MANAGING STRESS IN ONE'S WORK LIFE AND ROUTINE

1. Tend to Your Goals. Set clear goals to help prioritize your daily tasks and manage time at the office. Goals keep you from doing extraneous things and help you manage stress. Write down your long and short-term goals whether it's improving communications with colleagues, drafting crisper memos or landing a promotion - as well as a realistic deadline for achieving them.

2. Work Smarter, Not Harder. Instead of reacting to job stress by simply working longer and harder, work more efficiently; have a group meeting rather than a series of individual ones, schedule difficult tasks during your best hours, get bothersome chores like paperwork out of the way all at once.

3. Be Ergonomically Correct. The proper equipment will reduce your physical stress-neck, back and shoulder strain as well as debilitating tendon and nerve damage in wrists and arms. Here's what you need; an adjustable chair with lower-back support, proper light, appropriate table and a keyboard positioned so your wrists stay straight and your upper arms remain at your sides.

4. Team Up. Working alone can be a huge contributor to stress. A pivotal study of the effect of isolation on life expectancy showed that loners were up to three times more likely to die early than socializers. Try collaborating with your colleagues on projects, or going to lunch together. Ride to and from work in pairs. Colleagues can give you new insights, feedback and emotional support.

5. Speak Your Mind. Many people, especially women, feel stressed out at work because they fall into a passive or nurturing role. Be assertive at meetings, speak up and present ideas. Don't silently accept too much work. And ask for feedback when you need it.

6. Make Your Breaks Count. When you take a break from work it should be an act of pleasure, a true diversion. Dive into an Agatha Christie mystery, crank up Asha Bhosle on your headphones. Don't just catch up on paperwork. Get your mind on other things. In the long run, it makes you more effective.

7. Watch those Double Lattes. You don't have to give up that wonderful early morning java jolt, but beware of those afternoon coffee urges when you're tense. Coffeine acts like stress on your body, stimulating the release of adrenalin and increasing heartbeat, blood pressure and shallow breathing.

8. Eliminate Distractions. Curtail the needless interruptions that bombard you all day; Hang a `quiet time' sign on your door. Put up a divider in your cubicle. Hold your calls. Move noisy machines away from your desk.

9. Diversify Your Life. Workaholics who depend too much on their job for self esteem feel a lot more stress than those with rich social lives. Try rekindling and old friendship. Become a volunteer for a worthy cause. How about a dance, music or art class? People with a balanced life are better able to withstand job pressures because they get goodies outside of work.

10. Prepare and Organize Your Work. One of the big things you can do to avoid stress is to prepare yourself thoroughly, in your work and in your private life. Coping with the unexpected is much harder than managing the expected :-

(a) Take a look at the systems and equipment that you use.

(b) Try to write things down.

(c) Only work on one thing at a time.

(d) Keep an eye on the next thing to do.

(e) Keep your work place tidy.

(f) Be able to lay your hands at once on everything you need.

(g) Store everything you use often within easy reach.

11. Prepare Plan B. If fears of unknown/sudden changes and demands are adding to your anxiety, start making plans for every contingency. Update your resume, set up informational interviews, sharpen your skills with a discussion.Research also shows that people who have at least some control over a stressful situation handle it much better.