How stressed out are you these days? Very, we bet! If it isn’t the quarterly reports, it may be deadlines, sales targets, the boss of offloading a tsunami of papers to be filed and processed. Stressed out and spaced out are our state of being for about 300 days of the year. So, are there any quick tricks that can prevent you from going grey and batty, and instead put you in control?

While we can’t escape stress altogether, we can learn to re-engineer our approach at our workplace to calm our nerves and be on top of any situation. These mantras will gear you up to cope positively I with the big S and ensure that you keep the monster at bay.

Prepare a ‘to do’ fist every morning. Explore techniques that give you maximum output with minimum expenditure of time and energy. Keep a buffer of a half or full hour for emergencies. Follow a systematic approach and you will be in total control. No space for stress here!

Recognise your capabilities — don’t over commit. Do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. Work on your strengths and weaknesses. Don’t set unreasonable targets and goals. Be fair to yourself and your sole aim should be constant self-development.

Change your mental attitude in confronting incidents and anxieties in life. Problems should be treated as means to grow. After all, the world is neither fabulously good nor completely awful. It’s the way we view it.

Do what’s essential. Don’t waste time on the unnecessary and trivial matters. Most of us like being superhuman! And, thus invite stress

Don’t stick around people who give you negative vibes. Maintain a safe distance from pessimistic cribbers. Build a solid and dependable network system. And when worries build up, seek the support of this network for positive vibrations. This way, you won’t succumb to the overload of stress.

Do what’s essential. Don’t waste time on the unnecessary and trivial matters. Most of us like being superhuman! And, thus invite stress. If the situation demands it, be courageous and time to say ‘no’. This is a good way to conquer stress.

Difficulties and problems in day-to-day operations are common at any workplace. Don’t get intimidated by them. Instead, use them to create opportunities and derive maximum benefit from such challenges. This would go a long way in keeping stress out of your life.

Act today. Avoid the rut of leaving things for the next day. Learn to prioritise and do important stuff first. Lingering over things or keeping off doing what needs to be done, is a sure-fire way to invite stress.

Always strive to find a better way of doing things. Re-engineer workflow to your advantage. Incorporate change in your daily life. Be open to new ideas and suggestions.

Don’t waste time and energy on trivial matters. Learn to delegate tasks and develop your subordinates to handle more.

Encourage your colleagues to take decisions independently and keep yourself free from unnecessary stress.

Always be willing to accept and extend help. Most of us hesitate to ask for help. We increase tensions and stress in our life by believing that we are superhuman and we must complete any given task on our own. There’s no such thing. Next time, ask colleagues or your boss to sort out something you can’t figure on your own.

The workplace is full of problems and you need to solve these quickly and effectively. But, you start tackling all of them together, you’ll end up with tensions and acute stress instead of solutions. The correct approach to solving anything is to first list out all problems and then deal with each one separately. This would ensure that you enjoy the process of problem- and not get overwhelmed by stress in dealing with them.

Hang out with your buddies, take in a movie or go to an art exhibition. Develop a new hobby. Read, write a poem or just watch television. Even an invigorating shower works in helping ease tension and stress. Maintain a healthy balance between your work life and personal life. You’ll enjoy an enriched life this way.

Incorporate an exercise programme in your daily regime. A good work out releases muscle tensions and helps you to relax. Your mind and body are linked, so working out and chilling out ease both. Regular cardiovascular exercises strengthen your heart and lungs and build resistance. Breathing exercises keep your body and mind calm. A healthy mind and an equally healthy body will not only pep up your confidence, but will also keep you from stressing out.

With a little effort, you can get a grip on your life. The above mantras will help you to come out a winner in any situation. Don’t succumb to the evils of a stressful existence. Instead, take charge, be in control and keep the dreadful six letter word out of your life.