The Office Worker’s Guide to Beating Workplace Stress

Work can be stressful. With multiple tasks to accomplish, it’s easy to neglect your physical and mental well-being. This goes beyond respecting your lunch hour – it’s about taking the necessary steps to make work enjoyable and comfortable. With summer about to end and fall quickly approaching, here are a few things to help survive your work day when vacations end and things start to pick up in the fall.

Feeling overstressed?

Do you have a lot on your plate at the moment? Are projects piling up and you feel like you have a never-ending list of tasks to accomplish in a short amount of time? Try this website to de-stress. Write down what is bothering you and watch it float away. Things might feel urgent now, but the world is a lot bigger than you think. Let your worries drift off for a second and try to get a clear head. Things may not be as bad as they seem. Getting a sense of perspective can work wonders on an anxious mind.

Cramped Up at Your Desk?

Do some exercises to relax your body. Sitting all day and staring at a computer monitor is not good to your physical well-being and can shorten your lifespan. Try these quick and easy exercises to decompress your body and make sitting easier. While it might feel odd to start stretching in the middle of your work day with your colleagues around, it will help with the aches and pain you get from sitting in a chair for most of the day.

Can’t Find Calm in the Chaos?

Is there a lot going on around you? Try this website to help calm you down (pun intended). Listening to something soothing and blocking out the rest of the office will be helpful in focusing your mind so you can get your work done. The constant ringing of phones and chatter amongst colleagues might not be bothersome, but it can still be distracting. This website not only provides soothing background noise but also helps you meditate throughout the workday. Taking the time to clear your head might be just what the doctor (or your boss) ordered.

While I do not advocate spending your entire day meditating or doing yoga at your desk, it does come in handy when things get stressful. According to the American Institute of Stress, a person’s job is more often than not his or her major cause of stress. May I remind you: stress has been associated with increased rates of heart attack, hypertension and an exponential amount of other disorders. Workplace stress is often unavoidable, but you can manage how you deal with it. At different points throughout the day, I stretch out my body or go for a quick walk on the beautiful Hoboken waterfront, overlooking Manhattan, to clear my head and regain my energy. So the next time you’re feeling tense, try out these tips to relax your mind and body.  

How do you de-stressing at work? Leave a comment below and let me know!