Stress Busters

There are times in everyone's daily work life when stress hits.  Time lines aren't met, there are too many tasks to be done or people are just plain ticking you off.

There are many different ways that people react to stress.  Some are positive and some are destructive.

Here are some ideas to deal positively with stress when it next hits -

1. Breathe.  Often times when I start to get stressed my breathing patterns change and I don't breathe properly.  So what happens?  Less oxygen gets into the body which means muscles tighten up and the brain has to start working harder.  Take a minute or two next time stress hits and just focus on slow, steady, constant breathing.
2. Stretch.  Physically get up, walk around and stretch.  Similar to the point above when you stress your body reacts.  Your muscles tighten and you become more and more tense.  Solution - get up. move around and release the tension.
3. Stop and Assess.  What is it that is actually stressing you?  Is it an important task or is it a niggling issue that just won't go away.  Stopping and assessing the situation is a critical step.  If you choose to keep plowing on with the task chances are you will only make matters worse for yourself and you will in fact create rework for yourself.
4. Delegate.  Give work away.  Get others working for you.  You can't do it all yourself.
5. Reflect and Plan.  How did you get into this situation?  What will you do differently next time to be better prepared before you get stressed? 

Deal with stress in a positive way and let it be a method of focusing you on what is important and what isn't.

(Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tzofia/270800047/)