Managing Work Stress

1. Stay Healthy. Live Longer. Achieve More. Presented by: Oleksandr Svitych Albemarle Hungary Global Centre of Excellence Budapest 2011 Managing Work Stress

2. Overview • Definition and purpose of SM • Stress management strategies • Stress management techniques • Final Tips “Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness.” Richard Carlson

3. What Is Stress Management? • Stress = demand > resource • Stress management: a set of skills, tools and techniques used to reduce and cope with your stress level • Stress prevention vs. stress cure

4. Why Manage Stress? • Increasing your personal effectiveness and productivity • Strengthening your self-confidence and developing positive attitude to work and life • Making yourself more healthy and happy If you don't master your stress – it will master you!

5. Before We Start... • Stress is inevitable in our lives • Reasonable amount of stress is good • YOU must take responsibility not to let that amount increase Give your stress wings and let it fly away!

6. Stress Management Strategies: Working With Your... • Time • Body • Mind

7. Working With Time • Job Analysis • Planning and Scheduling • Prioritization

8. Job Analysis • Understand what is expected of you • Find out who performs best and why • Make sure you have staff support, resources and training • Confirm priorities • Take action

9. Planning and Scheduling • Recording time • Allocate time for big issues • Scheduling your day wisely • Using E-mail Effectively “For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.” Benjamin Franklin

10. Prioritization • To-Do List • Urgent / Important Matrix • Using E-mail Effectively “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” William Penn

11. Working With Body • Breathe • Relax • Move “If your teeth are clenched and your fists are clenched, your lifespan is probably clenched.” Terri Guillemets

12. Breathe • Sit quietly and comfortably. • Close your eyes. • Focus your attention on your breathing. • Breathe in deeply and then let your breath out. Count your breaths, and say the number of the breath as you let it out.

13. Relax • Sit quietly and comfortably. • Close your eyes. • Relax the muscles of your feet and work up your body relaxing muscles. • Focus your attention on your breathing. “For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.” Lily Tomlin

14. Move • Reducing stress and worry • Good health and shape • Confidence and positive attitude

15. Move • Sports • Exercises • Yoga

16. Working With Mind • Relaxation • Self-motivation • Concentration and Focus • Positive Thinking

17. Stability Zones and Relaxation • People • Ideas • Places • Things • Organizations “The time to relax is when you don't have time for it.” Jim Goodwin and Sydney J. Harris

18. Meditation and Relaxation • Releasing mind from negative thoughts and worry • Increasing concentration and focus • Restoring psychological energy “Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” Ovid

19. Meditation and Relaxation • Close the door to your office, or sit in a place where it's quiet, and you won't be disturbed. • Choose a word or phrase – such as 'peace' or 'ocean' – that relaxes you, and helps you visualize something that's calming. • Sit in a chair, close your eyes, and begin relaxing your muscles. • Focus on your deep, abdominal breathing. As you breathe, say or think about your word or phrase. • Continue this for 10 minutes or more.

20. Music and Relaxation • A powerful tool of stress prevention and management • Catalyst for good mood and positive thinking • Energy container “Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.” Chinese Proverb

21. Self-Motivation • Get yourself a reward • Challenge + belief in yourself • Enjoy what you do “Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live.” Margaret Fuller

22. Concentration and Focus • Environment (external): comfortable workspace • Mindset (internal): one task at a time • Managing distractions (external and internal) “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” – Alexander Graham Bell

23. Positive Thinking • “A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.” • Mahatma Gandhi

24. Are You a Positive or Negative Thinker? • If you think positively, you're likely to enjoy positive results. • You have hope and faith in yourself and others. • Positive, optimistic people are happier and healthier, and enjoy more success than those who think negatively. • Persistent negative thinking can cause mental health problems, including depression.

25. Turn Negatives into Positives • Thought awareness • Rational thinking • Positive affirmations “One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.” Bertrand Russell

26. Using Positive Affirmations • Be specific • Express in the present tense • Repeat • Say with feeling

27. Examples of Positive Affirmations • I have plenty of creativity for this project. • My work will be recognized in a positive way by my boss and colleagues. • I can do this! • My opinion is respected and valued by my team. • I am successful. • I like completing tasks and projects on time

28. Examples of Positive Affirmations • I'm grateful for the job I have. • I enjoy working with my team. • I'm bringing a positive attitude to work every day. • I am excellent at what I do. • I am generous. • I am happy. • I will be a leader in my organization.

29. Final Tips • “The proof of the pudding is in the eating” • Applying at least one SM technique / strategy can boot performance • Once learned, you may try to apply SM skills to other spheres of your life

30. Afterword • “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” • Mahatma Gandhi