Having the power and confidence to take control and make changes to your situation are right there in front of you. Even if you're simply making the decision to have a better attitude, you are in control.

Though you may not in fact be able to change the situation you find yourself in, you always have the power to influence it in ways that will help it to become more manageable.

If you're at your wits end and feel like throwing up your arms exclaiming 'I don’t know what else to do!' then you’re very likely feeling some level of stress.

Just as neuropsychological therapist, Jessica Fry explains, there are a few ways to approach and deal with the stress at hand. See the definition of stress here and learn all about ways to approach stress.

"Taking an action-oriented approach," says Jessica, "Means that you acknowledge your own power to influence your situation. And this is where it all starts to get really positive, because making moves to change your situation can be a really satisfying and rewarding way of managing stress."

Jessica outlines some situations in the work-place that can be hugely stressful and offers some practical solutions and techniques to help manage and overcome stressful situations, changing them to your advantage.

Coping with Work Overload

Workload issues lie behind much of the stress we experience. Not only can a heavy workload be tiring in its own right, it often drives us to work much longer hours than we would really like. This means that we spend time working that we'd prefer to use for the things that give life value. It also means that we're working when we should really be resting.

Worse than this, a heavy routine workload leaves us little time to deal with the emergencies that come up from time-to-time. This adds to the feeling of being "out of control" that is so much part of stress.

Successful workload management is vitally important for your job satisfaction. Make time management part of your life by following these points:

Survive the Stress of Problem Jobs

While the demands of a job are tough for us all, there are some jobs that are a little more difficult to deal with than others.

This aspect looks at surviving the more subtle stresses that come with jobs that are not well-designed. Stress here mainly comes from inconsistent and conflicting priorities, lack of obvious career prospects and activities that are intrinsically stressful.

Put these two tools into use when you tackle this one:

Working with Problem People

Some of the key skills needed to improve working relationships with people like your boss, important clients, co-workers and your team are about communicating effectively.

For one, it is important to stand up for yourself assertively (but in a professional and appropriate manner) so that you can defend your rights in a fair and adult way.

Managing unreasonable demands and communicating effectively will help you to manage your relationships with your superiors so that they support and help your activities rather than undermining them.

Managing Environmental Stress

We experience a variety of small environmental stresses every day. These range from the frustrations of commuting in heavy traffic to badly organised workspaces, poor ergonomics and many, many others. While these are small things, they can all add up to make life more stressful — we call this 'background stress'.

Many of these stresses can be controlled quite easily. By managing the background environmental stress in your life, you can reduce your overall stress levels:

Managing Performance Stress

We all know the feeling of sickness in our stomach before an important presentation or performance. We also know how excessive pressure can undermine our ability to perform well in these situations.

Useful skills that can help us enjoy performing at our best when under intense pressure are available and can be learnt. Here are four short points to consider:

Avoiding Burnout

Burnout is a very real threat to people in challenging and stressful jobs. The feelings of intense tiredness and disillusionment that come with it bring intense unhappiness, and can spell the end of otherwise promising and emotionally rewarding careers.

If you recognise that you're nearing this point, try to make the changes above to assist you with an improved work environment and a reduced amount of stress. Importantly, visit a stress counselor who can assist you in taking the necessary steps to recover from intense stress.

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