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Stressed at Work? Try These 5 Stress-Relief Techniques

March 18, 2018 Morgan Meredith

Being stressed at work is uncomfortable and makes your job harder. Learn five tips to de-stress while you’re at work at HealthyPlace. These 5 techniques will relax you when you're stressed at work and improve your mental well-being in and out of the office.

Many factors can cause you to be stressed at work. Unfriendly coworkers, unnecessary regulations, difficult clients, and long hours all potentially release stress and anxiety chemicals, which, without intervention, can affect our entire day. But you can cut down on feeling stressed at work.

How to Reduce Feeling Stressed at Work

Two Quick Stress-Relief Movements

When you feel mental strain, your blood pressure usually rises while the stress-related hormones cortisol and adrenaline flush through your body. These physical symptoms create or heighten emotion and anxiety. Moving your body, however, can help achieve calm (Working with the Body - A Pathway to the Mind).

Try a puppy dog pose: it’s basically a modified version of the iconic downward-facing dog yoga position. Stand and raise your arms overhead. Keeping your legs straight, bend forward at the waist to about 90 degrees so that your torso is parallel to the ground. Place your hands on the wall or a chair. Hold for 10 seconds while breathing deeply. If you can’t find any place immediately accessible at work for this kind of movement, even the bathroom or parking lot can suffice.

Here’s another physical movement especially useful for those stationed at a desk and stressed at work. In a sitting position, place your hands on your thighs and tilt your head back. Look at the ceiling or close your eyes as you press your heels into the floor for 10 seconds. This is a type of grounding exercise intended to dissipate the intense negative energy flurrying around in your head.

Two Stress-Relief Tactics for Your Mind

When you get stressed at work, move away from the spot in which you accomplish your work. If you can step outside, even better. A quick change of scenery can help clear your mind. If your job already moves you around, take a different route on a commute or walking between areas.

Something that’s accessible if you use paper or a computer throughout the day is writing. Write down all the things you would love to say but can’t. Craft that nasty email you’d send, that verbal argument you’d have, or that scathing review you’d post. Just getting those thoughts out can be cathartic. When you’re done, destroy your list. Drag it to the computer’s trash folder, shred the physical paper, or take the paper home and burn it. Don’t forget to actually take it home if choosing the burn option. The destruction of your negative words will create relief (and will avoid embarrassment by destroying the evidence).

One Attitude Adjustment

In trying moments, you’re probably focused on the problems around you. To open up other emotional channels, think of three positive aspects of your job. Your list might include only simple things, like income or a step towards a larger goal. Write these benefits down in their own list; keep this one handy and refer back to it again next time you’re stressed at work. In fact, this can be a bliss book for your career.

APA Reference
Meredith, M. (2018, March 18). Stressed at Work? Try These 5 Stress-Relief Techniques, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, March 18 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/livingablissfullife/2018/03/stressed-at-work-try-these-five-relief-techniques



Author: Morgan Meredith

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Bhuvi Kumar
April, 24 2019 at 12:54 am

These are amazing Stress relieving tips for the people who take a lot of stress because of work. We go through a lot of stress over the whole year. Sometimes it is about deadlines in the workplace sometimes personal issues. One should read this article to manage their stress. Thank you for posting this blog.

April, 29 2019 at 12:59 pm

Thanks Bhuvi - you're right, we do go through lots of stress during a year of work. We spend a huge portion of our lives at work, so managing that stress affects the quality of our entire lives! Happy you found it useful, and hope to see you here again!

sweety
September, 5 2018 at 11:24 am

Great techniques to reduce or manage stress. I use several of them. I also think diet plays an important role in stress management and like to juice fruits and vegetables as a part of my diet.
For a super easy and quick stress reliever, try chewing a stick of gum
According to several studies, chewing gum may help you relax. It may also promote wellbeing and reduce stress.

September, 5 2018 at 11:29 am

Thanks for pointing out other ways to reduce stress! Totally agree- diet makes a big difference. So especially for those of us who work in an environment where there are tons of unhealthy snacks around, we have to remember to bring or order some fruits and veggies!
I'd be curious to see the studies about chewing gum - could you share them? I always thought the opposite, that the constant tightening of the jaw led to more stress. Maybe I should start chewing gum again.... :)

Baljeet singh
June, 23 2018 at 11:51 pm

Very useful anti stress techniques, i will definitely try them when i am free from work. .

Dr Musli Ferati
March, 23 2018 at 11:55 pm

As usually work place might be stressful from time to time. So, it is advisable to be prepare to manage this provocative and hurtful moments by satisfying way, in order to maintain the work place and to prevent harmful consequences from unusual misunderstanding and conflicts at work. Your five release physical and mental techniques indicate helpful measures to alleviate emotional insults and turmoils. However, the crucial step to overcome critical instants at work is our ability to curb our impulsive and instant reaction against different verbal and emotional offending. It ought to be tolerant and resilience toward unpredictable and intentional provocation in work place, as much as it is possible. But this didn't mean to be naive and submissive to each psychological injure. Indeed, the ability to protect personal dignity and integrity indicate primary tool to avoid stressed attacks at work.

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Morgan Meredith
March, 26 2018 at 5:35 pm

Hi Dr. Ferati,
Totally agree - it would be the most beneficial to not become stressed at all, and to be impervious to difficulties or perceived offenses. However, while we're all working toward that goal (and nobody will ever be 100% perfect), these are some tips for minimizing that stress when it happens. I think that working on both (the effects of stress and the causes) is the most holistic approach. Thanks for your thoughts!

Lizanne Corbit
March, 19 2018 at 4:16 pm

I love these suggestions. Facing stress at work, to some degree, is an inevitability. At some point we are going to experience stress at work, knowing how to positively respond/work with it can not only be beneficial, but empowering as well. Thanks for sharing!

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Morgan Meredith
March, 26 2018 at 5:36 pm

Hi Lizanne,
Thanks so much for reading and for your thoughts. I hope that these can be helpful for you next time you're stressed at work - please let me know which one ends up most effective for you! I find that taking a walk is the best one for me, and I can practice some of the others while I'm out.

Ramesh
March, 18 2018 at 8:25 am

If you giv some sort of video, it wl be more helpful

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Morgan Meredith
March, 19 2018 at 2:49 am

Hey Ramesh, thanks for the feedback. I put up a video about once a month here, and will definitely keep that in mind next time I try to describe an action!
Here's a video that describes the yoga pose I talk about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtlHatCn8c4
Hope that helps :)

Ramesh
March, 18 2018 at 8:24 am

It looks sound

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