Five tips to lower stress at workplace

The first tip highlighted by New Scientist magazine is that workers should be sociable - but not too sociable.

British research has shown that sociability is good for the health, with a study of thousands of civil servants revealing that moral support from colleagues, encouragement from supervisors and clear direction from bosses kept stress levels down.

Male civil servants who lacked support in the workplace were 31 per cent more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, and women 43 per cent.

However, too much socializing could lead to work piling up.

The second tip is to ensure your surroundings are as pleasant as possible.

Simply being able to see your colleagues makes the working day much more manageable, with the height of partitions dividing up office space affecting stress levels.

Surprisingly, the higher the partition is, the more people complain about noise from their neighbours.

Research from the University of Montreal shows that the optimum partition height is 4ft 3ins (1.3m) - high enough to provide privacy but low enough to ensure staff do not feel isolated.

The third piece of advice for workers is to learn to switch off.

Mobile phones and other electronic equipment should be switched off after hours to allow burnt-out brain cells to recharge.

Playing with a cat or dog can also aid relaxation and if workers can persuade their boss to let them into the office then the day will fly by.