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1. Find out what causes stress at work. Take some paper and for a week write down the Anacedent, the Behavior and then lastly, the consequence of the stressful moment…
2. Take this information, study it and develop healthy responses…
3. Find ways to avoid these situations by establishing boundaries. …
4. Find ways to energize your body and mind…
5. Look for ways to “take a break” and relax. …
6. Talk to other managers at work or help staff to get assistance. …
7. Get some outside help.

Finding the ABCs of Stress

Many years ago during my teaching career, I helped students find ways to change behavior and responses into positive outcomes. We used the ABC method (antecedent, behavior, & consequence). First, we found out what triggered the event or what happened right before. In this case, we are looking for what is the real stressor or action before the true STRESS. Let’s look at an example: George arrived at work and found 14 post-it notes on his desk of things he is expected to do before noon. (That is the antecedent; the cause). Next, he feels angry, rushed, overworked, and has the feeling “no one really cares”. (This is the behavior). George then (at first) tries really hard to get all 14 things finished, but by 11:30 he still has 5 more items to do. He just realizes he can’t do it all and slows down, to the point of not caring about it himself. (This is the consequence; the outcome). This happens to overworked people all the time. It is a type of burnout and we all experience it. Hopefully, after a week of keeping track of these types of occurrences, you will be able to predict situations to avoid. How do you stop everyone from being part of your negative antecedents; Communication?

Ask for help, Communicate your needs.

Communicate to your fellow employees what you are truly capable of, timeframes that are reasonable, and delegate work to other qualified co-workers. This won’t be easy, because life in a business is built around routine and previous expectations. Managers need to be open-minded enough to see burnout and realize the limitations of individuals, but sometimes they are not and for those at the top there is no one to share the burden. The only true thing you can completely control is the consequence portion of your work-life. You control your attitude and emotions. Be positive, believe in yourself. Smiles go a long way when asking for help. Pace yourself. Set boundaries that other co-workers will hopefully follow. Preach teamwork. Just like the side picture shows, Teamwork is essential when trying to navigate precise outcomes with difficult timetables. The word work is already filled with expectations that are not always predictable, so be mentally prepared for everything. What helps is to have a feeling of readiness and positive self-esteem. Be ready to Pause, Plan, and Pivot.

Take a break and breath

Take a break more often. In school, we would give kids recess. Recess worked as a time for relaxation of their brains, so when they came back to class they would be refreshed and ready to learn more. The same thing applies at work, when you go on a break or just stand up and walk around you let your mind refocus and reenergize. It is recommended that we rest our minds for 10 minutes every hour and yet the state law says we only get 10 minutes every 4 hours. Imagine how much more productive our workforce would be if we gave our minds more relaxation time. Even doing that however we often still have too much work. We don’t want to solve this problem by adding more hours in a day, which causes more burnout. Instead, we need to ask for more help.

Zany wants to help

Zany helps you solve this problem. We have a workforce called “The Virtual Angels” They are trained in a multitude of areas (phone calls, designing, bookkeeping, accounting, general office work, reservations, paperwork of all kinds, etc.) You hire them by the hour (for a much lower rate than you pay your current employees) or hire a time of them to help support all your workers. They are all 1099 employees – that means no taxes, no insurance… basically, no headache and they don’t take up space in your office. So you end up having a workforce that supports your regular employees, and makes them feel like you respect them, listen to them, and enable them to do their best! They also help support you as a business owner, taking things off of everyone’s plate is what they have been trained to do. Ask us how to sign up for this program.

Live life less stressed

So no matter how much stress you started with taking action today and planning for the future tomorrow you can reduce it. You have the power to lessen your stress and get things running smoothly.