Stress of the Vanishing Lunch-break

Although we can safely ignore the idiotic ‘Lunch is for wimps’ challenge, made in that certain Michael Douglas movie, there is no doubt that the formal lunch-break, once the daily, universal custom, is being observed less and less frequently.

One explanation is clearly cultural, a social statement to do with an increasingly flexible workplace policy  -  a natural urge to distance yourself from the legacy world of typewriters and fixed working hours. To be seen at your desk between 12 and 2pm confirms that you are a member of the modern office culture, where you’re free to slip out to a coffee-shop at any time you want. It may also suggest a certain indispensability.

But a much more important factor is the new dynamic of the workplace, where commercial pressures put even junior executives into an entrepreneurial mindset. They may be waiting for some crucial email that requires their urgent attention. More likely, they might be working through a complex commercial problem involving an important contract, so that going off to lunch might be completely unrealistic. Or, if a lawyer, they may be charging-up billable time, where the temptation to charge an extra hour, may be irresistible.

Wrong Focus

I once had to counsel an ambitious young lady called Amanda in Dubai, who was in her first job as a sales consultant at a travel agents. The basic salary was very low, but the bonuses could mount up if she made enough sales.

The trouble was that most of the customers came in at lunchtime, and the sales staff were tempted to skip their own lunch-break in order to increase their monthly  bonuses. As this was good for business, the manager did nothing to discourage the habit.

However, two of the other saleswomen pointedly refused to do this, saying that their lunch was important to them, so Amanda found she was picking up even more sales by staying at her desk at the time when she should have been taking a break. (Meanwhile it was forbidden to snack at the desk for reasons of company image. Only coffee being allowed.)

Like many others of my clients, in the enthusiasm to focus on her monthly pay, she forgot to focus on her health. Month after month, she simply failed to eat properly through the day (though she drank a good deal of coffee) and she found herself taking more and more headache pills. Stress can make you vulnerable, as I can testify, and sure enough, during a local outbreak of flu, Amanda went off sick for nearly two weeks, but her two colleagues shrugged it off. That loss of two weeks’ earnings finally made her realise what was important. There could be no clearer illustration of the value of a regular mid-day lunch-break with a healthy walk and a nourishing diet.  Keeping your body running smoothly with nutrients is even more important than putting gas in your car.  You can always get a new car if the old one breaks down…

 Key points about the disappearing lunch-break

• The lunch-break is often mistakenly seen as unnecessary
• Modern workplace pressures make it hard to leave your screen
• Direct incentives may also tempt you into working through lunch

[Reproduced with the kind permission of Gulf News]

Book Motivational Speaker, BBC guest-broadcaster and best-selling Author, Carole Spiers in person for your next conference for a charismatic, high-impact presentation on proven stress management and organisational change strategies.  See Carole live http://bit.ly/TUWbX

Contact Carole  for a FREE stress strategy consultation – Tel:  +44 (0) 20 8954 1593   or email info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk.    She is dedicated to supporting your long-term growth through talent retention rooted in effective stress management.

Or check-out our latest professional stress reduction products http://bit.ly/FjL5L and stress management services delivered to blue-chip clients from IBM to Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company in UK, UAE and worldwide at www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk

Dubai – A World Centre of Excellence

Dubai, as a successful new financial centre, has inevitably been impacted  by the global credit crunch, although somewhat later and not as severely as in Europe or America.  

Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Investment bank in the US last year, the world economy has undoubtedly been in a mess and there has been a significant economic contraction that has affected business and consumer confidence.

That there are financial problems, as in New York or London, is clear – but there is no doubt that the Dubai government of HM Sheikh Mohammed will find the necessary solutions with its international partners. The country has supreme confidence in this.

