Unmanaged job related stress is the shortest way to burnout.  

There are generally two types of jobs - short, intensive project jobs in which you act as a sprinter, and marathons. You throw everything you have got into the race because you know that at the need of this fast short run you will have plenty of time to rest and recover.  

Most jobs, however, are marathons and you must pace yourself during the race in order to reach the finish line save and sound without collapsing aka burnout. (click to read Are You A Candidate For Burnout? )  

Here are my tips for balancing yourself and preventing job related burnout. 

Take Action:  

* Know your natural rhythms. When you pay attention to your natural rhythms you can determine when you tend to perform optimally, and schedule your most difficult tasks at that time.  

* Don't schedule difficult tasks and pleasant tasks in separate big blocks. Try to set up your day so you shift back and forth between pleasant and difficult tasks: schedule something you enjoy after something tough. 

* Use your coffee breaks and lunch breaks to do things that will reverse the stress response. Take short brisk walks. Find a quiet place and do a relaxation exercise. Chat with co-workers in order to release tension and who knows - get a fresh perspective on a problem you are dealing with.  

* Take minibreaks during the day to reduce or prevent symptoms of stress and tension. They need not take more then a few minutes but you will see a reasonable increase in mental alertness and productivity. Try some stretching, visualization or deep breathing exercise.  

* Choose leisure activities that balance your unique stresses at the job: If your job requires much sitting on mental concentration - consider aerobics, jogging or a brisk walk as a complementary leisure activity. Responding to people demands at work - engage in solitary activities. Mindless repetitions at work - intellectually challenging hobbies and interests. Working alone (especially for those of you who are self-employed) - social activities during your leisure.

Now it's your turn: 

* List five ways that you can better pace yourself at work and create more balance in your life. 

Finding it difficult to do this on your own? Coaching helps…….

How about stress-caused fatigue, tension, anxiety and ill performance?

Let me guess: you strive to be perfect in all areas of your life and juggle multiple roles: spouse, mother, caregiver, friend and entrepreneur.

You continue meeting household and family responsibilities, while at the same time running your business and trying to maintain personal interests.

As demands increase to fulfill these roles, you often feel a sense of losing control and helplessness, making you prone to stress and burnout.

Women are more likely to arrive to work, stressed before their business demands begin.

Lack of balance and demands of home and work are among the major sources of stress in professional women’s lives.  

Finding the right balance helps to restore harmony, reduce stress and helps your professional life prosper.

Today, women face many roles and significant stressors, many of which are different than those faced by men or even women of previous generations. For most women, stress ranks at the top of the list of daily problems.

Believe me, showing signs of stress does not mean you are a weak individual who cannot cope. It means you are human like everyone else.

Most probably you have also tried some stress management strategies but still struggle with stress-caused lack of balance on an ongoing basis. Don’t give up!

Stress in the 21st century is a way of life that needs to be managed because it cannot be exterminated but stress is too dangerous to be ignored.

The cost to your overall health, well-being, performance and productivity can be enormous, leading to serious damage to your life in general.

But - not all stress is bad. For many women, stress can be a positive force in their lives, enabling them to do their best.

In fact, the wisdom lies in knowing how to operate on your personal optimum stress level, and how to take the knowledge and translate it into a set of tools to help overcome barriers stress can create on your way to live the life you desire?

Contact me at info@action4balance.com for a complementary consultation and start living  balanced stress free life.

Recommended Resource:

Achieving Work-Life Balance

and Attraction Isn't Possible

Claim your own at any hazard.

WALT WHITMAN

Have you ever stopped to consider how the STRESS affects your professional life or business?

It's true...something as " natural" as your everyday stress level can affect your mood, thought processes, and creativity...not to mention your weight (stress elevates cortisol level and actually makes you fat) and risk for developing diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer!

This can have a huge impact on the decisions you make in your professional life.

I know what you think - would a balanced and stress free life influence my professional performance?

I bet it would! It worked for me and the results have been and continue to be amazing!

You are living advertisements. You should be careful what your advertising says.

Take Action:

1. Put yourself at the Top of the List!

Women usually think that doing for others is rewarding. But remember that doing for yourself is rewarding others".Unknown.

If you spend all your free time building your private business, or climbing executive ladder what is your boss, subordinates, prospect going to see? For you to do an amazing job in anything, you have to feel good, have energy, have passion and have the focus to deliver. If you aren't putting yourself first, then it's impossible to have all of these things at the same time! Become irresistibly attractive.

2. Put your business/job second!

The business/job is there to support you and make money. If the business isn't supporting you, then you're not being put first. If the business isn't making money, then it won't last much longer. Truly putting the business second means creating processes, systems and procedures that keep the business going - which means sustaining YOU and your down-line. A truly successful business model is a win-win.....and it is possible!

3. Put clients third!

You heard me right. I don’t suggest neglect them – on the contrary - the first thing you need to add value to all your customers and make them feel there’s no one better to do business with than you. BUT clients want to buy from successful businesses. Part of that successful formula is having happy people and a sustainable business. If either of those is missing, then the customers or even prospects won't show up for long. That's why customers must be third in line when thinking about your business!

How does this relate to my business or job?

I am glad you asked :)

Too many female executives, professionals or business owners agonize over how to create business models that really make them profitable and happy. Many fail. Many spend hours slaving away unhappily or by delaying satisfaction for years to put customers and the business first.

When your life is full of stress and out of balance your business will not succeed for very long. Or if it does, you're still unhappy, so what's the point anyway?

You are your greatest asset! Its time to invest in yourself!

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You can join the mailing list Click HERE.

When times get tough we want to dedicate more time to what we consider important. We have to find the optimum balance in order to do so. We need to find our natural rhythm like calm breathing in and out, flow is required.

What this requires?

Us to get our priorities straight. Tell me, what is your definition of the priority?

A priority is anything that you deem important. Our priorities are personal and uniquely our own. Our sacred values and beliefs are taken into consideration.

How You Spend Your Time?

How you spend your time will make known your priorities. What’s your typical day and a typical week look like?

Make a list of how you spend your time on an average day.

See what your life (list) is telling you.

What’s important?

Ask yourself the question, what matters?

Now write another list - what you value the most, what you consider most important in your life. ( family, your children, your health, your religious or spiritual practice?) Something else?

Take a moment and compare your lists. You may be surprised to discover that there's a difference between what you consider most important in your life and how you spend your time. How do you feel about that?

How are your values/priorities reflected in your current life?

Ask yourself:

- Which values am I neglecting?

- Are my priorities in synchrony with how I spend my time?

- Are there any changes I need to make so that my life more closely reflects my values?

- In what ways would my life be different if I honored my values?

Related Article

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When you are stressed you can become less-than-careful with the person you love. You concentrate on your own situation and forget how it affects your partner. Soon you have a vast gulf in understanding, and ultimately this could lead to the breakdown of the relationship.

Meanwhile, the stress itself may be making you irritable, grumpy and hard to live with. It may be creating major fights over small things, or causing you to blame your stressed-out feelings on your partner, when in reality the cause has nothing to do with them.

When we are feeling stress of any kind it drains our inner batteries. And when we have no energy available for ourselves, we have even less energy available to share with others.”

Advice for women

Men primarily want to be king of their castle, to be loved unconditionally and to make their woman happy. Relationship ‘killers’ will cause your man to become stressed, frustrated or even aggressive and he will often withdraw. This destroys any chance of true intimacy.

Five ways women kill a relationship without realizing it…

1. By criticizing him.
2. By threatening or actually withdrawing love.
3. By not acknowledging or appreciating him.
4. By taking control.
5. By challenging him

Recommended book:

Why Mars and Venus Collide: Improving Relationships by Understanding How Men and Women Cope Differently with Stress

Personality can be defined as, “The totality of emotional and behavioral traits that characterize the person in day-to-day living; it is relatively stable and predictable.” No body has a “perfect” personality (and who knows what perfect is?) we all have personality traits that create stress to some degree in our lives.

Although there are many basic personality types, there are two main ones, which are particularly relevant for identifying tendencies towards suffering from stress related conditions.

These two broad personality types are known as Type A and Type B, the former being more prone to stress than the latter.

In fact, we rarely have all the characteristics of one type but tend to be made up of a predominance of one behaviour pattern or another.  

TYPE A Personality Type

These women leaders tend to be more aggressive and competitive. They are in a constant state of struggle, setting themselves too many deadlines.

They can be recognised by the following:

• They eat, talk and walk quickly
• They are easily bored
• They can be self-centred, preferring to talk about themselves
• They cannot relax and feel guilty if they are not doing something
• They lose things easily as they are not very observant
• They appear tense physically and sit on the edge the chair
• They are competitive and want to win, rather than enjoy the experience.

Studies have shown that Type A Personalities are 3 times as likely to suffer from coronary heart disease. This is very much due to the fact that the Type A person is much more prone to stress related diseases and health conditions.

Type A Behaviour has steadily increased since the Industrial Revolution when the stresses one came up against went from being fairly simple to extremely complex. Type A personality was rarely present in rural life of years ago, as life was so much simpler and was lived at a much slower pace.

Type B Personality Type

These types tend to be relaxed and calm and easygoing. They adapt easily to changes. They are less at risk from heart disease and stress.

These women can be recognised by the following:

• Play games for fun and not just to win
• They relax easily without feeling guilty
• They are often more efficient as they do not rush at things and become physically exhausted
• They tend to be friendly, adaptable and easy-going

Does Your Type help you with your personal and professional life?

Recommended Reading:

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You can join the mailing list Click HERE.