While recent economic reports suggest that the Great Recession might be coming to an end, few of us have time to celebrate this hopeful news. To quote a recent Newsweek article, “The Recession Is Over! But Not For You—Yet!”

As employers continue to downsize the work force, remaining employees find themselves shouldering more responsibilities without a corresponding fatter paycheck or even adequate training—a formula for anxiety and stress. I’ve been hearing complaints from many employees who are feeling stretched too thin with no relief in sight. Meanwhile, their bosses are asking me for advice on how to keep productivity and morale up during these unprecedented times.

While I’m a firm proponent of using meditation, a healthy diet, and exercise to manage ordinary stress, the burden of our current economic mess calls for taking the following six additional steps to reduce anxiety and increase productivity at work. When we work together—each doing our part—the outcome will improve for the employee, employer, and company alike!

1) DON’T LAMENT THE PAST—INSTEAD, FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE

Employees: Don’t waste your time lamenting the loss of what your job previously entailed. Instead, try to face the new challenges and assignments head on. Remember, this downturn won’t last forever. The additional roles taken on and skills acquired now can lead to new career opportunities post-recession. Focus on this silver lining when you’re feeling strained. Remaining constructive and positive during layoffs, cutbacks, or talk of downsizing speaks volumes about your leadership ability.

Employers: Stay focused on the future when interacting with staff. Although it’s important to keep employees in the loop, don’t hammer them unnecessarily with negative data. As soon as the outlook begins to improve, communicate the promising news to your employees. Provide frequent positive feedback to your team members. Remember, they are likely accomplishing tasks with less money, time, and/or staff than ever before! Remind them that working together will help everyone get through the hard times. Here are a few ideas for getting started:

• Offer positive feedback in person, voicemail, email, and even with small gifts.
• Host a staff lunch or an outing as a way to uplift fatigued employees and keep the remaining team members connected.
• Infuse your conversations with heightened adjectives and adverbs such as terrific, fabulous, wonderful, or outstanding.
• Ask your staff for input. Start by saying, “Given the reality of the current situation, what could we do to help you out?” You will gain some useful feedback with this question. Plus, asking employees to put themselves in your shoes can help to create a collaborative atmosphere.

2) FIND A MENTOR

Employees: If you are asked to take on a new job or assignment that you haven’t been trained to do, find a mentor. Invite people in your division out to lunch and ask as many questions as possible. Grill them about their successes and failures, as well as any company politics you may not be aware of. Be responsible for learning as much as you possibly can. When you find someone who seems like a good fit, approach him or her and ask if they will be your mentor. If there is no one available internally at your company, consider joining a local trade organization.

Employers: If your company doesn’t have an official mentoring program, think about starting one.  The added support this will give your harried employees will make the effort well worth your while. Plus the mentors will benefit, too, from lending a helping hand. When we support others, we feel better ourselves!

3) PREPARATION IS THE BEST DEFENSE

Employees: Prepare ahead of time for potentially difficult situations. You’ll be better able to ward off a tense discussion by confronting your emotional hot buttons in advance. Ask yourself the “what ifs,” as in, “What if he wants to talk about that report again?” Or, “What if Patricia challenges me about my approach to the project?”

Employers: Prepare yourself for difficult conversations or situations by considering what your audience will be thinking, feeling, and fearing. In troubled times, executives often resort to giving just the facts about a situation. This makes them appear to lack compassion. So put together a message that includes both heart and facts. Openly acknowledge when the message is a difficult one to convey. Your honesty will build a bridge with the audience, enabling employees to feel less anxious.

4) CREATE AND PROTECT YOUR SCHEDULE

Everyone: Although some folks claim they work better under pressure, most of us are more productive under calmer circumstances. Take the last 30 minutes of each day to straighten up your desk and office area. Then write out a list of things you need to do the following day: meetings, calls, emails, memos, preparation for communication, etc.  Prioritize these tasks in order of importance so you will be ready to go in the morning. Try using a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being the most important work that needs doing). Determine which items can wait until later, but give them a deadline. On Friday, before heading out for the weekend, create your big-picture goals for the following week.

5) MANAGE YOUR WORKLOAD SO IT WON’T MANAGE YOU

Employees: While making promises that can’t be kept, missing deadlines, or being a no-show at meetings are the kiss of death under any circumstance,  they are especially dangerous habits during layoffs. While some people come out of the womb with a day planner in hand, most of us learn to be organized the hard way. One of the best ways to improve time management is the practice I call “chunking it out.” Sometimes people don’t plan well because they guesstimate based on the entire project rather than breaking the assignment down into smaller pieces and setting timeframes for each part. The more you break a project down into manageable chunks, the more accurate your projections and scheduling will become. When we wait to the last minute to get things done, we usually end up doing most of the work ourselves. Planning ahead makes it much easier to collaborate with others, a great way to lighten the load.

Employers: Organize workshops on time management, managing the workload, and work-life balance. If you aren’t in a position where you can hire an outside speaker, organize meetings for employees to get together and share tips and advice with each other. These sessions can also serve as a constructive forum for airing grievances and fears, instead of wasting time complaining in the break room over coffee.

6) REMEMBER TO BREATHE

Everyone: If all else fails and you feel yourself slipping into an anxious mode, take deep breaths. The oxygen will help clear your mind and calm you down. If you become so upset that you feel like you are losing your grip or even feel like crying, quickly head for the privacy of a bathroom stall. It may not be the most comfortable place, but you can shut the door, take some deep breaths, and stay there until you’ve composed yourself.