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10 Great Ways to Avoid Stress at Work

7. Deep Breathing Right before an important meeting or presentation, being anxious and stressed is pretty normal. What you need to do is become relaxed to… Melisa Silver - March 11, 2016

Stress has become an inevitable part of our lives and to make sure it doesn’t interrupt our productivity level, we need to organize ourselves and know ways to cope up with it. Things go from ‘Oh, I got this’ to ‘OMG! this is getting out of my hands’ real quick. In such situations, the stress hormone is released which activates the fight or flight response. It is when the heartbeat goes up and the productivity level comes down.

With a lot on your plate, here are 11 useful ways to avoid stress at work.

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1. Stay motivated

Everyone will tell you to stay positive no matter what happens but it is not easy I tell you. What is more important than staying positive is not being so hard on yourself. No matter what happens, you will have to endure what falls on you and if this is the case, why not do it with pleasure. Even when you yourself are responsible for how you behave, you still have to deal with other people’s difficult behavior around you. You need to influence others by telling them to address their negative behavior and try to change it. As long as internal negativity is concerned, don’t be too critical on yourself. Instead of shattering your confidence, pump yourself up and stay motivated. Remind yourself you are strong and you can do it, every day.

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2. Laugh

I might sound stupid when I tell you to laugh it out, but believe me, it works. Working in a light, friendly environment helps you cope with stress quite wisely. How does it help? Well, laughing tricks the brain to release the happy hormone that helps battle the stress hormones this way you automatically feel better about yourself. You can’t just randomly start giggling at your workplace so I would suggest you see something you find hilarious e.g. skits or videos that will help you crack up rather than crack up.

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3. Stop fooling yourself with unrealistic goals

‘I can do this’ turns into ‘WTH! how will I do this’ in no time. Don’t overburden yourself by thinking you are a superhero. Being ambitious is great, but at times, you just can’t do all the things you want to. Abandon the goals that you can’t achieve to avoid stress at work.

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4. Self-Imposed Stress

All the things that are not important and you still have to do, don’t. Start telling yourself ‘I won’t do this because I get very stressed out whenever I do this.’ Imposing stress is like taking your self-confidence down the drain. Don’t get yourself caught up in things other than what you are best at. Stay focused with the work you are assigned. Only by doing this, you will be able to give 100% to your work. If you keep worrying about what other people might think of you if you don’t participate in activities unimportant to you, you won’t be satisfied with your own self because your focus would be disturbed. People are more likely to get impressed when they see you all focused rather than stressed.

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5. Embrace what stress has to offer

I might sound crazy, but it has been researched and experimented that just the right amount of stress is beneficial for good work performance. When a person gets an idea about how stressful situations can bring out the best of them and how it pushes them to their limits, he/she changes their opinion about stress. This will help them cope with stress rather than take it on their head.

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6. Act, instead of reacting

We all come across situations which demand considerable time for resolution. At first, things might appear out of control, even though they aren’t. You just need to concentrate and act appropriately rather than reacting to it too quickly. There is an 80% chance of screwing up a situation under stress by reacting than sorting it out and acting calmly.

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7. Deep Breathing

Right before an important meeting or presentation, being anxious and stressed is pretty normal. What you need to do is become relaxed to give your 100%, and for that, here is a tip that can help you out. Breathe in for 5 seconds and hold. Now exhale slowly. Repeat the act a couple of times and you will feel peace within and shall become more focused and calm. This little tip is equal to doing 90 minutes of yoga in only 3 minutes so at your workspace. Isn’t that fantastic?

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8. Get rid of Interruptions

Try to eliminate interruptions during work hours. You must be like, ‘sure, easier said than done.’ But oh well, we know leaving your phone ringing isn’t THAT easy. As you see emails popping up in your inbox and text messages lining in your phone, getting rid of interruptions isn’t an easy thing to do. You are bombarded with them throughout the day. How to avoid them? Well, here’s a tip. Respond in either of the following ways: accept, ignore, decide which one would be best and plan accordingly. You need to train yourself to know who and what is worth getting distracted for.

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9. Make the most of the productive hours

If you think that you will push yourself to be productive for full 8-10 hours a day and get your task done, then you might be wrong. Human productivity level goes down with the energy level. As the energy becomes low, the stress level peaks and as you get home, you have no energy to spend time with your family. To stay less stressed and more productive, it is recommended that you take short breaks, walk about, relax and listen to music, or stretch where you’re sitting. According to research, when after a concentration span of 90 minutes, a small recovery period helps avoid stress and relax the brain for further activity.

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10. Take care of your diet and your sleep

unhealthy eating habits put the body in great stress. It is recommended to follow low-sugar and high-protein diet. Sleeping is as important as diet. If you don’t get proper sleep, your body will not get rejuvenated and you would get stressed out easily. Sleep helps the body heal. If the body and mind are tired, they won’t be able to perform well. Here is a tip that will help you fall asleep fast: breath in only with the left nostril and keep the right one covered for as long as 3-5 minutes. Exhale slowly. Repeat the exercise three to four times.

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11. Prioritize your tasks

With the deadlines approaching real fast, take a moment to relax your brain. Once you clear your mind, decide what to do and what not to do. Also, which assignment is more important and how to cope up with it. Once you are clear about your goals, your priorities and your strengths, you can have found out your key to success. We know that sometimes, it is hard to decide but you got to do it anyway. Take a deep breath and focus on meeting deadlines without procrastinating. Cut down your to-dos and keep the list realistic.

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