Stress Less - Profiles

When commodities broker Bill O'Donnell starts singing on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, you know its nail-biting time. The price of Eurodollars is plummeting. Panicky traders are screaming sell orders. O'Donnell seems oblivious to the frenzy. With his arms outstretched and his back to the Big Board, he's belting out an off-key verse from "O Solo Mio!" Has the 32-year-old broker finally gone bonkers from the pressure of making million-dollar trades?

Not quite. O'Donnell is taking preventive measures to avoid stress. He knows from experience that it's far more effective to head off that stress-induced surge of adrenaline right now, while he's still in control, than it is to fight it when he's already wired.

That's the problem with conventional stress-reduction techniques, such as deep-breathing exercises or visualizing yourself on a Caribbean island: people try them out, quickly discover that they're at best a short-term fix, and dump them.

The irony is that people are more in need of help than ever before. The struggle to accomplish more with fewer resources, the battle to balance job and family, the fevered scramble to keep up with email and voice mail, FedEx deliveries and faxes, the stomach-churning realization that events are spiraling out of control -- these and dozens of other demands are leaving people emotionally spent at work. In her new book, "How to Manage Stress for Success" (American Management Association, 1996), Sara Zeff Geber reports that stress has surpassed the common cold as the most prevalent health problem in the United States.

What is stress? The answer could fill a chapter in a medical text. The late Hans Selye, founder of Montreal's International Institute of Stress, summed it up with one-sentence: "Stress is the neurological and hormonal response of the human body to any of the demands placed upon it." The symptoms? You know them when you feel them: irritability, listlessness, rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, perspiration, and tensed muscles are just a few. Left untreated, constant stress can become chronic burnout, "characterized by feelings of hopelessness" and thoughts of quitting, says Richard Price, professor of psychology at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. "Burned out workers feel demoralized, and work loses meaning for them."

The key to avoiding burnout is to follow a regular routine for managing stress -- before it really builds up. So we've gathered the best tips, tactics, and road-tested remedies for attacking the root sources of stress, not just the symptoms. If none of these formulas works for you, there remains one other surefire cure-all for busting the day-to-day pressures of the workplace. All together now: "O solo mio, o mi amo ..."

Turn It On, Tune It Out

Stress Manager Bill O'Donnell, 32, a commodities broker on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for Panorama Brokerage, buys and sells multimillion dollar orders of Eurodollar options for large banks.

Frazzle Factor: Extreme conflict at work.

The pit is packed with a couple hundred people. I've got brokers pressed right up against my chest. When people are that close to each other and have little time to make big decisions, tempers flare. I'm dishing out trades, and somebody always swears that I gave him shares when I didn't. They scream. I scream. There's nothing we can do about it.

Solution #1: Leave your work at work.

When the day ends, I go from completely on to completely off. I consciously separate my work mode from home mode. I leave the Exchange after 2 PM, and for the rest of the day I don't even think about the Market. At work everybody calls me Woody (the initials I use for my email address), and if people don't listen to Woody, Woody starts pushing and shoving. Or hell tell them that he's going to trade elsewhere - but not in such pleasant terms. I would never act that way at home. If I hear someone call out "Woody" outside work, I duck.

Solution #2: Keep busy when you're home.

To keep my mind off work, I stay busy doing mundane, physical chores. When I'm finished mowing my lawn, I mow my elderly neighbor's lawn. It's got to be outside, though. There aren't any windows in the Exchange, so whatever I do after work is not going to be indoors.

Solution #3: Allow time to reboot.

I get up at 5:30 AM so I can be on the floor by 6:30. I need an hour or so before the markets open to prepare myself mentally for the crunch, to switch into that all-day-yelling-in-the-pit mode. When the bell rings, I'm ready to do battle.

Solution #4: Use levity to lighten things up.

When the market gets crazy, I get goofy. I start singing "O Solo Mio!" as loud as I can. It brings everyone back to reality -- whatever that is.

What Doesn't Work: Taking a time-out.

There have been times when I've gotten so stressed that I have stalked out of the pit, convinced that I'm never going back. But five minutes later, I realize that running away wont work, so I swallow my pride and do what I have to do. In this business, you can't run and you can't hide.

Coordinates: Bill O'Donnell, (woody242@aol.com).