Decompress Your Stress

When work is crazy, you're tired, and other people are getting on your nerves, what do you do? Yell at your coworkers? Take a sick day? Internalize it so you are bundle of nerves? Dream of Hawaii? Play a little Stress Relief 2.0 on your computer and decimate your opponents with a hammer, chainsaw, or flame thrower? If you feel stress, one way or the other, you must decompress.

Fight or flight is the usual way we respond to stress. In the workplace, lashing out or letting Calgon take you away are not good options. Even in your personal life, you need to find a way to decompress that does not decimate your personal relationships, eat you up, or result in unproductive escape tactics like excessive shopping or drinking that can lead to more stress. Stress can come when a situation is heating up or when little things keep building up. Either way, unrelieved or unresolved stress is the ultimate pay now or pay later situation.
Needing relief for stress is a natural phenomenon. How do you do it, especially in the workplace?

First, you need to figure out the source of your stress. Do you have big a project with a tight deadline that is causing it, or do you work in an environment that is frequently fast-paced and demanding? Is there a coworker who manages to inflame every situation or who, at least, knows how to push your buttons? Are you pressures really your own expectations for yourself or your organization?

Next, ask yourself how you feel about the situation. Do you thrive on it and love the challenge, even though the pressure gets to you some days? Or does it make so you uncomfortable you can hardly function? Keeping in mind that great achievements in life result from stress (athletic victories, college degrees, and childbirth come to mind), you must decide whether you can change your attitude and accept the stress as part of the deal or whether it is time to avoid that stress by changing the situation.

Having assessed the situation, what then? The amount of control you have over it depends on where you are in the organization. If you 're the boss, you can delegate more of your work, transfer irritating employees, or occasionally slip away during the day for a vigorous session at the gym. If you don't have as much control over your schedule or workflow, then you need to develop ways quick, unobtrusive ways to decompress during the day.

Relieving stress on the job. Break times or lunch time can be a pleasant time to visit with other staff members, but if you always use the time as a gripe session, you might not feel refreshed. A better approach might taking a walk, ipod in ear, to focus you mind on something else for a time. Even back at your desk, you can take a few minutes to meditate or stretch by your desk. The key to making the most of quick stress-relief techniques is to focus on the moment and not multi-task. Though having a cup of good coffee and a Snickers bar are two of life's great pleasures, too much caffeine can exacerbate your stress; a bottle of water will refresh you without the side effects.

Stress is part of the human condition, but you can find appropriate and productive ways to lessen it both at home and at work. With life is busy, building in ways to decompress your stress is important to living a balanced life.

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