The last few days has, however, drawn some media distortion from certain journalists who are always willing to ‘invent’ a catastrophe, where none exists.  Some of the world’s press, may have jumped on Dubai’s financial challenges, and in doing so, have ignored many of the facts – ten of the more obvious being: 

1. The financial crisis and economic turndown are global phenomena
2. Arguably, both the UAE, and Dubai in particular, have fared no differently than other financial centres – possibly better.
3. There is an element of schadenfreude in a proportion of press comment
4. Dubai has proved itself to be a centre of excellence and achievement in many fields, over the past decade.
5. Its architectural innovation and engineering ingenuity, are the envy of the world
6. The tallest, inhabited building anywhere on the planet, the Burj Dubai, at over 800m tall, is a monument to the most advanced civil engineering technology in the world and a triumph of unsurpassed architectural know-how
7. Hotel accommodation and hospitality accommodation is of such a high standard that it is unrivalled in New York, Paris or London
8. The crime rate in the UAE is, compared to Europe or  America, non-existent
9. Emirates Airline offers the most advanced flying experience anywhere in the world
10. Hospitals and medical services in Dubai are of a world-class standard and attract eminent specialists from around the globe

To try to evaluate Dubai against European or American standards, is problematical.   The Emirate of Dubai is an autocracy than runs and has run extremely successfully.  Government policies have been some of the most far-sighted of any country, building an unparalleled infrastructure in a timescale that has astonished other nations with its attention to detail and excellence of design.

I, myself, have advised many senior management teams in Dubai, and the UAE, for over five years.  Having worked all over the globe, in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia in a period spanning twenty years – I am today, extremely proud of being associated with the extraordinary achievements of the Dubai government of HM Sheikh Mohammed.

Dealing on a professional basis with CEOs and executives throughout UAE’s industry and the professions, I am constantly impressed with the level of higher education (the number of MBAs and Doctorates is extraordinary), and the pride that Emiratis and expatriates take in their achievements.

Over the past decade, millions have come to Dubai from every continent on the planet – many via Emirates Airlines – to see for themselves a true example, the only example, of 21^st century architecture and engineering – all within a crime-free environment.    Most visitors are hugely impressed.

Dubai will survive – leaner but stronger, and will continue to be an exemplar to the world of how to apply modern technology to provide good living.  [Reproduced with the kind permission of Gulf News]

Book Motivational Speaker, BBC guest-broadcaster and best-selling Author, Carole Spiers in person for your next conference for a charismatic, high-impact presentation on proven stress management and organisational change strategies.  See Carole live http://bit.ly/TUWbX

Contact Carole  for a FREE stress consultation – Tel:  +44 (0) 20 8954 1593   or email info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk.    She is dedicated to supporting your long-term growth through talent retention rooted in effective stress management.

Or check-out our latest professional stress reduction products http://bit.ly/FjL5L and stress management services delivered to blue-chip clients from IBM to Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company in UK, UAE and worldwide at www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk

The Stress of Formula 1

No, I wasn’t here for the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but I’d watched some of the preparations down at the Yas Marina, and was vividly reminded of the day I was invited by a longstanding client, called Colin, to his Corporate Hospitality event at the UK’s big Formula 1 venue, Silverstone.

I’d never taken much interest in the world of motor-racing before, but by the end of that day, I had identified it as the sport that most reflected the stress of big business. For a start, it was the only sport I’d ever watched that looked rather unhealthy. It seemed to me that a contestant would need to take regular exercise to compensate for the odd mix of physical inertia and acute mental pressure of life on the track.

The furious sense of competition seemed to me rather excessive – the idea that if you didn’t finish up there in the first three, you were more-or-less in disgrace. (It didn’t need a stress expert to note how much dangerous pressure that would set up.) The split-second overtaking and cornering techniques were obviously non-stop tension. And although you expect trophy-winners to let-off a bit of steam, I could see how those hysterical celebration rituals would increase the stress further still.

