Our Readers’ Workplace Stress Reduction Tips!!

Throughout the month of April, 2011, readers submitted their ideas for stress relief on the job.  We invite you to read and enjoy this compilation, taking what works for you into your workplace!

1. Breathe. Deeply. Often!!
2. Take a break, even if it is just 5 minutes.
3. I really enjoyed listening to Pandora radio quietly in my cubicle. Also, having a moment to breathe and close my eyes was helpful too.   I feel that breathing and quiet moments to yourself to just close your eyes and think and BE, are very helpful. When you think about it, in Spain they give an afternoon off, “a long lunch break” to go home, eat well, rest, and return fresh to work. And yes, that equals more productivity! I remember when I studied abroad there, I felt the most healthy and refreshed, and productive!
4. Stand up and streeeeeeeeetch. There. That’s better!!
5. On your cell phone or tucked away in your desk keep a few special pictures of something or someone that takes you away for a minute or two, view them and put them back where you found them, on occasion add a few more, this really works to reduce stress and gives you energy! Do not put these pictures out so you can view them everyday, as you will forget about them in a very short time and they will lose their effect!
6. My stress reduction is normally accomplished by connecting with nature. In the Spring I plant seeds, flowers/veges and tend the gardens. In the Summer I continue tending the gardens, the bushes, grass, the flowers, etc. I swim. I lay in the sun. In the Fall I harvest the gardens, rake the leaves and prepare the grounds for winter. In winter I shovel snow, walk or drive in the snow. I go to the gym. Then spring comes again. Nature always gives me something to do or tend to and when I come back in to work, I’m ready to work again. And many times I even have an order waiting for me on my desk! What a great reward for taking time to be in nature.
7. Take five minutes to doodle while meditating. It doesn’t have to be beautiful or artwork. Just let your mind wander and play with color and textures. Or meditate about one specific topic and doodle while you think. I find it is a refreshing way to get past a distraction and take a little mental break.
8. Drive a different way to work and when you come home as well. You will pay more attention on your driving and less time thinking about the less desirable things associated with your job. When you drive the same way home, look at your scenery through “new eyes.”
9. My experience is that the only way a person can reduce their stress, to the point where they are no longer stressed (on automatic), is for them to be aware, meaning living in the present moment – a quiet mind.  When there is no thinking going on in the mind, there is no stress or suffering – it takes having to think about something for there to be a problem When a person is present and aware, everything is just the way it is …
10. On a group level- office/corporate yoga classes encourage whole team ethos of stress relief and relaxation. Employees can also do simple yoga stretches and breathing exercises at their work station to ease tight muscles, release stress and calm and focus the mind.
11. The breath. It is portable, easy to use, you take it everywhere you go and no one even has to know you are doing anything. Try this breathing for focus technique. http://www.relaxforsuccess.com/202.html
12. Getting outside in the warm sunshine, especially after staring at a computer for hours, and exercise, of course – intense resistance training, aerobic activity, or gentle stretching.
13. Reducing or eliminating interruptions is a great way to reduce work-related stresses during the day. Set aside part of your day to work uninterrupted on projects that are important. Then let your colleagues know when you will be available again and what constitutes an emergency. It is all about setting boundaries.
14. the first thing I have to do under stress is to give myself alone time and to energize by going within myself. For this I also need silence, though soothing music often helps.
15. Every time I feel stressed out, I seek the comforts of my friends. I vent out my problems with them. It makes me feel good afterwards.

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We are giving away a copy of Simple Relaxation – our guided relaxation audio CD – when we reach 100 “likes” on the A.K. A Coach and Company Facebook page!  Click here and “like” us –  and be automatically entered in the drawing!!