4 Ways to Reduce Stress in the Workplace

Some stress is good for us; it keeps us on our toes, allows us to think outside the box and come up with new, innovative ideas on occasion. However, a recent survey on work-related stress, anxiety and depression (the Labour Force Survey 2016) found that the number of days lost in 2016 due to stress-related issues was 11.7 million days, equating to 45% of all working days lost to ill-health.

Let's look at four areas where there can be stress in the workplace.

- Stress and your work. Do you feel that you understand what is expected of you, that you've been trained well enough? Perhaps you feel that your work is mundane, that your boss doesn't pass on the interesting or challenging tasks, preferring to keep them for him or herself. Those employees who have no responsibility or autonomy can become increasingly stressed, bored or frustrated.

A lack of recognition and appreciation can also result in people feeling stressed. What can be done about it, are there ways to resolve this matter? You could suggest team meetings, social events or group training exercises, especially if you're part of a business that works part-time, varied shift patterns or random hours.

Could you speak to the human resources department? Does your company have a staff appraisal scheme to monitor and motivate staff? If so, you could use this as an opportunity to flag up your desire for more training or greater challenges and responsibility.

- Stress and your colleagues and co-workers. Many people make good friends at work, on the basis that they spend more time there than anywhere else. But sometimes bosses, colleagues and co-workers can be the source of much stress. Personalities and egos can run amok in a work environment, causing anger, frustration and sleepless nights.

Sometimes it's important to step back from our work relationships and assess what they really mean to us, how much of ourselves we're disclosing, compromising or perhaps selling ourselves short. It's interesting that when an ex-colleague returns to visit there's frequently little to discuss beyond the initial pleasantries; work relationships can be transient.

If your relationships at work are stressful try to deal with the underlying reasons. If someone's attitude is bullying or aggressive decide to keep a log of their behaviour, along with dates and times. This evidence can support any complaint you may choose to make in the future and help you to feel more in control.

If you find your co-workers to be an impenetrable clique that you can't or don't want to join, find positive ways to entertain yourself during breaks. Or perhaps you're stressed because you're regularly given the unpleasant, boring or thankless jobs. Find ways to address this by speaking up, becoming more assertive or finding an ally.

What about times when you feel isolated and alone in the workplace? An increasing number of people work by themselves, either from home or as consultants, perhaps frequently commuting away from home. It can be stressful and lonely at times. Finding a shared or co-working, hot-desking office to work from can add companionship and support.

- Stress and Sunday nights. 25% adults struggle with Sunday night insomnia, stressed about Monday's commute to work, finding a parking space or what to expect during the coming week. The workplace can become less stressful by introducing advance planning, perhaps taking thirty minutes on a Sunday afternoon to check emails, plan your diary and run through an overview of the forthcoming days. Then if new, unexpected items arise, you'll have a clearer idea of how and where to fit them into your schedule. And you should sleep better, too, on those Sunday nights.

- Stress and your work/life balance. It can be tough to focus on work if you've distractions at home or in your personal life. If you've got issues with your partner, children, close friends or elderly relatives it can be hard to concentrate on doing a good job, especially if you feel unsupported, unappreciated or that your work has little real value or relevance.

Communicate your concerns. Partners will usually understand if you discuss how you're feeling. Bosses at work may be sympathetic if you share that you're going through a difficult, short-term problem. Consider ways to manage the situation. Might it be valid to work part-time for a while, occasionally work from home or ask for more support?

Learning to be more assertive about your free and personal time may enable you to find ways to enjoy some stressfree fun and relaxation. Then you can share your time with the people who matter, doing what you enjoy.

In spite of everything it may be that you feel the best option is for you to change your job. Yes, some stress can be good for us; it tests us, pushes us to greater endeavours, but as a long-term way of life stress becomes harmful and damaging to our mental and physical health.

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How to Defeat a Creativity Block and Generate Innovative Ideas

People who are associated with creative professions such as music, poetry, dance, advertising, research, etc. are most likely to be affected by creativity blocks. A creativity block is not only frustrating but also the worst enemy of a person. There are various types of creativity blockage that kill the creative thinking of a person. Different persons have different causes to experience a creativity block. Here we have mentioned some major creativity blocks that many people are experiencing and also have given creative tips by which you can easily defeat your creativity block.