But it was the pit-stops that really concerned me. Watching those teams of men down in the bay, rushing to service the cars in that emergency atmosphere, desperate to clip seconds off their re-fuelling and tyre-changing, reminded me of every computer crash I had ever experienced – the automatic sense of crisis, the feeling that every second counts, and super-human efforts being made, just to restore the normal state of things.

Deeply troubled man

The grand reception after the race was also revealing – and also conducted in an over-heightened atmosphere, as it seemed to me. The entertainment was most generous, but somehow more lavish than necessary. I couldn’t imagine wanting to eat and drink as much as that.

Colin was an old friend of one of the contestants, Steve, who had not driven particularly well that day, and was clearly not happy about it. Behind the polite conversation, I could detect a smouldering resentment in Steve. A few minutes’ dialogue revealed that he had been trying to win this particular event for years, with no success. He had never held up that coveted trophy, to the roar of the crowd. And he wasn’t getting any younger.

Listening to Steve, and discreetly studying his body-language and general demeanour, I felt strongly that this was a man who would soon be needing his own personal ‘pit-stop repair session’.

So I wasn’t too surprised to hear from Colin, the following year, that Steve had failed his insurance medical and would not be allowed on the track. I felt that this was a deeply troubled man who ought to have stress counselling, and after some persuading, he agreed to it. I told him that he maybe he should consider making a clean break from the whole stressful atmosphere of the motor-racing world, and re-invent himself in another field altogether. He is now a part-time tourist guide in a small city that he knows well (plenty of healthy walking there), and a partner in a firm that supplies specialist equipment – not to race-tracks but to dairies. Colin tells me he’s a new man.

Key Points About the Stress of Formula 1

• Motor-racing is an unusual mix of physical inertia and mental stress

 • The traditional track-side entertainment is liable to heighten pressure

• Those who don’t feel they’re winning should break clean away from it

[Reproduced with the kind permission of Gulf News]

Book Motivational Speaker, BBC guest-broadcaster and best-selling Author, Carole Spiers in person for your next conference, for a charismatic, high-impact presentation on proven stress management and organisational change strategies.  See Carole live http://bit.ly/TUWbX

Contact Carole  for a FREE stress consultation – Tel:  +44 (0) 20 8954 1593   or email info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk.    She is dedicated to supporting your long-term growth through talent retention rooted in effective stress management.

Or check-out our latest professional stress reduction products http://bit.ly/FjL5L and stress management services delivered to blue-chip clients from IBM to Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company in UK, UAE and worldwide at www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk

Spreading the Word on Stress

“We’re not in the market today, thank you!”

Whether you’re trying to sell a single product or a whole new concept, I guess you’ll have been hearing those depressing words regularly during this recession.

Well, this is the 10th anniversary of a national, anti-stress initiative that I launched in the UK  -  which at first met with much scepticism but is now firmly established as an annual event in the British calendar of stress management.

It was at a meeting of our professional charity, the International Stress Management Association (ISMA), that we were sitting around the table discussing ideas to keep stress high on the national agenda.

Someone vaguely mentioned ‘focus’, and suddenly I saw that the whole emphasis could be focused on a single day in the year: ‘National Stress Awareness Day’. Everyone loved this concept although nobody could suggest how to pay for it!

With sponsorship in mind, one of our colleagues introduced us to an Australian telecoms company, Telstra, who at our first meeting showed all the signs of being singularly unimpressed. However, as I never like to leave people in a negative mood, I ended my presentation by asking if they would each like to test their individual stress levels.  They all readily agreed.

I took one of our company products out of my briefcase – a small business card embedded with tiny crystals that change colour with temperature which by pressing your thumb on the pad on the front of the card, you can get an instant readout of your own stress levels.

This small demonstration impressed them, and suddenly they agreed to be our first sponsors.  And so, the first Wednesday in November every year became recognised as National Stress Awareness Day, in the UK.

Noticed by the media

You can imagine how fulfilling it was for me, on our first big day, to step aboard the red, double-decker Stress Bus, promoting ‘National Stress Awareness Day’ from its sides, as we set about touring London.

