Tension and anxiety are very common problems in society today, and many people will suffer from symptoms of stress at some time in their lives. According to a survey of 32,538 workers across all UK industries has revealed that high stress and lack of physical activity are causing industries to lose up to 27 days of productive time per employee each year.

 The study, which was conducted by VitalityHealth, Mercer, the University of Cambridge and RAND Europe, found that productivity varies enormously between industries, with some industries losing almost 27 days of productive time per employee per year, compared to a national average of 23.5 days. Healthcare and financial services lose 26.6 and 24.9 days per employee a year respectively, while high-tech loses just 18.9 days per employee per year.

The financial implications of this productivity loss are huge, with the UK losing £57bn a year on average in lost productivity!

As the effects of stress can be at the very least, unpleasant, it is useful to know how to manage and reduce stress in our lives. It is a topic about which I have written on a number of occasions and in so doing, have hopefully given people some useful tips to manage stress so it doesn’t cause to great an impact on their productivity at work.

There are numerous steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of being affected by stress, and many of them are simple common sense.

Here are 5 Simple Tops to help you minimise or reduce stress:-

1.Get physical

Stressful situations increase the level of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol in your body,

These are the ‘fight or ‘flight’ hormones that evolution has hard-wired into our brains and which are designed to protect us from immediate bodily harm when we are under threat.

However, stress in the modern age is rarely remedied by a flight or fight response and so physical exercise can be used as a substitute to metabolise the excessive stress hormones and restore your body and mind to a calmer, more relaxed state.

When you feel stressed and tense, go for a brisk walk in fresh air. Try to incorporate some physical activity into your daily routine on a regular basis, either before or after work, or at lunchtime. Regular physical activity will also improve the quality of your sleep.

2.Talk it over

Do not try to cope with problems alone. Having someone to share your problems can greatly help you to ‘off load’ the stress. You might find it useful to talk to a friend or work colleague, or talk to your line manager or employer if you are experiencing stress at work. Talking can work by either distracting you from your stressful thoughts or by releasing some of the built-up tension by discussing it.

Stress can cloud your judgement and prevent you from seeing things clearly.

Talking things through with a friend, work colleague or even a trained professional can help you to find solutions to your stress and put your problems into perspective.

3.Take control

Stress can be triggered by a problem that may, on the surface, seem impossible to solve.

Learning how to find solutions to your problems will help you to feel more in control thereby lowering your stress levels.

One problem-solving technique involved writing down the problem and coming up with as many possible solutions as you can.

Decide on the good and bad points of each one and select the best solution. Write down each step that you need to take as part of the solution: what will be done, how it will be done, when it will be done, who is involved and where it will take place.

4.Learn to say ‘no’

A common cause of stress is having too much to do and too little time in which to do it. And yet despite this situation, many people will still agree to take on additional responsibility.

Learning to say “No” to additional or unimportant requests will help you to reduce your levels of stress and may also help you to develop more self-confidence.

To say “No”, you need to understand why you find it difficult.

Many people find it hard to say “No” because they want to help and are trying to be nice and liked. For others, it’s a fear of conflict, rejection or missed opportunities. Remember that these barriers to saying “No” are all self-created.

You might feel reluctant to respond to a request with a straight “No”, at least at first. Instead, think of some pre-prepared phrases to let other people down more gently.

Practise saying phrases like:-

“I’m sorry, but I can’t commit to this as I have other priorities at the moment.”

“Now is not a good time as I’m in the middle of something, why don’t you ask me again at….?”

“I’d love to do this, but…”

5.Keep a Stress Diary

Keeping a stress diary for a few weeks is an effective stress management tool as it will help you become more aware of the particular situations which cause you to feel stressed.

Note down the date, time and place of each stressful episode and note what you were doing, whom you were with, and how you felt physically and emotionally.

Give each stressful episode a stress rating (use a 1-10 scale) and use the diary to understand what triggers your stress and how effective you are in stressful situations. This will enable you to avoid stressful situations and develop better coping mechanisms.

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