I'd be hard pressed to think of anyone I know who's never been stressed. While some people handle stress better than others, stress is something that's experienced by pretty much everyone across the board.

Workplace stress can be caused by many things such as:

• Working long hours
• Heavy workload
• Changes within the organisation
• Tight deadlines
• Changes to duties
• Job insecurity
• Lack of autonomy
• Boring work
• Insufficient skills for the job
• Over-supervision
• Inadequate working environment
• Lack of proper resources
• Lack of equipment
• Few promotional opportunities
• Harassment
• Discrimination
• Poor relationships with colleagues or bosses 

 List from: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Work-related_stress

Stress affects everyone differently, but some of the ways you could be affected are:

Cognitive Symptoms Memory problems Inability to concentrate Poor judgment Seeing only the negative Anxious or racing thoughts Constant worrying	Emotional Symptoms Moodiness Irritability or short temper Agitation, inability to relax Feeling overwhelmed Sense of loneliness and isolation Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms Aches and pains Diarrhea or constipation Nausea, dizziness Chest pain, rapid heartbeat Loss of sex drive Frequent colds	Behavioral Symptoms Eating more or less Sleeping too much or too little Isolating yourself from others Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)

Table from: http://helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm

So what can you do to manage stress? Many of us fall into the traps such as zoning out in front of the TV or computer at the end of the day, withdrawing from our usual activities, sleeping more than normal and drinking or smoking more. In the words of Dr Phil - 'hows that working out for you'? I'm guessing not too well. Some suggestions for more reliable and healthy ways of beating stress are:

• Work out what is actually stressing you out and think of ways to solve it. If it's a process, could this process be changed to make life easier? If it's a personality clash, how could you work with this person? If it's a heavy workload, assess whether being more organised could impact on this pressure, or whether there is someone who could help you out. Consider whether you are appropriately trained to complete the tasks you are working on. In many cases stress is caused by staff not having the right skills to get the job done - could further training help you?
• Find a way to relax that works for you. This could be meditation, deep breathing, cross stitching - whatever, as long as you have a way to calm down. When you feel yourself becoming stressed at work, take a few moments to relax and 'ground yourself'. 
• Know where you can go to get help, it could be a friend, a coworker, your manager or human resources representative.
• Make sure you take time to stay healthy - that means stick to your usual exercise routine, eat well, take regular breaks for fresh air. Stress can have very negative impacts on your health and it's important that you make an effort to keep healthy. Imagine how much more stressed you'd be if you had to add being sick to your list of worries!

Here are some articles I've found which have some good information on beating stress:

• http://helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm - a great resource with suggestions for coping with stress
• http://www.helpguide.org/mental/work_stress_management.htm 
• http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Work-related_stress
• http://www.mindtools.com/smpage.html - Mindtools has some great pages, particularly one about working in intrinsically stressful roles...sound like your job?
• http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2010/07/15/2954379.htm

How do you manage stress?