While sitting at your desk the phone rings, simultaneously two very upset staff members knock on your door, just as you notice an e-mail from a Partner that requires immediate attention. Your heart starts pounding as stress shows up once again. At our jobs, it seems that multitasking is the norm, yet learning to find a way to relax amidst the many tasks we face is a challenge and requirement for maintaining our health.

The body is always signaling us when we have stress, often beginning as whispers such as small aches or tightness, but when we ignore these symptoms; the body speaks louder. and louder, until the discomfort can't be ignored. The first step to change is awareness so learning to recognize the specific stress signs you have and develop a protocol for self-nurturance is key to positive change.

Stress is a cumulative disease, the more you ignore the symptoms, the worse they become. Though it is easy to rationalize away our stress since it is so prevalent in our jobs, it is a serious matter that needs to be addressed. Though most people know that stress has been linked to problems such as ulcers and insomnia, many people aren't aware that it has also been linked to Alzheimer's Disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and heart attacks. Psychologically, people that are stressed may have loss of concentration, make poor judgments, and have inappropriate emotional outbursts.

There is a positive side to this. Through taking a few minutes a day to practice managing your stress, you can not only reverse the symptoms of stress, but people who practice stress management on a daily basis, develop a resistance to stress so that they don't experience stress in the same way. Therefore, what is causing you stress now, may not create the same stress reaction in a month after you practice a technique regularly.

We breathe about 24,000 breaths a day. Most of us breathe thoracically or in chest breaths. These are also known as stress breaths, since we are giving very little oxygen to our bodies. One of the primary goals in managing stress is to practice taking deep breaths throughout the day that will trigger your body's natural relaxation response. With 24,000 breaths a day, you have lots of opportunities to practice.

Here are some additional proactive steps that I would recommend for your work-related stress.

• Firstly, make sure that you are taking a lunch break, and when you take that lunch break, don't talk business! 

• Don't answer the phone on the first ring, use the first ring as a reminder to take a breath in, and take that deep breath, then answer the phone on the second ring.  

• There is plenty of research available on the importance of talking out your problems, so make sure you have someone you can share your emotions with, be it a significant other, therapist or support group.

• Delegate some of your activities. The more you can delegate those responsibilities that don't require your direct input, the better.  

• Watch out for symptoms of burnout which may include: diminished sense of humor, skipping rest and food breaks, increasing overtime and no vacation, increased physical complaints , changed job performance, self-medication and pessimism. If you notice any of these symptoms, that would be your body's wake-up call that you need to take this very seriously. I would recommend in either case that you set aside some time to practice a stress management technique such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga, progressive relaxation, autogenic training, biofeedback or some other related technique.

• Practice stress hardiness. This is a concept coined by Suzanne Kobasa in 1979 in which she did a study on executives in upper and middle management. Those executives who were able to view stress as a challenge and as an opportunity for personal growth reported less illnesses than those who felt powerless around stress. Some of the techniques they used included the use of learned optimism. Learned optimism means consciously focusing on the positive, even when negative events occurs. Reframing is a learned optimism technique in which you take a negative event and think of it from a more positive perspective. You may ask yourself what is that you can learn from the negative event. Once you focus on what you have learned, it becomes more positive. Stress hardy executives also focused on their gratitude on a daily basis. Therefore, I would recommend keeping a gratitude journal and write down things that occurred in that day that you are grateful for. When you feel stressed, read that journal or have someone read it to you. Chances are when you're feeling stressed you're not focusing on the positives in your life. By reading your gratitude journal, it will help to reverse some of the negative cognitive thoughts you are having and help your stress.