This is a guest post by James Adams. He currently writes in-house for a leading toner cartridges store.

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Are you under constant pressure to perform? Is your workplace understaffed, leaving you with more work than you can conceivably do in a day? Do you have a manager who is constantly pushing you to the breaking point?

These issues are common in the workplace and in daily life, but there are many simple tricks that you can do to alleviate the stress.

9 Ways To Stay Productive

1. Stay calm – Emotionally distance yourself from the situation. You do not have to embrace someone else’s stress as your own. Take the long view of the problem and objectively seek solutions for it. Take an extra moment to think of the right course of action.
2. Delegate – When you are faced with more tasks than you can handle, delegate some of them. Is there another person within your department who can generate the report? Is someone else better suited to respond to the email that you received? You do not have to handle everything alone.
3. Planning – Planning alleviates stress. Form contingency plans to avoid confusion. If there’s a chance that your entire department will be downsized, take a few moments to spruce up your resume. If you know that your boss is prone to histrionics, plan for their occurrence. Be aware of the possibilities and plan for them in advance.
4. Keep to-do lists small – To-do lists create internal pressure. You might feel stressed when you look at the 200 item to-do list and realize that you cannot cross everything off. Take the top five things on your to-do list and seek to complete those. That sense of satisfaction and pride will carry over into the next tasks on your agenda.
5. Maintain a pleasant attitude – It is difficult to remain at the breaking point when you have a genuine smile on your face. Think about the sense of relief that you will feel when the tasks are done. Hum a song to yourself as you are performing chores. That happiness will spread to the individuals around you, decreasing the stress of the situation.
6. Live in the moment – Office pressure comes from a variety of sources. You might have a presentation to upper management in a few days. A customer’s order might be your bane. Ask yourself what you can do right now to handle the situation. If the answer is ‘nothing,’ then move on to the next task.
7. Don’t rush – Rushing work leads to sloppiness. You might find that steps in the process become neglected. You might not thoroughly proof a product that you are giving to a customer. By rushing, you are opening the door for mistakes and redos. Take the time to do your tasks correctly or you will redo them.
8. Vent your frustrations away from public areas – Yelling and screaming adds to everyone’s stress levels. Vent your frustrations with an outside friend. Play a few games of racquetball. The anger that you exhibit toward your manager does not change the fact that the task still needs to be done.
9. Avoid distractions – Let those around you know that you have an important deadline that needs to be met. Divert your phone calls to voice mail or to your assistant. Shut out the world for a few minutes so that you can make your magic happen. Take everything off of your desk except for your current project.

In Conclusion…

Stress is a factor of daily life in the workplace. Your coworkers bring their personal aggravations to work. Your customers might place you under constant pressure to perform. By planning and staying focused, you can relieve your stress and keep the members of your team on task.

Image Source: Marc_Smith