Confucius said “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” So what happens if office stress rears its ugly head and lowers the mood?

There are plenty of good tips and techniques to make work fun again. The very first one is to realise that stress per se is not negative. It’s the levels that are key. Positive stress keeps us on our toes mentally and physically, so that we can achieve highly at work, as well as sporting and leisure activities. So how should we start the working day? Ideally by making sure mornings are not too hectic! A good breakfast and a few minutes of jogging as long as you get up early enough – try fifteen minutes or half an hour earlier than normal – can work wonders. You’ll notice that it relaxes you automatically, so to speak. Then later, in the office, it’s essential to plan your time. Even if – especially if – your desk is stacked high with work. Make yourself a realistic daily timetable. With goals that you want to achieve. And with little breaks to catch your breath back. Power comes through peace. At this point we need to deal with a work concept that persistently crops up in our daily working routine: multitasking. Psychologists and neurologists have long agreed that the human brain is not designed for multitasking. We should just leave that to our computers. It’s much better and more effective to approach tasks one after the other instead of wanting to solve everything at the same. If you concentrate on the essentials like this, harmful stress is avoided. You’ll be amazed how easily you cope with even apparently complex tasks all of a sudden. And at the end of the working day, make a clear distinction between work and leisure. No one needs to be available all the time. Including you. That’s the only way to recharge your batteries properly. Just give it a go!

MULTITASKING IS NOT PARTICULARLY EFFICIENT, IN FACT IT’S EVEN CONSIDERED A STRESS FACTOR.

Short Tips to combat stress at work:

1. Make a plan, in which you split large tasks down into stages.
2. Instead of multitasking: It’s better to concentrate on one thing at a time.
3. Delegate subtasks. And don’t be afraid to say “No” when it all gets too much.
4. Allow yourself regular breaks – even short ones – to recharge your batteries

Source: K+N CITY MAGAZIN 02/2015