Whether you’re an employee sitting at the office cubicle or a boss who owns the company and manages the entire workplace, stress can give you a lot of trouble when it begins to strike you. It derails your productivity and can even put your health into danger. Thus, we need to cope with stress, anxiety and other unpleasant feelings to make our lives run effectively and efficiently. We need to know and actually do the things and activities that can help us reduce the stressors that spoil our work, our jobs and even our business everyday. There are many ways and activities we can try to overcome stress, such as taking a nice vacation, going to the gym, or even have a walk at the park or at the bay. But we understand that the world is fast revolving and people value time as gold. Some people also need fast and quick relief even for just a temporary. That is why we are giving you the following 18 ways to manage your stress without taking a break.
1. Slow down. Humans have physical limits. That is why even though you still have a high work spirit left in you, if your body is already exhausted, your muscles and the other parts of you body are stressed. Hence, you need to slow down your brain and body until you fully recover.
2. Listen to music. Play and listen to relaxing music or to any kind of music that soothes you best. In my case, when I’m stressed, I love to hear songs that don’t have lyrics, such as piano and guitar instrumentals. I prefer listening to music without lyrics because the words can sometimes bother my mind. But of course it’s up to you – just listen to the music that can give you the best relaxation, whether it is rock, rap, pop music and piano classic. Check out the following most relaxing classical music collection.
3. Sing along. If you’re not using your mouth and ears in doing your job, and you love to sing, then singing along might help you reduce your stress while working. Just make sure that your voice cannot disturb other people.
4. Laugh. Laughter is a good medicine. It gives you a relieving feeling and it also exercises the muscles in your jaw. Just look at the smiley and you will notice the good vibes it brings to you. So give yourself a nice laugh and try to make it real. It would also be better if you will do it with somebody. Good laughter inside the workplace with your co-workers and bosses shows unity, harmony and teamwork.
5. Shout. Sounds create energy waves. Thus, if you want to win your fight against stress, unleash your power by shouting. Just make sure to do it just enough and also use the right words to shout. I usually use the word “fight fight” when I do this.
6. Ask for help. Most people under stress are those who are proud and don’t know how to humble themselves to ask help from other people. Asking for help doesn’t really degrade anyone as long as it is done in a mutual term. Asking for help even promotes trust and good relationship with people. So don’t carry all the stress and hardships. Ask help from anyone who’s happy to help you.
7. Be quite, alone and focused. Too much noise and crowd cause stress. So if you want to relieve from stress, just keep yourself away from them and regain your focus. You can try to find some quiet place where you can concentrate in anything that you do.
8. Take a deep breath. Deep-breathing techniques are effective in managing depression, anxiety, and other stress-related disorders. Deep breathing is actually a natural defense mechanism of the body when it’s already feeling tired and lacking oxygen supply. Just imagine when you run a mile. Now, you can also initiate a deep breath on your own to signal your body to relax and slow down your fast breathing caused by stressors to restore your proper beat.
9. Stretch your muscles. You can stretch your legs, hands, fingers and your neck while working. It relaxes your muscles and regulates your blood circulation. Check out this soft and comfortable executive office chair that can help you relax while in the workplace.
10. Massage yourself. Aside from muscle stretching, you can also use your other hand to gently massage your head and other parts of the body. There are also some devices that can help you massage yourself without using your hands. Check out this therapist select shiatsu massaging cushion that might help relieve your back pain. Alternatively, you can ask some hands from your buddies to give you some quick healing touches inside the workplace.
11. Aroma therapy. Turn your workplace into a relaxing spa even for just the smell of the air. Cope with stress by revitalizing your sense of smell. Aroma therapy can help you manage stress while doing your job in the office. Check out this Mini Desktop Water Based Air Purifier Revitalizer Air Freshener.
12. Think positive and enjoy. It’s so easy to say think positive, but to accomplish it is actually difficult. But the secret to thinking positively is to simply think for the sake of others instead of your self interest. Selflessness is also the key to real happiness. This may be profound but just try to evaluate yourself and determine what causes your negative thoughts. Aren’t they the likes of envy, greed and other selfish interests?
13. Remember your goals. Stress can exist from boredom and burnout. To manage your stressors and keep yourself active, just be reminded and be motivated with your great goals. Don’t forget the purpose and reason why you are working for. So be inspired and keep yourself in the right direction.
14. Pray. Praying will keep you in touch with the most powerful One. When you have the confidence for eternity, then any kind of stress will not bother you. This needs your justified faith and pure love for our Almighty God. You don’t need to pray for an hour or recite a repetitive prayer. God knows what you need even before you ask it. So just feel the presence of God in your heart, mind and soul.
15. Be aware. Knowledge is power, and to obtain knowledge is to simply be aware. The first step to manage your stress is to be aware that you are actually having it. That is why you need to listen to what your body, feelings and mind are trying to tell you. For example, if you already feel pain in your body, then you should listen to it when it sends warning messages to your head to slow down.
16. Forget and forgive. Past mistakes can cause anxiety to a person who committed them. They can bring worries and can destroy one’s confidence if not manage the brighter way. The key to give yourself an inner peace is to forgive yourself, forget your wronged self, learn new lessons, and keep forwarding. So if in the past you did not accomplish your job as planned, then forgive yourself, learn from your mess and ensure to do it right this time. Now if your anger or hatred with your co-worker or someone else is the one causing you stress, then apply the “forget and forgive” technique to that person.
17. Get rid of your fear. Stress can be your self’s reaction from your fear. When you are afraid, stressors come out to stop you from moving forward. You are actually the one who’s producing stress because you’re actually the one who is reacting from something you are afraid of. As I said earlier in #7 stressors can be our natural defense mechanism. For example, when you are giving some task by your manager in the office which you think is so difficult, you become afraid to accept the task. Thus, you react and produce stress to escape from that task. And even if you have already started to do that job, if the worry is still within you, stress continues to affect you. To manage your stress, you should also manage your fear. By combining #12 to #16, you will find it easier to manage your fear.
18. Continue and finish. Finally, stress can be generated by your depression or disappointment from your failure to get your things done. Therefore, if you want to manage your stress without even taking a break, then just keep on working and working until your job is done for the day.
This article is written for informational use only. Thus, your success to coping with your stress still lies in your own hands. Remember that stress is your kind of reaction. Therefore, you should be wise on how you should react or on how you should not react at all. Be stress-free and be successful!
Victorino Q. Abrugar is a marketing strategist and business consultant from Tacloban City, Philippines. Vic has been in the online marketing industry for more than 7 years, practicing problogging, web development, content marketing, SEO, social media marketing, and consulting.
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