Stress Relievers for the Office

No matter what position you may have in corporate America, stress is a normal part of life. However, if you do not handle the stress well enough, or get too much stress thrown on you, the stress can have very detrimental effects. Some of these effects we are all well familiar with: headaches, nervous break downs, mental break downs, and some times even heart attacks. With some simple steps, though, most of these side effects can be easily avoided.

Walking with a purpose- If your in box is starting to get full, the special projects are piling up, and deadlines are coming close, it can feel like the walls are closing in. So, take a break from your desk. Don't just go ahead and head to the water cooler. Grab your planner, your notebook, or a stack of papers, and go for a walk. Now, I'm not just saying taking a stroll. Walk as if you are heading for a very important meeting for which you don't want to be late. Of course, you don't have an actual meeting. But, the other people in the office don't need to know that. They'll start to wonder what meeting you have, and which of the CEO's you're meeting with that's going to give you a raise. Of course, if others in the office are let in on your little break trick, they will start doing it to. If they start doing it, the CEO will be amazed at how motivated and driven everyone in the office is and seriously consider giving raises for this year.

All the world loves a clown- Have a report that you are dreading reading and going over? Your employees coming up to you every two minutes with idiotic questions while reading that report? Constant interruptions just driving you insane? Just put on a red clown nose. Not only will you look ridiculous, but how can you feel stressed while wearing a clown nose. The added benefit is that people who are coming up to interrupt you may go ahead and think twice. After all, would you really want to go ahead and talk to a person wearing a red clown nose?

Just act plain crazy- Need to focus on the job at hand but people keep coming up to you? Already have too much on your plate, know the boss is going to give you another task but don't want to tell him no? Start talking to your invisible friend Henry. Or start performing one of the Three Stooges slap routines they are famous for on yourself. Or, better yet, start barking randomly at people. Sure your co-workers may keep their distance for a while, but look at the stress you are keeping away from yourself. Also, the boss may think about giving you some extra time off from work since you may be overloading yourself.

There are hundreds of other things that you can do to relieve stress at work. Sure, some of them may be illegal (like murder or drugs), and others may be boring (like deep breathing), but these three are ones that I do while I'm at work and start to feel overloaded. Not only does it give me a break from the daily grind, but it also gives me that much needed chuckle to get me through the rest of the day.