Category: Management

“When it rains, It pours!” : Ways to fight stress!

Paul

The Emotional Side of Job Search Image by danieljohnsonjr via Flickr

Your doing your usual stuff and the something happens.   You really don’t know what to think or do.   You could be in shock, or just disbelief.   I have had that happen last week.   I thought it would be fun to discuss this and give a few insights as to what I learned.

The back story

I was at work doing what I normally did to make the customers happy.   My job was one of those really good jobs where you would have to always listen to the customer and try to help resolve their problem(s).  It isn’t the easiest job in the world, and I bet most technicians would also agree that sometimes the customer can be down right mean or even rude to the technician just because they have no one else to yell at.  Last week I lost one of my dearest and most paying contracts, it isn’t easy to just sit still and wonder how will I pay bills now without this retainer client.   I bet Mike Smith has this problem all the time and probably worries about it every week when he losses a client like this.  Some of things that I want to know is how do others deal with stress.

Stress is a killer

I know I am not the only one who has to deal with the stress.   I do however wanted to come up with a way to help prevent some of the stress from happening.  According to some places, Stress can be a great motivator and also be our downfall in the long.   I say this not to scare people but to bring up some very important topics that I thought we should at least look at:

  • Stress is different for each person — Now I am not saying that some people don’t have stress but they do not show it very often if never.   You may never know that some person you are talking to is having a stress full day because they may never show the signs of being under stress.

  • Stress makes you grow older quicker —  Now this is something that I have felt in the past when I have more stress it makes me feel older and not like I used to be.   This also can be a bad side effect, because it will sometimes send people into a depressed state.

  • Stress can give your High Blood pressure —  I should know about this one because this has been my case for the few years.  This is something that I have had to deal with because of what all stress has been put under my belt the last few years.

Fighting Stress

So you have thought about it and have come to the conclusion that you have to much stress in your life.   You’re probably like me and want to reduce some of the stress that you are having right about now.   I know I hate stress and what it does to my body.   I wanted to share some ways to reduce the stress in your life so you can live a healthier and longer life.

  • Exercising —  This is one of those many found truths that if you exercise everyday, either by walking or do aerobics you can decrease the stress in your life in one way or another.  You should however do something once a day for at least an hour.   I have found walking on paths to be my best way to relieve stress .

  • Journaling — I have found sitting down to blog to be a great way to reduce my stress in my life.  If you don’t have a blog or know how to blog this is great time to start.   You can start by creating your free blog at wordpress.com and not have to worry about any of the problems of hosting or domain services.

  • Find a friend — another great way is to talk to someone about your problems and your stress.   Although some people will not do this it is  however a good way to relieve or at least reduce your stress.  Just talking to someone can help you live longer.

  • Praying — Yes You’ve heard me right.   I have found this to be best way to reduce stress.   You may not know this but I do believe in God and every time something happens, I ask God what to do.   He has answered a lot of questions in his own way.   God has been a source of strength and peace in my every day life.

  • Music — Find some uplifting music and listen to it.   If you find music that lifts your spirit then you will reduce stress in more ways than one.   I have found this to also help my stress.  Most of the time I start singing and I feel my stress going away.   I might not be the best singer but I do sing and it does help.

These are just a few but I will let you figure out how to fight stress.   I’d love to hear how you fight stress and what has worked for you when it comes to relieving your stress.   Please feel free to comment and help me make my life less stressful.

Paul Sylvester

Related articles

Rumor is that Itunes will Remove DRM!

Paul

[ad#ad2-right]A report from last week brought to AppleInsider‘s attention by French technology site ElectronLibre asserts that it’s now “clear” Apple will spark new interest in its music store by removing DRM from tracks published by Sony, Universal and Warner on December 9th.

[Via Apple Insider]

Although, this is somewhat unlikely I’ve got my own theories on this.  You see If Apple did this tomorrow that would be a BIG deal, due to the fact that Microsoft will be releasing there patches on the same day.  I find it would be a momentous occasion.

[ad#ad2-left]I can only guess why and the guess is just a guess.  If Itune’s did remove there DRM the same time as Microsoft Patch Tuesday, I’d have to guess they will co-inside because of the difficulty of using the DRM, Digital Rights Management, on other products.  For example, Windows Media Player .  If Apple decided to approach Microsoft and come up with a way to make sure all DRM is stripped this would be the ideal situation.   Although this is highly unlikely, I’d have to think Apple wouldn’t wait till tomorrow to strip the DRM.  They know Microsoft schedule.  We will have to find out in the coming days.

Viacom and ATT layoff some people. (12,850 People)

Paul

Today, we are announcing a company-wide restructuring plan that includes staffing reductions in all divisions. This will result in a reduction of our worldwide workforce of approximately 7 percent, or about 850 positions. We are also suspending salary increases for the Company’s senior level management in 2009. In addition, after a comprehensive review of our operations, we will write down certain programming and other assets. These three actions will bring us significant cost savings and other efficiencies.

[via Gawker]

[ad#ad2-left]This is a Sad day for the telecommunications industry both AT&T and Viacom are laying off people. According to reports Viacom will lay off around 850 people. ATT will layoff 12,000 Jobs. Here’s the quote from Associated Press:

AT&T Inc. joined the recession’s parade of layoffs Thursday by announcing plans to cut 12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its work force.

[Via Associated Press]

So in all today total that is 12,850 people who are going to be laid off. This is another set of layoffs but isn’t the last to see the whole list of of Layoffs in the Tech industry that I’ve talked about please click this link. You may find some usefull tidbits if you search my blog enough, I’ve got some great tips on getting hired and what you should do to be prepared.

Adobe Lays off 600 people

Paul

Adobe might also hire new workers within Europe, he said. The cuts will be formally announced on Dec. 15 when the company releases its fourth-quarter financial report.

[via Infoworld]

[ad#ad2-right]This is another technology company to lay off people, there are some talks that it would be around 600 workers on some blogs. Others are just talking about the Management shakedown, and some workers are going to be moved around. I don’t know who is going to be laid off, or if there will be a tremendous amount of people who will need to start looking for a job. I do know that Adobe is looking for ways to cut cost, and I expect they are having problems just because of the Recession.  If you want to check out other jobs that have laid people off, just click this link.

[ad#ad2-left]

Adobe also announced the implementation of a restructuring program, and has taken steps to reduce its headcount by approximately 600 full-time positions globally. The restructuring will result in anticipated pre-tax charges totaling approximately $44 million to $50 million. The Company expects approximately $28 million to $30 million of the restructuring charges to be recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2008.

[Via Adobe Blog]

This the press release for Adobe and I wanted to share with you what they said. So it is confirmed they want to get rid of 600 people. Sad to hear, but that isn’t the only layoffs in the industry. If I find out anything else I’ll let you know!!

Technorati Officially laysoff 6 people!!

Paul

Technorati released today they are going to Lay off 6 people and I will quote:
[ad#ad2-left-1]

Unfortunately, this means sacrifices. Technorati’s management team members are taking pay cuts ranging from 15-25% and employees are taking 10% cut. This also includes the reallocation of staff. We’re laying off six employees today – including two executives — and there are two additional departures we won’t replace. These are high performers who have worked long hours to get us where we are now. They’re also friends, and we’re very sad to see them go. We simply need a leaner and reconfigured mix to get us through 2009.

[via Technorati Weblog]

They will also be taking pay cuts all through the company.  So the recession is hitting them also.  I am sure CEO Richard Jalichandra has the company interest in mind.  According to Techchunch, they have added these recent layoffs ticker.   You can also search my blog for other layoffs that have happened or will happen.