Wherever we stopped, people came pouring out of the offices to come on board the bus. Predictably, they all loved testing their stress levels, and this led on to a more formal programme of stress training, consultations and therapy sessions. As hoped, all of this was noticed by the media, who came aboard in large numbers. It’s hard to believe, but I had completed thirty BBC radio and TV interviews by 9am! By the evening, National Stress Awareness Day had been featured prominently by the Evening Standard, Bloomberg, CNN and Sky News, amongst others.

In subsequent years, we didn’t have to look far for other sponsors. One of them was the Health and Safety Executive  -  a valuable seal of approval from an important government body. Soon, National Stress Awareness Day was being celebrated well beyond London.  Members of the Association would run training initiatives up and down the country and it had become, an ‘event’.

Ten years on, my next challenge is to launch ISMA Middle East, here in the UAE. As you know, this column is equipped with a Readers’ Comments feature, so let me know your opinion, whether you are an individual, stressed-out at work; a stress management consultant or a potential, corporate sponsor.

The launch of a Middle East branch of the ISMA, will reinforce my other role here in Dubai as a motivational speaker, showing both individuals and management how to face and overcome the current challenges inherent in times of change and economic uncertainty.

Hopefully, we may soon be hearing about International Stress Awareness Day, with red double-decker buses driving around Oxford Street in London and Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai!

Key Points about National Stress Awareness Day

• The initial proposal for a special stress-awareness day was greeted with scepticism
• Today National Stress Awareness Day in UK is 10 years old
• The overcoming of ‘impossible’ challenges. is a story many find inspiring

[Reproduced with the kind permission of Gulf News]

 Build a believable vision of a corporate future  -  with ‘Change is your Opportunity for Growth’  -  just one of Keynote Presenter, Carole Spiers’ presentations that have decisively changed attitudes and mindsets!  See Carole live http://bit.ly/TUWbX

Book Motivational Speaker, BBC guest-broadcaster and best-selling Author, Carole Spiers in person for your next conference, for a charismatic, high-impact presentation on proven stress management and organisational change strategies. Tel:  +44 (0) 20 8954 1593         +44 (0) 20 8954 1593  or email info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk. 

Or check-out our latest professional stress reduction products http://bit.ly/FjL5L and stress management services delivered to blue-chip clients from IBM to Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company in UK, UAE and worldwide at www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk

More than a gleam of optimism in Dubai

Heading back to London, last week from Dubai, I reflected that the economic indicators for recovery in the Emirates, and of commercial confidence, are looking good.   That is confirmed by a new forecast by global HR consultants, Mercer, that salaries are predicted to rise by up to 7.5% in the next year, following a separate finding from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, showing that UAE is now firmly in recovery mode from the global downturn.

So what conclusions can be drawn from my own varied schedule of meetings with all manner of people across the corporate, retail and government sectors?

We might take note of the audience research from Naseba’s high profile Women in Leadership Forum, held last week in Dubai’s luxury Atlantis hotel, where I had the pleasure of presenting a well-attended stress management workshop. Not only did these women represent a most impressive cross-section of both national and international, executive, female talent, but  I felt a strong respect for all these highly motivated women who were succeeding in so many different areas of commerce, business and the professions. However, concerns were expressed regarding long working hours, poor communications and, sometimes, management systems that were less than efficient.  Nevertheless, I detected an abundance of confidence, along with a strong awareness of the challenges ahead and the need to adapt to the inevitable corporate change.

In denial

This corporate change has had a good deal to do with the UAE’s recent experience of its first-ever recession  -  a traumatic experience, as I can personally testify. Throughout the past twenty years, there have been a number of economic downturns in Europe, but none to match the severity of this recession. This week has reminded me of one of my old clients in Abu Dhabi, from some years back.

