Improving Your Stress Management: It’s as Easy as 1-2-3

By: Lindsey Hammond Teigland, PhD, LP

Licensed Psychologist

www.lindseyteigland.com

You watch your feet move as you step out of the elevator. You feel almost out-of-body as you walk down the hall, push through a glass door and into the conference room. The front of the room, equipped with a white board and projection screen, is at your disposal for the presentation you’re about to give. Doing a good job won’t change much. Doing a great job could earn you a promotion or attract other employers.

How do you feel? Warm and confident, endorphins ready to carry you? Or do you feel cold and clammy with a sense of dread, like the situation has already overtaken you? How you answer those questions might indicate how you respond to stress, emotionally and physiologically. 

Let’s back up. What is “stress” and what role does biology play in it? Stress is essentially an uneasy situation that prompts an emotional response and involves behavioral, biochemical and physiological changes. Stress isn’t always a bad thing; a good balance of it can provide an energy boost that can get you through an intense, finite period of time. Too much of it, however, can weigh you down and lead to chronic health problems from insomnia to obesity.

There are three major biological events when stress occurs. The first is when epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) is released by the adrenal glands, causing an increased blood and oxygen flow. This allows oxygenated blood to reach the muscles and the brain. Then norepinephrine, another hormone, is released from nerve endings in the sympathetic nervous system (the “fight or flight” system), which constricts veins leading to the heart. Finally, cortisol, a stress hormone, is released to mobilize energy in cells and keep up energy for the duration of a stressful situation. We feel these biological processes as physical symptoms such as agitation, increased heart rate, and shakiness, or feeling “stressed.” Constantly having this stress response system turned “on” is what depletes the body, inhibits normal functioning and, in the long run, makes us sick.

Unfortunately, many Americans find themselves on the “too much” end of the stress balancing act. A 2010 American Psychological Association Survey found that more than 40 percent of adults surveyed reported lying awake at night because of stress. So, how do we decrease the “bad” stress and return to a more optimal level? Here are three tips from the psychological research that can help you get back to equilibrium:

1.       Take control of your thinking. How people respond to stress strongly depends on how they perceive it. A large body of research shows that how we interpret our own physiological responses to stress and what we do with that information is vitally important. People who interpret stressors as a challenge instead of a threat help their bodies keep the stress response system in check. Furthermore, recent research in neuropsychology shows that our brains are wired for “neuroplasticity,” a fancy word for change. With frequent practice reframing your anxious thoughts to more positive and calming thoughts, your brain is actually capable of changing your automatic response to anxiety provoking situations.

2.     Keep a Gratitude Journal: Remember when Oprah made the gratitude journal so popular? It turns out that the gratitude journal, and journaling in general, isn’t just a gimmick. Research on happiness shows that people who spend time daily reflecting on the positive things in their lives have increased feelings of well-being. Furthermore, Dr. Jamie Pennebaker from the University of Texas has done extensive research on the benefits of expressing oneself in writing during stressful life events such as job loss, illness, and relationship break-ups. In one study, they found that people who wrote about emotionally challenging events experienced health benefits such as fewer visits to the doctor over the course of a year.

3.       Make Time for Friends and Family. Just in case you needed more incentive to prioritize your social life, here it is. Advances in neuroscience continue to support the idea that we are social animals, that we are hardwired for empathy (as evidenced by the newly discovered mirror neurons), and that our brains actually register less pain in stressful situations when we are surrounded by social support. In addition, people with strong social networks show increased resiliency, happiness, and even cognitive capacity. Think working over happy hour will reduce your stress tomorrow? Think again.

Of course, incorporating these tips into your daily life can be easier said than done. If you’re suffering from overwhelming stress-related anxiety, you may want to consider including counseling to help formulate and implement a plan specific to your life and needs.

Sources:

American Psychological Association. Understanding chronic stress. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/understanding-chronic-stress.aspx

Holsten, J. Neuroplasticity: Changing our belief about change. http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=221

Singer, T. (2012, March/April). The perfect amount of stress. Psychology Today, 79-85.

Synder, C. R. & Lopez, S. J. (2007). Positive psychology: The scientific and practical exploration of human strengths. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

Walsh, R. (2011). Lifestyle and mental health. American Psychologist, 66(7), 579-591

Sign up to write a post today!

Are you interested in writing a post for the Chamber Discussions Blog?  Do you have a topic that all Chamber Members could benefit from?  We want to hear from you!

Contact Sammi at communications@epchamber.org for more information or to schedule a blog post!

Predicting Your Future: Business Forecasting “Best” Practices

By Carolyn Allmon

Carolyn Allmon Business Forecasting Services

As Henri Poincare said, “It is far better to foresee even without certainty than not to foresee at all”.  With that in mind, here are some guidelines to help your business foresee its future:

·       Maintain an accurate historical data base for whatever you are forecasting for the relevant time period in which you want your forecasts —months, weeks, quarters.  As a general rule, more is better.

