal of quitting smoking for good.

Tip #9  Aim to quit for good.  This might seem a bit strange, but if you are just planning to quit for a weekend you are not going to put much effort into the process.  If you are planning to quit for good, a lot more time and effort is going to go into the process as well as your plan to quit.

Tip #10  Look for ways to take your mind off cigarettes.  If you are always thinking about cigarettes, you may find that you are much more tempted to smoke.  Reading a book, exercising, talking on the phone, surfing the internet and even cooking are all great ways to occupy your mind and keep from thinking about when your last cigarette was.

Creating Effective and Efficient Relationships

Relationships of all kinds are often perceived as very delicate things, that require extra effort to maintain. However, a relationship can also be something that can provide security and can also be long lasting despite many trials.

Building an effective and lasting relationships is a necessity for several reasons. For example in a group or organization, the well being of the people depends on how efficient and effective that group or organization works.

The group or organization is also dependent on how the members work well with the management.

An ineffective group or organization can really be very frustrating.  An effective group or organization can also ask so much on their members, that sometimes the members would be having no life outside the walls of the area where they work or sacrifice the other aspects of their life just to meet deadlines. For an organization or group with this kind of scenario, relationships can be stressed or suffer from breakdown.

People or other entities who depend on these groups or organization also suffer.

Society is defined as a web of relationships, which requires all parties to work and contribute their share in order to achieve  a common goal. Having a relationship that is good, where cooperation and respect are manifested, can make society work better. In this way each member works for the good of the whole and towards achieving a common goal. This can only be attained with effective and efficient relationships.

Understanding the other parties' feeling and position creates an effective and efficient relationship. The easiest method to understand what is important to another party is to ask them what they want and listen to what they have to say. When the other party realizes this, they would feel the importance given to them

Effective and efficient relationships require parties to openly express their feelings and positions on all matters pertinent on the relationship. Assuming that the other party understands our needs and give us when we need it without asking for it is not a good practice.

Respect is the key to relationship. In order to create a more effective relationship, parties should treat each other with respect.  We can show respect just by listening to the other party and by trying sincerely to understand how they function. You can also show respect to other parties by confirming that they are doing everything they can.

The opposite of respect is quick forming of judgements based on unfounded facts and prejudice.

Respect is the very foundation for a great relationship. This also means respecting yourself and respecting others.

Another key area in forming an effective relationship is to tackle differences of the other party directly. Differences between parties or people are quite interesting. For example in a conversation where each party listens to the other party, you may observe that each is having two different perspectives.

Work towards a win-win solution for both parties.

This can be done when at least one party acknowledges that the relationship is important. That party would then exert more time, effort and energy to understand the other party's needs and deal with it to get it out of the way. Should they fail, it is comforting for that party to know that they tried.

Effectively listening and no pre-judging. This is important if parties are to understand each other.

Informal discussions are conducive for parties. They bring out issues and concerns comfortably. They also feel more relaxed making them think more clearly.

Developing an atmosphere where the other party can express their feelings when they need to.

When parties fail to express whatever is on their mind or their feelings, it can get in the way of building an effective relationship.

Parties should be aware that certain things exist naturally but should be controlled in any dealings in any relationship.  Human nature is one. Some of these things found in a relationship also include a history of stereotyping or mistrust, blaming the other person or party for a strained relationship, excluding the other party's feelings when focusing on a task, no clear and defined objectives, roles and expectations of each party in a relationship is also unclear.

Relationships are important to anyone, addressing issues and problems right away is a must to further improve the relationship. As they say 'No man is an Island'.