As he was a well-known name in the oil and gas industry of the 80’s and 90’s, I had better re-name him Ihab. He was a towering figure who had put his company firmly on the world map. In the good years, Ihab couldn’t put a foot wrong, and it seemed that he had been born to rule the industry. But this recession affected him badly  -  and revealed unsuspected weaknesses. For he had been totally unprepared for such severe setbacks, and went straight into denial. When he was advised that he must make some of his own appointees redundant, he became literally incapable of making decisions, in a way that nobody had seen him before. In other words, he was good at building-up a business during the good times, but hopeless at managing it through the difficult times. This required a whole different breed of manager. And before long, these new managers had to do the unthinkable, and make Ihab himself, redundant.

As I watched the Dubai lights twinkling below me, as I relaxed in my comfortable  Emirates Airlines jet, I remind myself that I am both an insider and an outsider, and it is this that gives me such a good perspective from which to evaluate the future of Dubai and the Emirates.

I believe that the UAE will experience continued growth as an international, commercial hub and tourist destination. There is nowhere in the world that has built such an amazing infrastructure, incorporating the very latest advances in technical design and utilising the best talent from around the globe.

Dubai already has one of the best international airlines and soon the world’s largest new airport for intercontinental travellers, and not to mention the world’s tallest building at over 800m – and the shrewd, global investments by the UAE will ensure that it is now an economic force that demands worldwide respect.

 Key Points about UAE’s first recession

• Reliable economic surveys present a favourable outlook for the UAE
• A businesswomen’s Forum confirmed commitment and thirst for learning
• Management needs to be proficient in skills that can handle recession

[Reproduced with the kind permission of Gulf News]

 Build a believable vision of a corporate future  -  with ‘Change is your Opportunity for Growth’  -  just one of Keynote Presenter, Carole Spiers’ presentations that have decisively changed attitudes and mindsets!  See Carole live http://bit.ly/TUWbX

Book Motivational Speaker, BBC guest-broadcaster and best-selling Author, Carole Spiers in person for your next conference, for a charismatic, high-impact presentation on proven stress management and organisational change strategies. Tel: +44 (0) 20 8954 1593  or email info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk. 

Or check-out our latest professional stress reduction products http://bit.ly/FjL5L and stress management services delivered to blue-chip clients from IBM to Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company in UK, UAE and worldwide at www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk

Dubai emerging leaner, stronger

Five months is a long time to be away from my home in Dubai  -  my second home, that is  -  and as we touched down at Dubai International, courtesy of Emirates Airlines, (probably the best airline anywhere), I wondered if things had really got as bad as the scare-stories would have us believe.

For the world’s media have certainly seized upon Dubai as the fallen idol of the Middle East  -  once, they wrote, ‘the byword for 21^st century, futuristic architecture and unrivalled prosperity, the epitome of luxury and excellence’ – and now depicted as a ghost town of empty shops and restaurants, and huge deserted building-sites topped by motionless  cranes.

Generally, I have tried to keep these stories in proportion, assuming that the media would take the opportunity of exaggerating them into a new mythology of hubris and nemesis.

Knowing the Dubai business world as I do  -  from the major internationals to the local corner-shops, and from CEOs to taxi-drivers  -  I did not believe that these resilient people would lose heart to that kind of degree.

Even the reported mass-flight of the expats sounded highly exaggerated. When our plane landed, I’d already made a note to look at the airport car-park. Was it really littered with abandoned Mercedes and Lamborghinis left over from the boom, as their owners fled home? Well, not that I could see!

Next stop was my usual check-in at the Royal Home Hotel Apartments in Bur Dubai, where my welcome was as effusive as ever. No sign of low morale there. However, the view from my window did show the building site opposite, as unchanged since last time, confirming the real-estate slump.

Then for lunch at the Kamat Indian restaurant nearby which, I reckoned, would probably be as good a barometer of trading conditions as any. The classic aroma of fresh lime pickle and saffron was as wholesome as ever, signalling business as usual  -  or nearly so, said the manager, as business was maybe down a little but was now steadily increasing again.

