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In the Six Steps for a Stress-Free Career, New Scientist magazine says: "The angst begins before you even get to work. You can picture your workspace: narrow, cluttered and far too close to a loud-mouthed colleague. Ohhhh yes sir, that sounds like me.
"Then there's the overactive air con - your uncomfortable chair is right in its line of fire - and that's not to mention the lack of natural light and privacy.
"Although it is oh-so-clear what your employer needs from you, few bosses have considered what kind of place you need from them.
"Work related stress may be a hot topic these days, but little attention is paid to the importance of the physical working environment."
OFFICE STRESS?
If the mere thought of another day at the office grindstone is enough to make you want to hibernate underr a cozy duvet - apparently all you need is a dog, a sleep and to switch your phone on to silent!
Working overly close to a loud work colleague, lack of natural sunlight, not enough privacy or feeling unsupported by your colleagues can all cause angst.
New Scientist Magazine has published its six top tips for avoiding office stress. Mine is to avoid the office completely but I can see why that might be impractical. It also might not be an ideal way to deal with the problem, as British studies showed that we actually need to be sociable rather than grumpy old hermits.
Be sociable
The study which looked at thousands of civil servants revealed that being sociable is actually good for the health, and so don't feel guilty if you chat with your workmates around the water cooler or nip off for a gossip and a cuppa every now and again. Moral support from colleagues, encouragement from supervisors and clear direction from bosses actually keeps stress levels down.
Male civil servants who lacked support in the workplace were 31 per cent more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, and women 43 per cent.
However," too much socialising could lead to work piling up." No kidding!?
More research, this time from the University of California, showed that a quarter of the working day is lost to interruptions, with emails, phone calls and text messages leading to use taking our eye off the task in hand every three minutes. Not surprisingly, this plays havoc with stress levels and prevents the work being done. Which in turn stresses people out even more.
Make your surroundings as pleasant as possible.
Simply being able to see your colleagues makes the working day much more manageable, although I beg to differ as I work in an open plan office and there are some things my colleagues do that I'd prefer NOT to see. Surprisingly, the higher partitions in a workspace are - the more people complain about noise from their neighbours. Contrary, aren't we?The optimum partition height should be high enough to provide privacy but low enough to ensure staff do not feel isolated.
Tip number three for a stress-free working life is to to get yourself promoted - with studies showing that those who remain at the bottom of the career ladder are most likely to die young..
In one part of Whitehall - Michael Marmot and his colleagues at University College London looked specifically at the long-term health effects of chronic work stress on civil servants. Over 14 years they asked over 10,000 people across 20 civil service grades about job stress - as well as collecting data on factors such as weight, diet and exercise.
They found stressed employees were much more likely to develop what's known as "metabolic syndrome" - a constellation of characteristics such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high fasting glucose levels which together increase the likelihood of heart problems.
It seems prolonged exposure to work stress directly affects the autonomic nervous system - raising levels of
the stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin.The researchers say the findings provide a plausible explanation for how psychosocial stress at work can cause heart disease.
Learn to switch off.
Mobile phones,and Blackberries should be switched off after hours to allow burnt-out brain cells to recharge. It has the obvious advantage of making you unreachable if the boss needs something done urgently out of hours...and knowing you can't be contacted is a great thing. Remember life before mobile phones? Being incommunicado certainly wasn't all bad.
Get a pet
Fussing a pet is relaxing too - but the suggestion that bosses let them into the office isn't practical... much as I love little fluffy pets, being in a room with cats and dogs all day would render me completely useless as I'm also allergic to animals!
Take a nap
Those who are banned from taking their pet in might find it easier to snatch 40 winks at the desk - a pastime that can ease stress and boost productivity. The way things are for me at the moment, I think I may have perfected the art of sleeping at my desk...with my eyes open! A textbook case of 'the lights are on...but there's nobdy home"
Sniff an armpit!
Dr George Preti, at the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia, exposed 18 female volunteers to extracts from the armpit sweat of six men – and the volunteers claimed to feel "less tense" and "more relaxed" as they sniffed. Horses for courses....
