When stress leaves you feeling wired, exhausted, or defeated, you need to find some way to calm down. High levels of stress will slow down your productivity and decrease the quality of your work. So take a minute to read these unusual methods of keeping your cool at work.
1. Hum a Tune
You don’t need to be an opera singer to take advantage of this mood-changer. Simply vocalizing (humming or singing) sets off a reaction involving the vagus nerve that tells your brain that things are going well. You naturally calm down, and the humming actually helps you control your breathing. Plus, because music has many emotional associations, you can train your brain to be happy when you hum a certain happy tune. Find the tune that is right for you, and make good use of it before your next stressful presentation.
2. Crunch, Crunch
Oddly enough, eating crunchy foods takes away physical tension. Feeling uptight? Grab an apple, a handful of almonds, or crunchy carrot sticks. You’ll feel better after you eat them!
3. Put on a Fake Smile
Take a look in the mirror. Are you frowning? Turn that frown upside down, even though you don’t feel like smiling. Smiles provide benefits to your mood and your health. Chances are that your fake grin will become a real one before long.
4. Take a Reading Break
Reading a book can calm you down. It’s called bibliotherapy. Take a break away from your emails and pressing paperwork and settle back with something you enjoy reading. A few minutes of calm, concentrated reading can erase tension and anxiety from your day.
5. Find an Object Outside and Set it on Your Desk
Take a walk during your lunch break and find something small that you can bring back to work with you. Make sure it is an interesting object, at least to you. Your object might be a smooth stone with polka dots on it, a small stick shaped like the letter K, or a piece of shiny metal that doesn’t seem to belong on anything. When you glance at your interesting object, you may feel a sense of calm. Not everything around you is about work. Some things in life are different.
What makes you calm at work? Your idea might be even stranger than ours!
Sources:
https://www.oxbridgeacademy.edu.za/blog/7-unusual-ways-to-relieve-stress/