Hope of the future

And then to work  -  my first assignment was a presentation to Dubai Internet City Toastmaster’s Group, on ‘Using the Internet to gain Business’. No sign of pessimism here, but a group of local business people full of enthusiasm for the growth of the local economy. This worldwide leader of communication and leadership development celebrated 85 years in business this week, having taken quite a few recessions in its stride, and it was an honour and a pleasure for me to address them.  Next stop would be the Women in Leadership conference at the Atlantis …

Travelling back to the hotel along the Sheikh Zayed Road (noting in passing that the new Metro does not seem to have had much effect on the traffic congestion), my vision is inevitably dominated by the awesome Burj Dubai, due for completion in December, apparently supremely unaffected by the recent recession.

But of course the Burj is something more than just real-estate. It’s a symbol of everything Dubai stands for, and it truly represents the hope of the future. When I consider the sheer extent of the teamwork and technical expertise that must have gone into this great engineering miracle, I am reassured that Dubai has what it takes to survive the recession and emerge triumphantly at the other end.

For it is not just Emiratis whose vision is dominated by the Burj, but the whole astonished world. Don’t believe what you may read abroad about Dubai failing to cope with its first recession. Dubai is emerging leaner and stronger – a miracle of faith, planning and the genius of the vision of HM Sheikh Mohammed.

Are you working in Dubai?  How is the recession affecting you?  In our readers comments box now…

[Reproduced with the kind permission of Gulf News]

 Build a believable vision of a corporate future  -  with ‘Change is your Opportunity for Growth’  -  just one of Keynote Presenter, Carole Spiers’ presentations that have decisively changed attitudes and mindsets!  See Carole live http://bit.ly/TUWbX

Book Motivational Speaker, BBC guest-broadcaster and best-selling Author, Carole Spiers in person for your next conference, for a charismatic, high-impact presentation on proven stress management and organisational change strategies. Tel:  +44 (0) 20 8954 1593 or email info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk.

Or check-out our latest professional stress reduction products http://bit.ly/FjL5L and stress management services delivered to blue-chip clients from Bank of England to Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company in UK, UAE and worldwide at www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk

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Your property may be valuable. But that doesn’t make you a property expert. Don’t give up the day job > http://ping.fm/5SAWF

Motivational Speaker Carole Spiers says … Don’t let your emails stress you out

I had known and liked Omar for years; we attended many of the same conferences, and when I told him I was a stress consultant, he joked that unfortunately he wasn’t likely to need my services. Early in life, he had accurately sized himself up as a modest performer, and he had found his natural level in a small company supplying washroom towels and soap dispensers to lower-end clients throughout UAE. The Janitor, people called him.

Watching his more ambitious friends, and their struggles at coping with stress, he believed he had found the stress-free life he sought. Clients came back year after year, partly because of the pleasant and unhurried atmosphere in his office, and the natural good manners he displayed. This also contributed to the team-building agenda  -  retaining staff who knew they could earn more elsewhere.

But then came email. He said he could feel in the air that it was the enemy of the quiet life. And this was confirmed by events. Suddenly a crisis atmosphere took over, as standard  -  whether or not there was any genuine emergency. There was no such thing as a solid hour, only sixty lots of one-minute panics. This killed all attempts at concentrating on a problem. In fact, the time-saving aspects of email seemed to be outweighed by the inefficient time-management that they encouraged.

But it was when he found himself turning into completely different personality, rude and impatient with colleagues and clients, that he decided to dig out my card from the bottom of his file, and ask for a stress consultation.

Fortunately, I was able to reassure him that there were well-tested solutions to his problem. He ought to realize that inbox management  -  compressing files, keeping the ‘new email’ alert switched off etc.  -  was a necessary drill, to be practised like driving a car. Efficient archiving, integrating emails with calendars, reporting spam …  All put together, these significantly relieved the stress of daily business.

