Be intelligent about workplace stress

January 14th, 2009, 1:00 am · Post a Comment · posted by Jan Norman, small-business columnist

Today’s tip is from Steve Davidson, a Newport Beach psychologist who specializes in achievement,

Steve Davidson

personality testing, child management and organizational psychology.

Intelligence can be cultivated throughout your entire life, and with the competitive nature of today’s workplace, aptitude is scrutinized by co-workers and management alike.

Currently, everyone is feeling the pressure: job security, personal finances, the economic future of the country, etc. Unfortunately, this stress greatly affects your professional acumen. However, the following is short list of methods to minimize anxiety and optimize intelligence:

1. STAY CALM: Excessive anxiety or depression interferes with thinking. Create a calm mentality via exercise, meditation or any other leisure activity.

2. CONCENTRATE ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL: Thinking is greatly affected by attention span.

A critical step in improving intelligence is to first become aware of what you are paying attention to, and then learn to consciously focus on the things that are truly important. The trick is not to will irrelevancies out of your head but to ignore them.

You’ve got to learn to let go of what you can’t control, and then return your attention to what you do have power over in a calm, patient manner.

3. READ: There is so much we can do with our brains in today’s marketplace of ideas.

Few activities have the power to shape our intelligence like reading. It demands focus and concentration, forces us to organize our thoughts, teaches us new vocabulary and concepts, and requires us to think clearly and remember over a relatively long period of time.

Intelligence is a manageable challenge as it is a composite of skills that can be learned and knowledge that can be acquired. While controlling stress may be the most effective approach in improving intelligence, proactively broadening your knowledge base through activities like reading is just as important.

If you have a strategy, resource or tip to help small businesses, click here to send it to me. If I use it, I’ll give you credit and link to your web site.

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