Out of the millions of people who experience stress in the office, it is interesting to note that less than 20% say that their stress comes from the work itself. The remaining 80% blame their work-related stress on other factors in the workplace, such as their boss, their co-workers and the kind of environment in the office. Furthermore, most of the issues that cause their stress are not related to work at all.

Battling stress in the office need not be as difficult as some individuals may portray it to be. All you have to do is learn the right techniques and adapt the proper attitude and you will soon be able to work more peacefully in your office environment, and be more productive in your job as well.

Making the Best of a Stressful Workspace

1. To make the most of the space they have many companies have a cubicle set up. While this does give the more for the money their employees get distracted more easily. You can see everyone walking around wasting time and it makes you not want to work either, or they talk to each other over the cubicle walls. Since you can't stop other people from doing what they do, you must eliminate the distractions you do have control over. Like organizing your desk and keeping it clean.

2. In times of great stress, keep a picture on your desk that you can take a look at for a few minutes. Let your mind relax, and become calm again. Then return to work.

3. Organize your tasks. Stress usually builds up more if you don't have a clear plan of what to do during an entire workday, or if you find out that you have taken on more work than is humanly possible to finish on time. To avoid these situations, make sure that you keep a list of things to do and check off each item as you finish it. This practice will not only give you greater control over your life at work, but also ensure that you don't miss any important deadlines.

4. There are few mediation techniques you can practice at work to relieve stress. When you are experiencing stress take a minute and close your eyes. Relax your body, and imagine something that brings your peace. Maybe you can picture your favorite vacation spot or if you like rain a rainy day. While you do this take deep breathes and forget everything that stresses you. After about 5-10 minutes you should feel ready to work again.

5. At times the stress of an overly demanding supervisor can cause so much stress that it is psychologically damaging, not to mention that if the stress continues at these high levels you can be harming yourself physically as well. When it has come to this point its better just to find another job opportunity else where. You don't need to put yourself through that.

You do have to keep in mind that employment is not that easy to find these days, so you should do your best to work well within your current environment first. Only when this is not feasible should you consider moving to a new company.