I still detected an unspoken lament. How could the simple world of roller-towels and hand-cream generate such high tension? Just what had happened to that nice stress-free career he had settled for? I told him he must improve his attitude to managing change  -  learn to embrace the email way-of-life with enthusiasm, not reluctance.

Later he told me he had forced himself to do just that, and was now confidently in control of his emails  -  and his stress. I said it was like coming home from the dentist.

“That wasn’t so painful, was it?”

Does email stress you out?  Leave a comment and let us know.

[Reproduced with the kind permission of Gulf News]

Build a believable vision of a corporate future  -  with ‘Change is your Opportunity for Growth’  -  just one of the Carole Spiers speeches that have decisively changed opinions.

Book Motivational Speaker, BBC Broadcaster and best-selling Author, Carole Spiers in person for your next conference for a high impact, charismatic, rich content presentation on +44 (0) 20 8954 1593 or email:  info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk

Or check-out latest professional stress reduction products and services at:  www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk

A good makeover can reduce the stress of business in a recession…

A good makeover can reduce the stress of business in a recession

A makeover may not seem the most obvious remedy for the stress symptoms of a recession. But recent research indicates that women are spending more on their clothes, hair and general makeover than they were a couple of years ago.

One reason may be the lower prices on offer. Another may be that woman’s jobs are less affected in a recession than men’s.

But the impact of new clothes and a good hairdo on a businesswoman’s confidence is also a big factor in the survival of businesses that are in danger of folding, and therefore in the reduction of work stress. The confidence and poise of a well-dressed and well-coiffed woman may be just what puts out the signals that reassures clients and suppliers, and could make the difference between surviving and going under. In situations that are at risk of turning desperate, to act as though everything is in order may be the best way to restore order.

Have you… seen any cases of a woman overcoming recession blues by optimising her makeover? Tell us about it now.

Find out more about these and many other aspects of stress management at info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk. Tel:  +44 (0) 20 8954 1593 www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk

A makeover may not seem the most obvious remedy for the stress symptoms of a recession. But recent research indicates that women are spending more on their clothes, hair and general makeover than they were a couple of years ago.

One reason may be the lower prices on offer. Another may be that woman’s jobs are less affected in a recession than men’s.

But the impact of new clothes and a good hairdo on a businesswoman’s confidence is also a big factor in the survival of businesses that are in danger of folding, and therefore in the reduction of work stress.

The confidence and poise of a well-dressed and well-coiffed woman may be just what puts out the signals that reassures clients and suppliers, and could make the difference between surviving and going under. In situations that are at risk of turning desperate, to act as though everything is in order may be the best way to restore order.

Have you… seen any cases of a woman overcoming recession blues by optimising her makeover?  Tell us about it now.

Find out more about these and many other aspects of stress management at info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk. Tel:  +44 (0) 20 8954 1593 www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk

Discover how to reduce the stress of back-to-school

To me, the handling of back-to-school pressures is easily recognisable as a branch of Change Management, today’s most topical intervention in the handling of stress symptoms.

There is the change from holiday culture into term-time culture. Then there are changes in the child itself, often marked decisively by the educational milestones: new term, new year, new school. And these are also milestones for parents too.

Logically, you would expect parental stress to rise with each stage of education, according to its perceived importance  -  together with its rocketing cost, whether or not there are school-fees involved.

But personally I see it the other way round. To me, the first day at kindergarden  -  which looks unimportant  -  is the seminal moment, when the child’s eyes and ears are most open to its unfamiliar surroundings, and it is most responsive to atmosphere. A good stress-free first day at school seems to me worth everything else put together.

Have you… experienced stress at Back-to-school time? Add your comment here.

Find out more about these and many other aspects of stress management at info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk. Tel:  +44 (0) 20 8954 1593 www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk