What do you do when your co-workers are yelling, you’re under tight deadlines, and you are tired of feeling like the office punching bag? While that after-work drink may help in the short term, here are a few books to learn strategies for your long term mental health.

What To Read To Deal With Work StressDifficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, Roger Fisher
Published by Penguin Books on November 2nd 2010
Genres: Nonfiction
Pages: 315
Goodreads

The 10th-anniversary edition of the New York Times business bestseller-now updated with "Answers to Ten Questions People Ask"
We attempt or avoid difficult conversations every day-whether dealing with an underperforming employee, disagreeing with a spouse, or negotiating with a client. From the Harvard Negotiation Project, the organization that brought you Getting to Yes, Difficult Conversations provides a step-by-step approach to having those tough conversations with less stress and more success. you'll learn how to:
? Decipher the underlying structure of every difficult conversation ? Start a conversation without defensiveness ? Listen for the meaning of what is not said ? Stay balanced in the face of attacks and accusations ? Move from emotion to productive problem solving

This is my go-to, must-start-here book for learning to deal with coworkers. Last time I checked, all coworkers are just other humans. Learning how to stop avoiding the talk where the guy one row over clicks his pen a hundred times an hour, or your friend in finance always sets her dirty coffee cup down on your clean desk can make your work life MUCH more enjoyable.


 

What To Read To Deal With Work StressPeople Buy You: The Real Secret to What Matters Most in Business by Jeb Blount
Published by John Wiley & Sons on June 21st 2010
Pages: 193
Goodreads

The ultimate guide to relationships, influence and persuasion in 21st century business. What is most important to your success as a sales or business professional? Is it education, experience, product knowledge, job title, territory, or business dress? Is it your company's reputation, product, price, marketing collateral, delivery lead times, in stock ratios, service guarantees, management strength, or warehouse location? Is it testimonials, the latest Forbes write up, or brand awareness? Is it the investment in the latest CRM software, business 2.0 tools, or social media strategy?
You could hire a fancy consulting firm, make the list longer, add some bullet points, put it into a PowerPoint presentation, and go through the whole dog and pony show. But at the end of the day there will be only one conclusion... None of the above! You see, the most important competitive edge for today's business professionals cannot be found on this list, your resume, or in any of your company's marketing brochures.
If you want to know the real secret to what matters most in business, just look in the mirror. That's right, it's YOU. Do these other things matter? Of course they do, but when all things are equal (and in the competitive world we live in today, things almost always are) People Buy You.
Your ability to build lasting business relationships that allow you to close more deals, retain clients, increase your income, and advance your career to rise the top of your company or industry, depends on your skills for getting other people to like you, trust you, and BUY YOU.
This break-through book pushes past the typical focus on mechanics and stale processes found in so many of today's sales and business books, and goes right to the heart of what matters most in 21st century business. Offering a straight forward, actionable formula for creating instant connections with prospects and customers, People Buy You will enable you to achieve a whole new level of success in your sales and business career. You'll discover:
Three relationship myths that are holding you back Five levers that open the door to stronger relationships that quickly increase sales, improve retention, increase profits and advance your career The real secret to making instant emotional connections that eliminate objections and move buyers to reveal their real problems and needs How to anchor your business relationships and create loyal customers who will never leave you for a competitor How to build your personal brand to improve your professional presence and stand-out in the market place People Buy You is the new standard in the art of influence and persuasion. Few books have tackled the subject of interpersonal relationships in the business world in such a practical and down-to-earth manner, breaking what many perceive as a complex and frustrating process into easy, actionable steps that anyone can follow.

No, you’re not really for sale, and that’s the point of this book. Unless you work in an office by yourself, you will have office politics as soon as you interact with another human. What clients should we work with? What date should we deploy that new piece of software? Who should work on invoices? Getting both people to listen and understand takes people skills. This is one of the first books I read when I wanted to improve my work life and it opened my eyes to how much really *is* in my control.


 

What To Read To Deal With Work StressTo Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Daniel H. Pink
Published by Riverhead Books on December 3rd 2013
Pages: 272
Goodreads

#1 New York Times Business Bestseller #1 Wall Street Journal Business Bestseller#1 Washington Post bestseller
From the bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind comes a surprising--and surprisingly useful--new book that explores the power of selling in our lives.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans works in sales. Every day more than fifteen million people earn their keep by persuading someone else to make a purchase.
But dig deeper and a startling truth emerges:
Yes, one in nine Americans works in sales. But so do the other eight.
Whether we’re employees pitching colleagues on a new idea, entrepreneurs enticing funders to invest, or parents and teachers cajoling children to study, we spend our days trying to move others. Like it or not, we’re all in sales now.
To Sell Is Human offers a fresh look at the art and science of selling. As he did in Drive and A Whole New Mind, Daniel H. Pink draws on a rich trove of social science for his counterintuitive insights. He reveals the new ABCs of moving others (it's no longer "Always Be Closing"), explains why extraverts don't make the best salespeople, and shows how giving people an "off-ramp" for their actions can matter more than actually changing their minds.
Along the way, Pink describes the six successors to the elevator pitch, the three rules for understanding another's perspective, the five frames that can make your message clearer and more persuasive, and much more. The result is a perceptive and practical book--one that will change how you see the world and transform what you do at work, at school, and at home.

