Your workload has increased, so have your boss's expectations. But scaling back could mean losing a job.

Talk about stress.

Paul Baard, an organizational and motivational psychologist at Fordham University's graduate business school in New York, knows just how stressful a work environment can get. He has consulted with athletes in the high-stakes, high-pressure world of professional sports.

What secret has he passed along to those clients? When you are in a slump, you can still contribute by encouraging your teammates.

Rather than burdening a team with distracting self-doubt and pity, try to help others, he advises. 'In order to remain self-motivated, research has found that the innate psychological need for competence must be satisfied,' Mr. Baard says. 'This drive pertains not only to the ability to do a job but to achieve something through it