Newsletter 76 features Managing Stress – May/June 2014

 

 

Welcome to the Early Summer 2014 edition of In Equilibrium.

This edition includes:

• Links to the latest articles in our Switching Off After Work series
• A stress management tip to help with those fretful moments
• Fiona McLaren helping a reader who feels that work has overtaken his life in our regular “Ask the Expert” feature
• Useful resources on managing stress and work life balance
• Links to a selection of relevant external articles including a short talk entitled “How to make stress your friend”

In Equilibrium News

Trainer News
We are delighted to be working with two new trainers:

Dr Chris Johnstone is an author, trainer and coach who has been included in the Independent on Sunday’s “Happy List” of the leading contributors to wellbeing in the UK.  He specialises in teaching people skills that promote resilience, happiness and wellbeing.

Sara Rawstron had over twenty years experience in management and leadership development before specialising in providing training and consultancy in workplace wellbeing.  Sara is also a fully qualified Executive and Personal Coach.

Recent Blog articles which you may have missed include:

Switching off after work
We have added a few more resources within this title labelled –
Tips to Distract Yourself
Relaxation Techniques
Boundaries

Top Tips to Prevent Harassment at Work
This notoriously hard challenge has been broken down into eight more manageable steps.

Anxiety
An explanation with strategies and techniques to explore was contributed by our trainer, Carole Connelly, and published during Mental Health Awareness week (12-18 May) as the theme this year was anxiety.

Top 3 Reasons to Train Employees in Mental Health Awareness
This blog makes the case for how organisations, management and staff all benefit when everyone in the business is trained in mental health awareness.

 

Stress Management Tip

Having one of those fretful moments, when you feel self-doubt and panic are about to set in? Try our latest tip which could provide lasting results.

Read our stress management tip here …
View our stress management tip archive here …

 

Ask The Expert

Fiona McLaren helps a reader who feels that work has taken over his life.

The Scenario
My job is quite technical and I work very long hours. By the time you factor in my commute, it leaves me with next to no time to unwind. Over the past year, my work has become my main focus and there have been occasions where, due to a tight deadline, I have had to cancel personal arrangements at the last minute. I feel like my mates have stopped getting in touch and my social life is at a standstill. I’m now finding that the weekends feel like big, unstructured empty spaces which I struggle to fill and am starting to feel a bit isolated. In fact, I’ve recently found myself wondering what life is all about and I struggle to do anything outside of work except the very basics.

As I am single and there are others with families at work, it seems like my reasons to say ‘no’ are feeble compared to someone who has to pick a child up from nursery or go to a parent’s evening. My manager is very good at giving me the impression that, because of my technical ability, I am the only one that can get certain jobs finished. When I am assertive and leave at a reasonable time regardless, I feel like I get the “cold shoulder” the following day.

Expert’s Answer
Fiona McLaren provides a practical answer which, amongst other advice, covers boundaries, duty of care, challenging conversations and the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement.

Read her answer here …

You can read previous Ask the Expert questions and answers here …

 

Amanda’s Column

Amanda finds life is a lot easier when armed with a bit of good news …

Read past editions of Amanda’s column here …

 

Resources

In this edition we features the new campaign from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work entitled “Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress”  and some top tips for encouraging a good work life balance  from Investors in People.

Click here to view this edition’s resources …

 

Quotations

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
John Quincy Adams
(1767 – 1848)
6th President of the United States

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou
(1928 – 2014)
American Author and Poet

 

News from the Outside

Click here to see a selection of external articles including:

• 10 tips on how to deal with work/office stress
• Research finds that stress is not just toxic, it’s also contagious
• Is it time to stamp out bullying at work?
• Does your mobile phone keep you healthy?
• How to make stress your friend

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. We are always delighted to hear from our readers, so if you would like to share your comments or suggestions with us, please don’t hesitate to contact us at: [email protected]