Mental Creativity Blockage - A Mental Creative block is a big challenge where you get trapped by your own thinking. Due to a mental creativity block, you make so many assumptions and consider only limited perspectives. You can overcome this block by adopting different perspectives. You should read/listen/ watch creative things to encourage your creative thinking potential.

Emotional Creativity Blockage - Many people do not share their ideas because they think others will make fun of them. Stress can be one of the causes of creativity block. Generally, many people drop a great idea because they do not want to be criticized by others. Fear of criticism decreases your confidence level. The solution is you have to be prepared for criticism. A person has to be ready to face the worst situation. To defeat a creativity block you have to fight against fear, pain and other negative emotions. Once you overcome this creativity block you will discover your true creative potential.

Personal Problems - Creative thinking requires focus and concentration. Many people do not concentrate on creative ideas because they are surrounded by various personal problems such as bad addiction, grievance for someone, family disputes, lack of courage, etc. You can defeat this creativity block by getting the consultation from specialists. Whenever you are surrounded by any of the personal problems you should find ways to solve the problem instead of worrying about it. Give your mind enough space to process creative ideas. If the problem cannot be solved then do not allow the problem to dominate yourself.

Some more contributing factors of a creativity block are poor work environment, excessive work pressure, lack of inspiration, etc. You have understood major creativity blockages so far and now we are taking you to some easy steps and by following these steps you can enhance your creative potential. However, before that let us understand the difference between a good idea and great idea.

Each good idea cannot be a great idea, however, each great idea is a good idea. There is a major difference between good idea and great idea. Good ideas help us in solving daily life problems. On the other side, a great idea comes less frequently and requires deep research to execute it. Sometimes, unexpectedly we get the great mind-blowing idea which can give us worldwide recognition, however, most of us drop the idea and do not give proper attention to it. By this, we lose a big opportunity which could be beneficial for us. Hence, whenever we get a great idea we should not take it for granted.

No one can think like you. Hence, no one can steal your ideas. Opportunities will not come to us. One has to create an opportunity for oneself. Only you can polish your creativity to shine the world. Achieving success is not a big deal. It is just the matter of identifying the creative potential. Then you will be an achiever.

Follow these simple steps and generate great innovative ideas.

Write Down on Paper - You should write your idea on paper and also write down whatever thoughts come to your mind related to your idea. First time, when you will see your idea on paper, you will also notice that there are many missing connection points. However, at the first time do not give much focus on making connections. Place this paper somewhere you can see it most of the time throughout the day.

Research - Research helps you to get new perspectives. This step helps to explore missing connections. In this step, you have to work over the idea. By this, you may also get other alternative creative ideas. In research phase, you collect all the information like benefits, costs, drawbacks of each idea.

Analysis - This is the step where people struggle a lot because a person has to analysis every situation where the idea may get failed. This step requires self-criticism and reflection. The idea, which has many benefits, should be selected. You can consult with peers and experts because their suggestions help you in selecting the best creative idea.

Execute - This is the final stage where you convert your creative idea into reality.

You can defeat a creativity block and can enhance creative ideas generation by taking inspiration from the creative trainer.

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What Is The "Secret Sauce" That Can Get You Success In Life?

Nido R. Qubein, a well-known speaker, pointed out by saying "Most of history's greatest achievements have been accomplished not by the most talented but by the people who are willing to take on great risks and challenges and see them through." In other words, the main ingredient of success is not talent. Then, what is the "secret sauce" that can open the special gateway that can take you quickly towards success? Initiative and lateral thinking alone will provide you with the competitive edge that can take you on the highway to success.

For example, if you are working in an organization and if you do your work as per the exact instructions you receive, there is nothing to feel proud about. Of course, you make all possible efforts for not deviating from the instructions. But do not forget that this is a trap because if you have this mentality, you will continue to be just "another employee." You will never receive accolades nor will laurels come to you. This means you will have a slow growth in your career. Similarly, you cannot fast-track your journey towards success in your life if you lack initiative or if you do not think out-of-the box.

