Stress is a productivity killer. It makes us lose focus and patience which impacts results and relationships. Since you can't change the economy, we thought we could provide some tips for how to reduce the stress it may be causing you and your team.

Most stress comes from a mindset of fear. When we experience fear, it sets off reactions in our body. Whether it is fear of losing your job or fear of being attacked by a bear in the woods, the body responds the same way. Adrenaline flows, your heart beat increases and you get that jittery feeling. These reactions are what we call stress. Actually, stress temporarily spikes productivity through crystal clear thinking to protect yourself. However, if the stressors are continuous, fatigue, unclear thinking and emotional imbalance sets in.

So what can you do?

1. Reduce stress and fear by changing your thinking: While you can not change the world around you, you can change your response to it. Lesson #1: Feelings are driven by thoughts. For example, imagine your manager is walking into your office right now, unexpectedly…how do you feel? If you assume your manager is coming to tell you what you did wrong, you may feel anxious or defensive. If you think she is stopping by with good news, you may feel happy and relieved. Your thinking creates the feelings. You may not be aware of your thoughts until reflecting on your situation, but your brain processes them instantly. Then, you have an emotional reaction. How do you change this? Examine your reactions and assumptions to the world around you.

   • Are you a pessimistic, expecting the worst from each situation?
   • Do you have wishful thinking, and expect that all will just magically work out?
   • Maybe you over generalize, making one event have larger implications than it does.

   Check your assumptions about your manager, your organization and your work. Make sure they are based in reality. This will reduce stress.

2. Choose your attitude. Research* shows that finding meaning in a stressful circumstance reduces your stress. For example, people who have a tragic accident or a severe illness, often report finding a new meaning in their life. This meaning gives them a new attitude towards life and results in peace and comfort during hard times. An extreme example is Viktor Frankel’s book, Man’s search for Meaning. He credits his and other’s attitude to enable sanity in concentration camps. He talks about having a choice about how to interpret the meaning of your reality. He said:

   "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances"

   So choose to be a hero in your own life. Choose to be positive and face your problems head on with a positive attitude.

3. Connecting with other positive people. Feeling alone in a difficult situation causes stress. Connecting with others, especially happy people will reduce stress and increase happiness. Studies show* that people with more connections have less stress hormones. Also, the more happy people you know, the more likely you are yourself to be happy. A recent study in the British Medical Journal* showed that if a social contact of yours is happy, it increases the likelihood that you are happy by 15 percent!

4. Leadership Matters. If you are a leader, remember that your team is going through the same stress as you. Just talking to them about the current situation can help them reduce their stress. Not only won’t they feel alone, but you may be able to clarify what is a real threat versus a fantasy. You can talk to them about the current situation and give them space to express their concerns with you. Take time to address the concerns that are unrealistic without overpromising. Be there for them. Also, head advice of #2 above and choose your attitude carefully, as it will be multiplied by the number of people who report to you.

5. Get it out? Yes and No. Openly disclosing stress improves mood, improves health, reduces doctors visits, boosts immune response to illness, improves grades in school, and improves the likelihood of reemployment. Some people do this by talking. Others like writing stuff down. Several studies show that people with terminal illnesses do better when they spend time journaling their fears. But also keep in mind…the research shows that reliving stressful events and ‘venting’ actually creates a continuation of the stress reaction in your body (and your team)... So while talking to others can help, rehashing and rehashing the same complaints over and over actually creates more stress (not only for you, but for all those people that have to listen to you!)

6. Endorphins Baby! Endorphins are the bodies counter reaction to stress hormones. Felling better after exercising is because of endorphins. So is the pleasure you feel after a good Seinfeld episode. One of our customers, a small high-tech firm in Europe, used this idea to come up with a monthly gathering called Don’t think, Drink! to de-stress. Whatever you call it, or whatever you do, have some fun! Go to lunch. See a movie. Have some laughs. It will de-stress you and the people around you.

7. When all else fails, Breathe. The fact is that most of us hold our breath. This increases the stress reactions in our body. It also reduces the oxygen to our brain, which we need to think clearly! Breathing relaxes us and activates the parasympathetic nervous system to slow our body systems down. Deep abdominal breathing does wonders. It slows our heart rate, it clears our minds. It makes us feel relaxed. So when you are feeling stressed at your desk, get up, walk down the hall and take some deep breathes. It will make you feel better!

Now that you heard from us, we’d like to hear from you! Please click the link below to participate in our research into the causes of stress at work today. It will take no more than 2 minutes. We will send the results in an upcoming Notes from the Trenches so you can see how you compare to others.

Stress Research: www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB228PUTAATQL

Forward this email to as many people as you like. We would welcome their input on the research.

For more information on handling stress, also ask us about our:

• 1 day program High Performance Under Pressure
• 2 day program Leading with Emotional Intelligence
• Our 45 minute webinar coming in early 2^nd Quarter 2009 on tools for reducing stress at work

And let us know how it is going out there in the trenches...

* Feel free to contact us and we’ll direct you to any of the research behind the statements made in the article that say “Studies indicate”