Make Some Changes

               Let’s faceit. Many of us have felt the miserable feeling that stress andtension related to our jobs can cause on a daily basis. Aside fromfeeling bad from a mental perspective there are serious healthissues that can develop if you don’t do something and make somechanges to reduce your stress levels.

               Stress andwork are like two peas in a pod. They go together well, and becauseof this, many people dread waking up every morning. Stress is notsomething to take lightly. You could say that it’s a fact of life,but having too much stress could lead to some major health problemsdown the line.

               Rather thanwaking up every morning and feeling the wave of stress and tensionflow over you here are 10 easy ways to reduce your stress levelthat you can start using today.

               Just thinkof how stress affects you in the short term. You may get headaches,or even worse, migraines. You may start to feel anxious, as if youare going to have a panic attack. Maybe you have difficultybreathing, or you could simply feel exhausted.

               That’s justthe short term. Think of the long term effects that are much moreserious. You could get abnormally high blood pressure. Depressionmay start to become part of your life. You could start to lose orgain large amounts of weight. Or, worst of all, you could have aheart attack. Just seeing all these effects should be enough totell you that controlling stress is a MUST.

                If stresshits you hard in the workplace, you are definitely not alone. Infact, according to the American Institute of Stress, four out offive workers in the United States experience stress on the job.That’s a whopping 80 percent!

                So whatcauses this workplace stress? Many cite unfair or unrealisticworkload demands as one of the major causes. This workload oftencauses a lack of balance between one’s personal life andprofessional life. Another huge cause of workplace stress is a lackof job security. If you are constantly wondering if you will have ajob next week, stress will definitely start to creep in and takeover your life. This becomes even truer if you have a family andchildren that depend on you.

                Lastly,many workers cite personality conflicts as a cause of workplacestress. You can’t choose your coworkers, so you are bound to meetothers with personalities that clash with your own. This can createanimosity in the workplace, and can become even worse if yourpersonality conflicts with that of your superiors.

                So, nowthat you know the effects of stress and some of the causes behindit, what can you do? It may be impossible to eliminate itcompletely, but how can you at least reduce stress in theworkplace? Here are ten tips that you can and should start applyingimmediately.

      1.Accept criticism

                Nobody is perfect. We all like to think we are,but this just isn’t the case. You have to accept criticism. It’spart of any job. Take it for what it’s worth and use it to improve.If you go nuts every time somebody asks you for a revision or isn’tcompletely pleased with your work, you will never make it throughthe day. Accept criticism as it comes through and do not takethings personally. People that do this tend to build a lot ofanimosity in the workplace and it makes for a toxic environment foreverybody.

      2.Stop comparing yourself to others

                It isquite common to want to compare ourselves to our coworkers. Johnmay make a higher salary than you. Lisa may have gotten thepromotion you have always wanted. Steve may have a nicer office.Stop comparing! If you make it your business to constantly compareyour situation to others then you will never be able to focus onthe task at hand. This will eventually turn into an obsession andyou could turn to hate your coworkers because of it. It is nothealthy to compare yourself to others. Focus on yourself and howyou can improve and you will eventually reap the benefits of yourhard work. Do not obsess over things you cannot control. In theend, it is nothing but a waste of time and energy. Instead ofcomparing yourself to others, set your own personal standards tofollow. Make goals for where you want to be in the future and focuson them. Compete with yourself and you will be surprised at how faryou can go.