Professional Development Resources: Productivity Tips

How to De-Stress at Work

De-stressing at work benefits you in more ways than one.  Here are a few tips on how to de-stress at work to achieve more productivity and improve job satisfaction.

• Take deep breaths

Sometimes, leaving your desk, even when under stress, is impossible.  in that scenario, taking deep breaths is a good place to start when de-stressing.  Deep breaths promote relaxation and help reduce tension and stress.

• Remove clutter

Having a cluttered desk is an easy path to becoming overly stressed at work.  A scattered workspace often makes you feel less in control of your work and ultimately increases stress.  De-cluttering your desk might take some time, especially if it's highly disorganized, but it's worth it.  Evaluate your desk and remove nonessential objects.

• Take a walk

If it is possible to leave your desk, then be sure to do so at least once per day.  Countless experts have spoken on the power of a good walk to reduce stress and enhance mindfulness.  In this regard, a 10-minute walk around the block or a short visit to a park (or other areas that include nature) are great options for de-stressing.

• Do some stretching

Exercise is a proven way to eliminate tension and anxiety.  However, breaking off work to do push-ups may not be possible.  Still, you can do some light exercises to alleviate stress.  An example of exercise that you can easily do in an office setting is stretching, which relaxes muscles and reduces the pulse rate.

Start by bending your body to touch your toes.  You can also stretch your arms, legs, and definitely your neck.  Four to five minutes of stretching can do wonders.  Not only can it reduce blood pressure, but it can also stabilize breathing and decrease anxiety

• Create a priority list

Not all tasks have the same level of importance.  By prioritizing the most important ones, you can take some pressure off your shoulders.

• Cut the caffeine

Many professionals consume energy drinks and big cups of coffee to stay alert while working.  However, this can be problematic since the caffeine in these drinks can spike stress levels (and cause sleep problems at night).

• Daydream

Daydreaming often while at work isn't advisable, but indulging (briefly) every once in a while can help in the face of excessive workplace tension.  You may visualize a dream holiday or some other feel-good activity.  Doing this can make you feel better and reduce all the emotional difficulty that's causing you to stress out at work.

Top Twelve Do's and Don'ts for Virtual Meetings

Almost all of these do's and don'ts are just as relevant to face-to-face meetings as they are to virtual ones. If you should (or shouldn't) do it during a face-to-face meeting, you probably should (or shouldn't) do it during a virtual one either.

Do:

1. Be prompt: log in five minutes before the start of the meeting
2. Be prepared: make certain that you have all materials needed, whether those are physical (pen and paper) or digital (documents and/or webpages already up on your screen)
3. Be present: listen and engage, both with presenter(s) and other attendees, contributing to the discussion--without repeating questions or comments already brought up
4. Be courteous: using the chat and raise hand features are great ways to ask questions, make comments, and/or request the opportunity to speak
5. Be respectful: keep yourself on mute when you're not speaking, and be sure to un-mute yourself when given the chance to speak
6. Be aware of sound and video needs: if possible, test your audio and video before the meeting begins, and check your video feed to ensure the camera is aimed appropriately (showing you straight on instead of at an angle) and lighting is appropriate (you should be well-lit and visible without stronger lights sources from a window, etc. causing you to appear darker)

Don't:

1. Don't eat during a meeting unless it is over lunchtime
2. Don't talk over others: this can be more difficult in the virtual setting, but there are tools (chat, raise hand) to allow you to be heard without interrupting someone else
3. Don't carry on a conversation with someone else in your office (or on the phone)--this gives the impression that the meeting is not important. If necessary, excuse yourself from the meeting.
4. Don't text, check Facebook, or use your phone unless it is pertinent to the meeting
5. Don't show up in your pajamas or t-shirt: this is a business meeting, and your appearance does matter to the others who will see you via video (slippers, etc. not visible in the video are OK...)
6. Don't have an unprofessional background for your video feed: especially if you're not at a work/office location, be sure whatever is visible behind and beside you is not distracting (e.g. no piles of laundry, no TV or other computer screen visible, no other humans in their PJs). Most programs allow you to display a fake background (so it won't matter what is actually behind you)--contact the Help Desk for assistance with this.

To-Do Lists

Making lists of items to be done for a day/week/month is a common time management suggestion. 

When making a list for any given day, also make a short list--your top 3 or 4 tasks, no more--to help focus on what you really want (and/or need) to accomplish.

For any list, be sure to cross off items when you finish them--this has been proven to improve feelings of accomplishment.

Working Remotely as a Team

While I have been asked to share some tips that may be useful for others, my most important acknowledgment/tip is that what is working for us may not be adaptable to every team. The Center for Career Services & Development consists of a small team with one full-time and three part-time members (including our student assistant). When we are physically in the office, we know exactly what hours we will be there, and we interact frequently, eliminating the need for many team meetings. That is not the case working remotely, so we have learned to adapt accordingly.

We now find value in having a weekly face-to-face meeting using Microsoft Teams. That meeting starts by simply having a “check in” with each person and giving them an opportunity to share any challenges, personally or professionally, that they are experiencing. I have also found it is even more important now to realize our family situations and responsibilities are very different. We can no longer put our family responsibilities aside when we go to an office which may be in the dining room. For someone with no children, working my normal 8am to 5pm hours works well and provides the structure I need to be successful. However, I can’t expect the same structure to work well for someone who also has a spouse working from home and has to be the teacher for two small children. Do I still expect the same amount of high quality work from each employee? Absolutely! Do I expect each of us to accomplish it in the same manner? Absolutely not!

Ergonomics

Ergonomics is the technical term for examining the physical setup of your workspace.  The idea behind ergonomics is to adjust the workspace to the person (e.g. change the height of your chair), instead of the person needing to adjust to the workspace. If you're back working on campus after being home, are you glad to return to your adjustable chair? Ergonomics also recognizes that the work many of us do involves repetitive motions (e.g. using a mouse), and even a properly configured workspace will cause discomfort if you remain in the same positions and do the same tasks for too long.

For most of us who spend large periods of our days in front of a computer, these are the main suggestions for improving the comfort of your workspace:

• Chair height: hips and thighs should be parallel to the floor, with knees at a 90 degree angle with feel flat (or on a riser if necessary)
• Monitor/Screen: should be at least 20 inches (arm's length) away, with top no higher than eye level
• Forearms and wrists: wrists should be straight; use a wrist rest

Other more general suggestions include:

• Talk on the phone often? Use a headset, and/or be sure to avoid cradling the phone with your shoulder
• Reduce eyestrain: periodically look away from the screen at other objects farther away
• Sitting all day?  Get up and walk around periodically, every hour if possible

For more information about ergonomics, check out the following:

• Taylor Lentz, PTA faculty member, wrote a blog post last year for the CTE Blog about ergonomics, which includes some of the above suggestions, as well as other info relating to ergonomics in the classroom.
• Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/office-ergonomics/art-20046169
• UCLA Health: https://www.uclahealth.org/safety/office-ergonomics

Murphy, J. (2021). 6 easy ways how to reduce & manage stress at work (and be happy) in 2021. https://snacknation.com/blog/how-to-reduce-stress-at-work/