Those who succeed are aware that they cannot depend upon instructions from others to carry out their work. They always focus their energy on finding ways for improving their efficiency in doing things. Their ability to think out-of-the-box will be 'visible' to everyone.

But what is this out-of-the-box thinking? It is more about looking at all the angles, foreseeing situations and coming out with innovative ideas and solutions. Out-of-the-box thinking will help in being proactive. So, by developing this proactive thinking habit, you can "breathe life into your life." In other words, once you develop this habit, you will not wait for things to happen. On the contrary, you will start creating your own opportunities. This means your proactive actions will galvanize the speed of your growth and catapult you to amazing heights.

On the other hand, normal and average folks react to situations and they cannot move forward at a fast pace. But there is good news for these normal and average people also because they too can become proactive "initiators." Let us see how you can develop certain habits that may help you in becoming a proactive person.

1. Assume responsibility for your actions. When you make efforts to succeed, you may face problems but you and you alone are responsible for them. Not only that, you cannot rely upon others for having solutions to your problems because it is you who is aspiring to succeed. Blaming others or your circumstances for your problems will not fetch you success.

2. Focus only on things that are under your control. Remember that you cannot control many things and if you focus on them, you will be wasting your energy, time and other resources. You may end up getting frustrated. In extreme situations, you may decide to quit also. On the other hand, if you focus on things that are under your control, you will be able to come out with ideas and solutions.

But how to come out with unique ideas or solutions? The best way is to be an omnivorous reader. It is not necessary that your ideas will come only from the books or materials that are related to your field. You can get ideas even from sources that are completely unrelated to the field in which you are operating.

3. Set realistic and achievable goals. A smarter way is to split even these goals into smaller goals. But you must make it a point to set time-frames for achieving these small goals. On the other hand, if you set very lofty goals that you cannot achieve, you may very soon get frustrated and stop making efforts.

4. Consistency is the key. There is no point in being a proactive person only on certain occasions. You should consistently be proactive which means you should make it a habit. If you constantly look for ideas to do things in a better manner, others will certainly notice you very soon. This will fast-track your success.

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How to Develop Innovative Ideas at Work

 Are you stuck with your work projects? Can't proceed? Or, simply procrastinating? This article pours insights on how you can accumulate innovative ideas at work. Read on to find out.

Here are four great ways:

1) Surf the web: Free your mind and remove anxiety from your heart. Then browse over the web on topics related to your work projects. Find out what really exists out there and how much has already been researched and implemented. Take notes. After a short break, mull over them and naturally new ideas will start to fall together. You get back your stamina and can't wait to get started!

2) Hold conversations with the important people at work: Schedule discussion times for 20-30 minutes with your Boss and one or two significant co-workers. Tell them how much you have done and ask them what would the best way to proceed from there would be. Give them options. Have them researched beforehand. Never say you are stuck with your projects. They will be most willing to offer you advice and from there, your spectrum of innovative ideas will stretch and broaden.

3) Prepare a questionnaire: Yes, create a hard copy questionnaire and hand over copies to as many co-workers as you would like. Keep the level of questions at a moderate difficulty level so that you can hand over a few copies to your friends and laypeople you know. Then start collecting them back from them and do some research based on their feedback. You will definitely build up awesome and enriching ideas about what people like and want and how you can refine your projects and leverage them to give maximum benefit to your company and beyond.

4) Hold a seminar: At your workplace hold a seminar with your co-workers including probably your boss. Present all your work and their challenges. Welcome questions from the audience. You also ask open questions. This will cater for a broader discussion on your work projects and definitely and honestly you will invite fresher and newer ideas from many of those who participated in the seminar.

Summing up, these four ways should get you started and moving with your work projects instead of wondering what to do and worst of all, procrastinating. As you assemble innovative ideas from these channels, you will find your work much more motivating than ever and you will find yourself unstoppable. Isn't that cool?

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