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Don’t mess with stress Stress-busters
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Are you struggling to cope? There are simple measures to keep tension at bay, writes K. Jeshi
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Photo: M. Periasamy
Unwind Employees of Blue Lotus go rock climbing.
It leaves you exhausted. And, has you struggling with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, anxiety, and overeating. As life speeds up, stress is always in the news. Get creative and keep stress at bay. It could be as simple as talking t
o a friend, putting your thoughts on a blog, taking a brisk walk or just meditating.
In the corporate world, the situation of ‘more demands and less time’ leaves you with the ‘just can’t cope’ feeling. But, help is at hand. The employers adopt several programmes to help employees enjoy every moment of their professional life.
Sweat it out
According to R. Shyam Sunder, Vice-President – HR of KG Information Systems Limited: “Though our employees are aware, what is missing is a motivation to beat stress in a healthy way. So, we plan a lot of outdoor events for the weekends, where they sweat it out. Non-alcoholic dance also works wonders.”
Cognizant has introduced fitness packages such as Tae-Bo, free style dancing, kick boxing, meditation and pranayama that employees can choose from to stay fit.
Positive stress
“In my opinion, the stress generated in the IT industry is positive. If an individual wants to take life easy, he can sit back and relax, but he cannot achieve anything in life. Rewards and recognition come to people who are hard-working, and who love challenges in life,” says Bhaskar Das, Vice-President, Human Resources, Cognizant. Employees are encouraged to unleash their creative energies, and even relive their good old school days through fun events and contests such as Xbox gaming, treasure hunts, onsite/offshore jugal bandi, music shows and quiz.
“It is not just about project pressures or meeting deadlines. Celebrating work, exploring creative talents, unwinding with our teams and fitness programmes keep us fresh with passionate energy,” Bhaskar Das adds. Team outings, trekking, adventure activities such as rappelling are a few other escapades offered to employees from stress and tension.
Smiley balls work wonders
Adventure sport is a great way to keep the adrenaline flowing. Rock climbing, trekking or even something as exciting as ‘fire walking’, could do the job. “It is a part of ‘possibility thinking’ exercise,” says P.A. Narrendiran, senior associate of Blue Lotus Communication Pvt Ltd.
“And, you don’t even feel an inch of pain on your feet,” he says about walking on fire.
“It is the concentration of the mind that matters. Twice a year, adventure activities are planned for our team on the breathtaking Bombay—Pune stretch to recharge our batteries,” he adds. Such activities remove the fear factor, and boost confidence levels immensely.
“When I am holding the rope and climbing down a rock, my life is in my hands. If I can save myself from danger, handling pressure from clients at work seems trivial,” Narrendiran adds.
Cognizant also has two corporate employee bands—Euphony and Waves, which conduct musical evenings for the employees to help them relax, refresh and rejoice after the day’s work.
Morale booster
The positive outcome of these activities is plenty. The boost in morale improves performance, strengthens loyalty and creates an opportunity to align with the goals of the organisation.
Technology too has evolved as a stress-buster.
Blogging, for instance.Funny situations in life, inspiring stories, personal achievements; everything finds a place here.
Mounting pressures
While there are so many ways of busting stress, why is there so much anxiety around?
“Because, we want to accommodate too many things in a short period. With a bombardment of information and opportunities, we want to grab everything,” says N. Chandramouli, CEO of Blue Lotus.
Over-expectation, setting high personal standards and poor time management add to the problem.
“We call new age-workers ‘prosumers’ — proactive consumers. We don’t need to tell them they are stressed out, they know it. We only provide them the opportunities to let off steam. It could be through salsa, yoga or even vigorous rock climbing,” he concludes.
* * *
Plan your schedule
Pat yourself for a good job
Engage in informal chat
Personalise your work space
Laugh your stress away
For a little while disconnect the phones and computer
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