A tiger was chasing a man. The man reached the edge of an unused, dry well and jumped into it to save his life. A tree that grew from the cracked wall of the well proved to be Godsend for him. He held its branch and felt relieved. While above him the tiger roared, below in the well he saw a cobra. At the same time, two rats, one white and the other black had begun to bite through the branch of the tree. Suddenly, the man noticed honey dripping from beehive within his reach. Holding the branch with one hand, he started tasting honey with the other, and said how delicious it was?

The speed of a manager’s day can match the speed of a highway. Raman, CEO of a multinational company, gets up at 6 in the morning, switches on his PC to read overseas mails, requests his wife to wake up early, reads the newspapers, makes sure children are being ready, drops them to the bus stop, prepares himself for one hour of commuting time, conducts business while finishing his breakfast; upon reaching office, peruse e-mails, answer calls, attends series of meetings throughout the day, even as gulping down mugsful of coffee. He takes a light lunch, probably pizza. And then moves onto afternoon meetings and conferences. When evening arrives he calls up his wife to say - “I will be late”. And when he does go back home, through several traffic snarls, he reaches at around 10 to find his children asleep or sometimes waiting for him to finish their homework. Once the action of the day has ceased, they may try to unwind and watch TV - cricket match. Before they know it, they are asleep in their sofa. They head for bed, from where a few hours later, the day starts all over again. If all this is not stress-producing, then what is?

We live in times where there is pain and suffering. We work in a very high pressure, intense environment with a great deal of changing and challenging demands. Stress is like a rubber band. A rubber band breaks when stretched too far; human beings have a breaking point too. We stretch ourselves to meet demands of lifestyle and the environment around. Families are breaking down and children are crumbling under stress. Anxiety attacks, phobias and depression, heart disease, diabetes, chronic fatigue, allergies, blood pressure and headaches are just a few of the commonly listed complaints that originate from stress. Workplace stress cost business billion of rupees in accidents, brain drain, corporate fraud, and absenteeism. There is total disharmony between work and family life.

Stress is also a badge of owner in certain circles. If you are not stressed, you are not working hard enough. Executives across India tell us that stress levels are increasing. The demand of antidepressants and tranquilizers is increasing.

Stress, as an epidemic, has become the No. 1 killer.

Some research findings

• 49% of executives have experienced stress at work during the last 6 months.
• 52% say stress has increased over the last year.
• 49% feel stress is damaging their health.
• 72% get stressed from too much work.
• 40% say it is reducing their productivity.
• 30% of executives experiencing problems due to stress at work have sought medical or other professional help.
• 63% of executives experiencing problems due to stress at work expect the situation to remain unchanged or get worse in the coming years.
• Srinager, Patna, Mumbai and New Delhi respectively are the most stressful cities in India.
• Executives living in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore are most likely to work the longest hours. Executives living in Kolkata and Patna work the shortest hours.

Secrets of Stress-Free Life

Once we have identified our energy leaks, we can begin to recognize ways to close them. The secret is to learn how to empower our life and avoid becoming over-stressed. Some of the executives remain ignorant about their problems. It is a vulnerable state. Positive awareness is the key.

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Food is medicine. We must take three meals daily. In between three meals take only those things that can be washed with water. Fruits are our intimate friends. Don’t skip breakfast. Avoid alcohol. Take 8-10 glasses of water daily.

Exercise fuels the brain’s buffers. If you don’t have time for exercise, you will have enough time for diseases. Yoga is the vital principle of health and bliss.

Sleep is better than medicine. The best bridge between stress and health is a good night’s sleep. Don’t take drugs for inducing sleep. Learn sleep producing yogic exercises.

Breath is the life of all beings. The first job on the earth we perform is that we breathe in and the last job is that we breathe out. And we are not clear about it. We breathe normally 12-16 times. Take slow and deep breath. Breath is a junction point between mind, body and soul.

Anger is temporary madness. When you feel angry touch the roof of your mouth with your tongue. There is a pressure point for anger generators here. Your anger will dissolve immediately.

Worry looks around, sorrow looks back and faith looks up. Worry is a non-value added activity. Worry is what a dog does to a bone, chewing on it all day long, bleeding his mouth and sucking his own blood.

Fear is dark advisor.
Experiences Appearing Real.

Critics are like needles in a balloon factory. Don’t look for an opportunity to cut or blow away new ideas or deflate any achievement.

Forgiveness is a virtue.

Laughter is good. Humour is like an aspirin - only it works twice as fast.

Managing time means managing life.

Give - without expecting anything in return

Do one thing outside of your comfort zone that improves quality of your life.
Adopt a tree/flower.

Buy a small gift for your co-worker.
Dance/hum to your favorite music.
Call someone just to coffee or tea.
Tell someone: “I love you”.
Learn one new thing every week.
Every day acknowledge at least one thing in life for which you are grateful.

Umesh Sharma is a clinical psychologist