6 ways to relax...

6 ways to relax and recharge at work

In todays (dare I say it) fast paced world, too many people work too many hours, skip lunch, skip dinner, skip breakfast and probably skip sleep in between. Work follows you home like a large angry dog that holds the keys to your livelihood, and somehow we become quivering, electrified balls of stress.

Yeah, that sucks.

There's lots of great information out there about the reasons for lowering your stress levels, from a personal and a business perspective - you need fewer sick days, you're more productive, easier to work with, deal with customers and other associates better, your homelife and your health improves and your significant other doesn't recoil in horror when a pale zombie crawls into bed at 2am, and spends the night screaming that the Jipson account was done two weeks ago, damnit.

The most effective way to lower your stress levels would be an already lifestyle change, eat right, exercise, work a little less, segment your time and leave work outside of certain places, however that's something that you'll have to decide to do as and when you're ready/having enough heart attacks.

So, in the meantime, here are a few ideas to help lower your stress levels during your work day.

Meditate

Meditation is popular these days, and not without cause. It can be hard to master as first, especially in a busy environment, but if you try just one step at a time you'll develop the ability to calm yourself quickly, which will serve you well in every area of your life. Try out this simple exercise, and then have a look at some others, and explore which style works best for you.

  1. Sit comfortably, try not to slouch, but don't be too tense.
  2. Focus on your breathing, inflate your lungs slowly, all the way down so your stomach is rising as well as your chest. Count slowly to 5 as you breathe in, and then 5 again as you breathe out. If you can't make it to 5, try 3 and gradually increase the length of your breaths. The aim is to make each exhale the same length as it's exhale.
  3. Gradually increase the length of each breath until you make it to ten, or just go as high as you comfortably can, say try 5 lots of counting-to-5, then 5 of counting-to-6, go more slowly if you need to.
  4. If any intrusive thoughts or distractions enter your mind, just gently acknowledge the thought and let it drift away, and return your focus to counting and breathing.
  5. From here, you could try visualising a calm scene, I often find visualising a sequence of events helps me, like following a leaf down a stream. You might find one particular image works better for you, or a whole scene, or a memory. Gently explore and see what you come up with.
  6. If you find yourself getting distracted, observe the distraction, then return to your breathing.
  7. When you're ready, start to count your breathes again, and gradually take notice of your surroundings, one sensation at a time, start with one sense, say your ears, and take in each noise, one by one. When you're fully aware of your surroundings, stretch out your limbs slowly, stand up, stretch some more, take a few deep breaths, and you're good to go for a while.

Exercise

Yeah, everybody says it, but a little bit of exercise during the workday helps a lot more than you think. If you have time to go to the gym, awesome, do that, and your personal trainer will tell you what to do. If you don't, or don't want to, try out some of these;

Yoga

Yeah, this one can be awkward, but give it a go, you might be surprised, look up a few basic stretches restorative poses (in fact, talk to Kim from Palmy Yoga), and just do them maybe once a day - there's a lot of poses you can try out, so there's bound to be something you can find to suit the space available. If you haven't got an office, try in the staff room. Better yet, the elevator. Sure, people will probably look at you funny, but I bet you'll feel better, and life's more fun when you're the local crazy, nobody expects you to remember their name, and you can hum to yourself and nobody takes any notice.

Office chair workout

Set a little routine up for yourself, say five sets of different exercises, and do them on breaks, when you just can't get your head around a problem, when you're frustrated, etc.

  • Dips - Put both hands on the edge of the chair, make sure it isn't going to roll away, and then lift yourself off the edge of the chair, move your feet out about a foot, and then lower your hips, then push yourself back up again using your arms. Use your legs if you need to. Go as low as you feel comfortable. Try 5 of these to start with and work your way up to two sets of 15.
  • Leg extension - Sit up straight in your chair with your feet flat on the floor, then straighten one leg so it's horizontal, then bring your foot back to the floor. Repeat with your other leg. If you have bad knees this can help, but go easy to start with. Aim for 2 sets of 15.
  • Bicep curl - Grab a water bottle, a paper weight, something like that, and use it like a dumbbell. Go slow and steady, and aim for 15 reps on either arm.
  • Knee raises - Sit up straight, with your feet flat on the floor. Then raise both your knees up, hold them for a second and then lower them again, aim to do this slowly, and keep your back straight and your stomach tight the whole way through. Start out with 5 reps, and go slowly, this one is great for the back and abs but do be careful not to overdo it, especially if you have back problems.

Look up other office exercises to supplement these basic ones.

Office Circuit

Walk around the office, go up and down the stairs, find a reason to get up out of your chair and moving around - make coffee for everybody and deliver it. People will have a reason to be nice to you and you've got a good reason to be moving around. Deliver a file personally, do a few drive/walk bys of that cutie you're too scared to talk to (leave your binoculars and camera at the desk).