I know – you aren’t in sales. The title of this book is completely inaccurate and Jeb Blount makes this point in the first few pages. *Everyone* who works with other humans is selling something – whether it’s a pipe or why the team should move forward with *your* plan.


 

What To Read To Deal With Work StressFried: Why You Burn Out and How to Revive by Joan Borysenko
Published by Hay House on January 1st 2012
Pages: 190
Goodreads

This Is an Invitation to Take Your Power Back!
What happened to the spark you had as a child that powered curiosity, engagement with life, and creativity? Has it burned out? Are you feeling emotionally and physically exhausted and cynical, wondering if you've got what it takes to make it in this rapidly changing world? Burnout looks a lot like depression, but it's not a biological bogeyman that medication or simple stress management can cure. It's a disorder of hope and will that sucks the life out of competent, idealistic, hardworking people like you; and it will be an ongoing challenge for you to take your power back!
In this breakthrough work, Joan Borysenko, Ph.D.-a Harvard-trained medical scientist, psychologist, and renowned pioneer in stress and health-straddles psychology, biology, and soul in a completely fresh approach to burnout. Joan's deeply human (and often amusing) personal accounts of burnout and recovery; the science of helplessness, hopelessness, and empowerment; and the rich wisdom of people who have gone from fried to revived-including many of Joan's vibrant community of 5,000 Facebook Friends-make this powerful and practical book a must-read for our times.

It should be called “what to read to prevent getting Fried at work!” The preface is titled “Hell is a bad place to pitch a tent”. It’s perfect for when you feel like asking yourself “what am I doing here??!” but you can’t quit.


 

What To Read To Deal With Work StressWords That Work In Business: A Practical Guide to Effective Communication in the Workplace (Nonviolent Communication Guides) by Ike Lasater, Julie Stiles
on January 1st 1970
Goodreads

Addressing the most common workplace relationship challenges, this manual shows how to use the principles of nonviolent communication to improve the workplace atmosphere.having more effective meetings, and giving and receiving meaningful feedback, thereby creating a more enjoyable work environment.

This book part of something called Nonviolent communication training but this book explains it well enough that you don’t need the entire training course. (But if you like this book then by all means, go for the training!)


 

What To Read To Deal With Work StressThe Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor
Published by Crown Publishing on September 30th 2010
Pages: 237
Goodreads

The length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
Our most commonly held formula for success is broken.
Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this formula is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work. This isn’t just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe.
In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor, who spent over a decade living, researching, and lecturing at Harvard University, draws on his own research—including one of the largest studies of happiness and potential at Harvard and others at companies like UBS and KPMG - to fix this broken formula. Using stories and case studies from his work with thousands of Fortune 500 executives in 42 countries, Achor explains how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive edge at work.
Isolating seven practical, actionable principles that have been tried and tested everywhere from classrooms to boardrooms, stretching from Argentina to Zimbabwe, he shows us how we can capitalize on the Happiness Advantage to improve our performance and maximize our potential.

This is a GREAT book with tons research on how to refocus on ourselves and our own performance no matter what environment we’re in.


 

What To Read To Deal With Work StressFierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time by Susan Scott
on January 6, 2004
Goodreads

The master teacher of positive change through powerful communication, Susan Scott wants you to succeed. To do that, she explains, you must transform everyday conversations at work and at home with effective ways to get your message across—and get what you want.

While the titles are similar, this book is by a different author, I consider this part two to the Difficult Conversations recommendation from above.


 

What To Read To Deal With Work StressEmotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David
Published by Avery on September 6, 2016
Goodreads

The counterintuitive approach to achieving your true potential, heralded by the Harvard Business Review as a groundbreaking idea of the year.   The path to fulfillment, whether at work or at home, is almost never a straight line. Ask anyone who has achieved their biggest goals or who thrives in their relationships, and you’ll hear stories of many unexpected detours along the way. What separates those who rise to these challenges and those who get derailed? The answer is agility—emotional agility.
Emotional agility is a four-step approach that allows us to navigate life’s twists and turns with self-acceptance, clear-sightedness, and an open mind. In her more than twenty years of research, Susan David has found that no matter how intelligent, resilient, or creative people are, when they ignore how situations or interactions make them feel, they miss opportunities to gain insight, getting hooked by thoughts, emotions, and habits that prevent them from reaching their full potential. Emotionally agile people experience the same stresses and setbacks as anyone else, but they know how to adapt, aligning their actions with their values and making small changes that lead to a life of growth.
Drawing on her extensive professional research, her international consulting work, and her own experiences growing up in Apartheid-era South Africa and losing her father at a young age, David shows how anyone can become more emotionally agile and thrive in an uncertain world. Written with authority, wit, and empathy, Emotional Agility will help you live your most successful life, whoever you are and whatever you face.
Take the FREE Emotional Agility Insights Quiz here: https://bitly.com/ea-quiz

I personally think every human should read this book but just in case you haven’t, Susan gives very practical tips on how to handle chaos and still respect yourself in the morning