Studies show that Australians work longer hours than all other OECD nations and do not use their full annual leave entitlement. Signs of obvious workplace stress include headaches, increased anxiety, high blood pressure, depression, increased drinking and reduced work performance and productivity. Here are some career tips for reducing stress in the workplace and alleviating that sense of dread when you wake up in the morning.

Develop friendships at work

Cultivate friends and allies at work that you can turn to and exchange jokes and funny stories about your weekend. Try and avoid negative or toxic people in the workplace. This will deflect the focus off your workplace problems and give you a safe haven where you feel more relaxed and in control. If you are going to vent about your workplace problems, make sure that your colleagues are trustworthy. Generally, it’s better to discuss any problems with your partner, friends and family outside of your workplace.

Manage your workload

Learning to manage your time at work is a major factor in decreasing your stress levels. Try employing time management tips such as prioritising your workload and managing your employee’s expectations, learning to say no to work tasks and ask for additional help or resources. Give yourself some breathing room and delegate repetitive tasks that don’t take much supervision and focus on tasks that require your individual expertise to manage your stress levels to try and achieve a work-life balance.

Take short breaks

Taking regular short breaks during the day to stretch out your legs or walk around the office to speak to colleagues can help reduce anxiety levels. Even after a short break, you will return back to your desk rejuvenated, refreshed and ready to tackle the problem, project or day that lies ahead of you. Step away from your desk, computer and telephone at lunch time and eat your lunch at the park, go shopping or have a coffee with a work colleague.

Mentor programs

Finding a mentor can be a great way to reduce workplace stress for junior staff or middle management. Mentors can be assigned within the company or can be found externally through industry associations and networking groups. A mentor can help work through work problems and how to negotiate work conflict, help employees build self confidence and develop interpersonal skills.

De-clutter your office

Even doing something as simple as cleaning your office can clear your mind and increase your focus. It can be very draining and overwhelming to face a messy office every single day. This is only a temporary measure so to keep disorganisation at bay; you need to incorporate a proper filing system and system of managing your documents. Adding plants to your office and changing the layout of your desk so your back doesn’t face the door can be good feng shui as well.

Exercise

Exercising at lunch times or before or after work has a host of psychological as well as physical benefits. Aerobic exercise can help you manage stress in the workplace by producing endorphins that uplift your mood and mental well being. It increases your social networks and decreases your social isolation. Exercise also improves your sleep patterns and gives you time to think and focus on other things.

Go on a holiday

Holidays can be a great way to unwind, de-stress and shake off workplace blues. Make sure you that you have organised someone to take over your work, arrange an adequate handover or hiring a temp or casual to do your work while you are gone. You want to be free of worries and stress when you do go away and relax knowing your work is in good hands and you won’t have any face any problems when you arrive back at work.

As a very last resort, you may have to consider changing jobs if you cannot cope with the workload, demanding boss, toxic colleagues or unrealistic deadlines and you have undue stress in the workplace. You spend an average of 40 hours a week with your colleagues so you need to be happy. Your mental health and relationships with your friends and family are far more important.

It’s very true, what the Beatles said …. money can’t buy you love or happiness. Self improvement and happiness don’t just ‘happen’ when you’ve saved up enough money to upgrade your car, house or children’s school. Also, much as the feeling seems convincing at the time, happiness is also not a new pair of shoes or a bout of retail therapy. Here are some ten self improvement tips that can help you find lasting happiness.

Mitigate morning madness

Set your alarm so that you have plenty of time to have breakfast, a shower, and tidy up after yourself before you leave the house. Then, tell yourself before you go to sleep that “I am going to wake up when my alarm rings. I will press the snooze button once, and then get out of bed”.

Pencil it in

Create a realistic priority list of tasks that you want to achieve for the day, and make a concerted effort to tick every one of them off. The key to using this self improvement tip is not to overload yourself and to also schedule some relaxation time.

Weekend maximiser

Do you ever find that you’ve spent an entire weekend stressing about work? No wonder we all feel that weekends aren’t long enough! Check tip #2 above, and pencil some ‘fun’ into your weekend schedule so turn off your computer and stop checking your Blackberry.

Generosity killed the ‘sads’

Humans are social creatures, and helping the people in your society is a wonderful personal development strategy to make yourself feel good. You don’t have to become a homeless shelter volunteer … but do take your co-worker’s teacup to the sink on your way, hold out the bag of sweets to your neighbour at the bus stop, and make dinner for an overworked friend.