Breaks

We forget breaks when we're stressed, when we have a report to finish, when somebody just won't-get-off-the-damn-phone-for-the-last-time-I-don't-care-how-cute-your-dog-is.

Breaks are essential in physical exercise, or we damage the muscles. I'm not sure if that applies in a direct sense to the brain, but it definitely applies with regard to our peace of mind, our energy levels and our productivity.

Take regular breaks.

Micro breaks

These are especially important if you work in front of a computer a lot, or in any job that keeps you in the same position a lot of the time. Stop and blink a few times, look around, stretch out your wrists, neck and shoulders, stand up, walk back and forth a few times to get the circulation going.

Power naps

Everyone I talk to, especially in the IT industry finds little naps in the afternoon incredibly helpful. Just when we're running out of steam 10-20 minutes snoozing helps recharge you enough to make it to 5pm. Even if you don't actually nap, just set your watch, cover your eyes and just focus on breathing, perhaps listen to music, recite a little mantra in your head every time thoughts of work intrude. Make those minutes your own. If somebody bothers you, tell them you're refocusing and will be with them shortly.

Coffee breaks

Don't miss your 15 minute breaks, use them as a reason to go outside for a bit, breathe in some fresh air, or relax on the couch in the staff room. Don't stay cooped up and do not work through your breaks. If you're stressed enough to work through them then you're not being productive with your time, and a break without thoughts of work will recharge you and make you more productive. It's like studying, you get to a point where you can't cram anymore in, so you have to take a break and let it percolate.

Meal breaks

This also ties into your diet. Eat good food, stuff with a low fat and low sugar content and a low glyceamic index, for one thing your overall health will improve, but it will also give you more sustained energy over the day, and when we're tired we get stressed more easily. It also costs less than buying from the vending machine or the starbucks, and more money is always good for lowering stress. Good examples are;

  • Fruit pieces
  • Pasta salad
  • Yoghurt
  • Nuts and seeds - trail mix type stuff (careful on the sugar content)
  • Sandwiches with plenty of salad in them (add a nice dressing to make it more interesting)
  • Burritos/Kebabs
  • Healthy muffins or cookies (recipes here)

Do not skip meals. Your brain will stop functioning and you'll get half as much done, while being twice as stressed. Also, your meal breaks are typically longer than coffee or short breaks, so make the most of them. Eat your lunch outside, listen to bird song, breath fresh air, admire the view from a window. Eat slowly, you don't want indigestion, and paying attention to the taste and smell and texture of your food is not only enjoyable but relaxing. Make the most of your time, and use it to relax.

Music

Bring an mp3 player, or cd player, or a walkman if you're old fashioned, bring a gramaphone if you want - people'll probably think it's a new fashion trend. Choose tracks appropriate to what you're doing, upbeat music when you need it, and slower music when you have to concentrate. Try not to choose music that will distract you. Headphones are a most excellent idea if you have music on your computer.

Don't be afraid to headbang, or even get up and dance sometimes, sing along if you want. Music is good for the soul, which helps keep the stress zombie toxins at bay. People will probably leave you alone if they think you're crazy too.

Laugh

Laughter and smiling (along with exercise, eating chocolate and sex - all of them can be done at the office, take your pick) releases endorphins - nature's happy hormone. Plus, it makes people wonder what you're up to. The internet is a goldmine when it comes to comedy. It's tempting to waste all day on this stuff, so be careful, but every so often a laugh is a good thing. Print out the stuff you like best and hang it on your wall/cubicle/back of co workers head.

Comics

There's literally hundreds of thousands of free webcomics out there - to suit any sense of humour. A lot of them you can sign up for and get them sent straight to your email.

Pictures of cute animals

funny pictures of cats with captions

Go on. Admit it. It's ok. Everybody loves cute animals. Especially pictures of cute animals with captions. Be very, very careful with this one, they're addictive.

Demotivational posters

Frankly, these are better than motivational posters. Just click them, seriously, if you can put up with "you don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps" then it can't get any worse. Warning: Some of these are a bit off colour, but you should be fine, you're a grown up.

Videos

I'm not gonna link to any funny videos here because, while they are unquestionably awesome, they have a tendency to get people fired. So, yeah. Maybe not the videos.

Jokes

Self explanatory. Lots of these have mailing lists, so you can get em sent to you.

Other stuff

Be social

Ok, don't slack off, much. But connecting with people can really help. Try to avoid office politics, but a friendly conversation, maybe improving somebody else's day is a good step towards chilling out.

  • Ring your kids, your parents or you significant other. Maybe don't have a long conversation, but say hi, how are you, escape from work for a moment, hear their news. Sometimes just hearing about certain things helps. For me it's hearing how the animals are going, I have the neurotic ones that always do something funny.
  • Write a letter or an email to an old friend on a break.
  • Bring somebody who looks stressed a drink and a lolcat.
  • Tell somebody they're doing a good job.

Add your own relaxing tips. ^_^

-Bridget Hughes
Owner, Designer and General Trouble Maker

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