·       Understand what’s behind the data.  Be able to explain high and low points in each series.  

·       Use forecasting software to generate a base-line forecasting model and adjust as appropriate based on input from the experts.

·       Beware of the biases of your experts.  Each will have a different perspective based on their area of expertise—e.g., Marketing and Sales may be overly optimistic.

·       Develop and maintain a regular disciplined process to generate the forecasts. Document any adjustments made to the base-line forecast.

·       Measure your forecast accuracy regularly to monitor success.  Set realistic accuracy expectations based on your own experience.

·       Focus your forecasting efforts on what is most important to the business.   Forecast the others using simple, automatic or judgmental methods

·       If your data is difficult to forecast due to volatility, see if you can change it to make it more forecastable— e.g., can you persuade your customer to order more regularly to minimize large peaks in your data?

·       Incentivize the behavior you want— e.g., if you want your sales force to give useful input to the forecast, reward them accordingly.

Preparing Our Business for the Economic Recovery

By Alan Winner


Preparing our business for the economic recovery includes re-aligning relationships with third-party vendors, suppliers, contractors and consultants. 

During the recession, we restructured operations, downsized, outsourced certain functions, re-deployed resources and adjusted our business plan.

But when did we last review our third party agreements with suppliers and vendors? How do the terms and conditions of doing business with these resources compare with those of our peers or competitors? As we recover from the recession, what terms need re-assessment, revision, replacement or elimination? Are there new concepts or methods that would serve us better in the current environment?

Frequently, our third party relationships are deep and long standing, which can make these discussions sensitive and difficult. Planning is essential and style, manner and approach can make all the difference in a mutually successful outcome. It may be better to have a disinterested party participate in the discussions when personalities and relationships are especially close or meaningful. After all, valued vendors, suppliers and contractors provide critical support roles in how we perform for our customers and clients.

Beyond cutting expenses through better unit and volume pricing, reduced fees, higher rebates and allowances and ancillary services at lower rates (or free), consider other aspects of the relationship that may have value:

• ·         Other products or services A vendor may have products or services that were unavailable because of pre-conditions or qualifications (e.g. minimum volume or dollar amount orders, geographic restrictions, or store layout, size or amenities). Now may be the time to have such conditions or qualifications relaxed, reduced or altered, so that new products or services or better terms can be introduced to customers.

• ·         Improved service If our vendor or supplier’s performance before, during or after the order or transaction is weak or erratic, or rebates and credits for volume-based orders have been error-plagued, now is the time to correct these problems and introduce protections against further miscues.

• ·         Flexibility Perhaps a vendor’s performance or conditions for service are rigid, scheduled or uneven, and greater flexibility to adjust purchase, delivery, maintenance or service cycles that match better with our business needs can add value.                  

With the right preparation and analysis and skillful deployment, seeking concessions or adjustments with valued third party vendors can occur without damaging the relationship, and in certain instances even enhance it.

Alan Winner

Principal

Ballast, LLC

www.ballastbusinessnegotiations.com

alanwinner@rconnect.com

Eden Prairie Awarded $275,000 Grant for Road Project

By: Dave Lindahl, City of Eden Prairie

In May the City was awarded a $275,000 grant through the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to help pay for a $825,000 road improvement at Valley View Road and Prairie Center Drive. The grant is part of DEED’s “Innovative Business Development Public Infrastructure Program,” created to fund infrastructure projects that support job growth. Many businesses in the Golden Triangle will benefit from this project which is expected to significantly reduce congestion at this busy intersection.  Letters of support for the grant were provided from Compellent, VISI, and BOSE who are all expecting to add job in the next few years. Excerpts from the letters include:

“Our current estimates are that we may hire an additional 300 employees just in Eden Prairie over the next 12 to 15 months. The traffic situation at Prairie Center Drive and Valley View is a major concern for our employees. The congestion late in the day presents significant commuting delays to our team and a safety risk. Your efforts to alleviate this situation are greatly appreciated.”

Jack Judd – CFO

Dell/Compellent

 

“The congestion on local roads has caused troubles for VISI in the past and has required us to adjust accordingly. We appreciate the City of Eden Prairie’s efforts to improve the road infrastructure and support the initiative to improve traffic flow. During the construction the construction  

Mike Sowada – CEO

VISI

Valley View Road will be widened to provide a dedicated right turn lane from westbound Valley View Road to northbound Prairie Center Drive. It also includes adding double left turn lanes from westbound Valley View Road to southbound Prairie Center Drive, and restructuring the intersection signals.