The serenity to accept the things that you can’t change, the courage to change the things that you can

It’s a little trite nowadays – but if you think about this concept for a while and try to apply it to situations in your own life, you can find plenty of inspiration to either let go, or move forward.

Parlez vous …?

Learn a new language! It takes a while, but when you have the reward of a holiday in a country that has the language you’ve chosen as its native tongue it becomes much easier to motivate yourself.

Mix it up

Deliberately try to do things in a way that you usually don’t. The simple act of walking a different way to the bus stop or going to a new bar for after work drinks can really broaden your experience. Aim to achieve this on a larger level as well – to visit places you’ve never been, to speak to people that you usually wouldn’t or perhaps changing careers.

Face your fears – take a plunge

Deliberately doing things that put you outside your comfort zone are essential to personal development because they force you to look at the world in a new way … from a position of strength, courage and personal power.

Beauty is as beauty does

For many of us, thinking about our appearances takes up a significant portion of the day. Remember when your mother told you that true beauty is on the inside? She was right. Self improvement is about what’s on the inside, and you’ll have more energy for that without the distractions of excessive grooming. Spend your weekends without makeup, and wear clothes that make you feel comfortable.

Bend it, stretch it, just a little bit

Exercise is what our bodies were designed for – work that requires you to spend an entire day sitting down is a very recent social development. You’ll feel better able to deal with problems, more energetic, be less prone to depression and have a higher level of cognitive function if you make the effort to exercise every day.

Happiness has little do with the things you have, and so much to do with how you feel inside and what you do with your life! Try incorporating these self improvement tips and strategies into your life every week, and see how much difference it makes to your personal satisfaction level. Because in the end, who makes the most difference in your life? You do!

There is no doubt that fast food is not only fast but also cheap, however eating healthy doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Here are five tips for eating healthy on a budget…

Junk food itself may be the cheapest source of rich calories – but what you save on the wallet, you’ll pay for on your hips, in your medical bills, and in your self-image. Despite the messages that we get from fast food outlets, it is possible to save money on food in the short term, and on our health in the long term. Here are our best tips for healthy eating on a budget.

Preparation is the key to healthy eating habits

Prepare yourself some healthy snacks ahead of time, whether you are at home or at work. It’s very difficult to maintain healthy eating habits when we are starving.

Preparation is also the key to keeping your wastage down, and reducing the overall weekly shopping cost. Make sure that your vegetables and meat can be used for more than one dish to make healthy eating habits affordable.

Eating roast? Use the bone for soup the next day. Gearing up for a mean Chicken Korma on Friday night? Use the rest of the coriander stalks in freeze-able dipping sauce.

The Substitute

There are plenty of inexpensive substitutes for those horrible double-digit items on the supermarket receipt. You can eat healthily on a budget by:

• Squeezing some lemon juice in your water instead of buying expensive fruit juice, cordial and soft drinks.
• Freeze pots of yoghurt almost to fully frozen instead of buying ice cream.
• Asian-style noodles can be swapped for cheap, almost calorie-free rice noodles.
• Use textured vegetable protein or lentils in place of meat.

Speaking of meat…

Statistics show that vegetarians have a lower incidence of heart disease and cancer as well as lower blood pressure, and are generally slimmer. Meat is an expensive ingredient – you’ll be doing both your wallet and waistline a favour by giving it up a few nights per week. This is also in line with healthy living guidelines, which recommend that you eat around 65-100g of cooked red meat, 3-4 times a week.

If you start experimenting with chilli, curry and spices, there are few vegetarian dishes that can’t be jazzed up. Going vegetarian three nights a week will take quite a load off your wallet … and lighten the load on the inside of your pants as well.

Invest in a freezer

Did you know we throw out billions of dollars worth of food each year? A chest freezer will set you back a few hundred dollars – but they are a long term investment in both your health and your finances.

Having a deep freeze allows you to take advantage of all those awesome specials on bread, meat, your favourite frogurt, or whatever you like without wastage. A deep freeze allows you to keep snack- or meal-sized healthy portions for eating on the run.

Take your dollars out of that equation by making more of a meal than you need, and freezing the rest in portions. This cuts down waste, and your food bill, considerably.

Healthy eating on a budget is certainly possible … in some cases, healthy eating will naturally reduce your food bill without any extra effort (as it does when you cut down on meat consumption). The spare room in your pants will soon be taken up with extra $50 notes crowding out your hip pocket … and you could be using that money for an exotic holiday and showing off your new body in the Seychelles.