Stress tips you can try in the next 5 minutes

You check your email in the morning and find a load of requests that will take you more than 8 hours to complete. Then around 5:15pm you get another round of emails with tasks from your boss or client that need to be done before a morning meeting. Am I right?

I get it.

It’s stressful. Even worse, it doesn’t look like the pattern is getting better in the near future. How do you deal with it?
In this post I’d like to share 8 simple tips you can apply almost immediately when you feel overwhelmed by stress.

Not all stress is bad

Remember that there is a certain amount of stress that we need to feel inspired and get moving on a new project. In an earlier post I wrote about the two types of stress. We can leverage this positive tension to be more creative and productive in our work. However, we must also be aware of when this energy peaks and insert the proper breakthrough strategy.

The tips

Tip #1 breathing pattern 4-7-8

This is becoming a well known breathing pattern to prepare your body to fall asleep. It can also be used to help destress a bit.

Tip #2 toss something between your right and left hand.

Start out by giving your stress level a number between 1 and 10. Then watch the object and pass it back and forth between your left and right hand. Do this for about 30 seconds, pause, then repeat.

Tip #3 Acknowledge the stress

This tip seems very obvious, but it is usually the last thing that we want to do when the feeling hits. Verbally acknowledging what is giving you stress allows you to step away from the moment and disassociate from it.

Tip #4 Drink a glass of water

Whenever I tend to get deep into a project I forget to eat and drink. I get dehydrated and that brings me more stress. Grab a glass of water and take a break.

That’s it for now. There are a ton more stress tips. I want to focus on a few at a time. Give these a try and let me know if you come up with your own. I would love to know about it.

Your turn

Do you have any tips that you would like to share?