Stress is now the number one reason behind sickness from work and more than 70% of working adults have experienced stress at work in the past year according to the Gee Publishing Survey of 2006. Whether or not these statistics are true one thing is certain, we cannot expect our employers to provide everything we need to reduce or manage our stress. They are far too busy themselves.

So with this in mind lets look at some simple ways to reduce your stress levels.

1) One of the main ingredients in any stress management program simply must be a relaxation regime. There are many simple easy to learn techniques to relax your body, some are better than others. Progressive relaxation is probably one of the more well known ones. Taking time out even if only for fifteen minutes a day to relax and wind down is a definite.

2) At work it is so easy to start slipping into the habit of taking on too many tasks. Streamline what you do by really asking yourself why you are there. what are the three most important things you are there for in your role. You should concentrate on these top piorities and learn to shed anything else. You may have to be a bit ruthless with yourself but you will gain hugely from this one exercise.

3) Make sure every once in a while you reassess your life values to stay on top of what is important to you then you only have to revolve your life around the things that are truly important to you and again other things that took up a lot of your time and attention will just fall away.

4) Every now and again go to assertion skills training and rediscover the your personal power. Taking time to reclaim our personal power rid sus of so much stress you wont believe it. sometimes you just have to say no and it is OK to do that. If you have problems doing this your stress will rise so assertion skills are the key.

5) Delegate tasks you hate if possible or ones that cause you particular stress. hey, these days virtual assistants can take a lot of bothersome chores off your hands and they are cheaper than you think. a good one for the self-employed by the way.

6) Keep a reasonable fitness level. this is the one thing along with a relaxation regime that can really do huge amounts to stress proof you and is borne out by much research. Added benefits are better quality of sleep.

7) Establish and maintain good social contact. Research shows that people who have at least two good friends resist stress more than others who are more reclusive in nature. If you have social anxiety which prevents you from increasing social contact see a psychologist or therapist for help with this.

8) Get a pet, even if its a cat who you may not see all the time. again research points to the fact that people with pets not only live longer but are less stressed than people without pets.

9) Improve your time management skills. We all need to lessons in this area. A basic but effective form of time management is to categorize tasks into important things and urgent things. Important things are the ones you give your best time and thinking too because they will ultimately have a longer term impact than urgent things which will be short term usually and could be delegated or sometimes even automated like using auto-responders on the internet to remind people of appointments or schedules.

10) Take some time to improve your relationship. If its great already do something romantic together. Better bonding in relationships is one of the best ways to stress proof yourself. go to a workshop together and improve things even more, its a real recipe for increased happiness and a stronger immune system.

Of all the above keeping fit and learning an effective relaxation method will do wonders for your stress levels.