How to De-Stress Your Work Day and Arrive Home with Energy to Spare

Some jobs can be quite overwhelming and your stress levels just seem to go up and up. Ask yourself these questions: Do you feel as if there aren’t enough hours in your day to get everything done? Do you feel yourself tightening up over the course of the day? Do you react to incoming messages or additional workload by tearing your hair out and wondering how you can fit that in on top of everything else? Do you arrive home too tired or too late to interact with your family?

The first step is the realization that as it is you who is really making the choices in your life, you are in control of your day. You can create the perfect workday, if you’re willing to start from scratch.

For some people, that may mean taking some tough steps, if their boss or their workplace is very controlling about how they do their work. For example, you might talk to your boss about restructuring your workday. It might also mean looking for a new job that’s more flexible, if you’re not happy with the way things are. Or it might just mean picking the tips below that work best for you and living with a certain amount of stress. Do what works for you!

For me, a perfect workday incorporates many of the tips below, but never all of them at once. I use a combination of strategies to ensure that most of my days are fairly relaxed. Do I still get stressed? Undeniably. But it’s a far less frequent thing than in the past.

Here’s how I do it.

1. Do less. It’s very difficult to have a relaxed workday if you have too much going on. Instead, learn to reduce what you do, but choose the most impactful tasks and projects — the ones that will mean the most over the long term. I choose three important things to achieve each day, as I’ve said before. Those are the three things I can do today that will have the most impact in my life. Reading Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Organised…” is a great start as he gives a whole chapter over to prioritising your work day.
2. Create a morning routine. And make it a relaxing one. That could include some of the things below, such as exercise, a hot bath, or quiet working time. For me, it means getting up earlier so I’m not so rushed, and then doing little rituals (like having a quiet cup of coffee and reading) that will ensure I start the day perfectly.
3. Prepare the night before. An evening routine is also essential to starting your day right. This might include things like choosing your three Most Important Tasks for the next day, so you know what you’re going to do when you wake up. It might mean getting your clothes ready. For me, it includes getting a jump start on prepping my children, so they’re just about sorted before my day even starts.
4. Start the day with a relaxing shower or bath. I like a hot shower, but if you have time, a good bath can be a perfect way to start off the day. It gets you in a relaxed mood, which is much better than starting the day stressed out. Running water, such as in your shower has the added benefit of showering you with negative ions, these tiny little electrical charges are known to boost energy and feelings of wellbeing.
5. Get in some morning exercise. I don’t get to exercise every single morning, but I do it on a majority of mornings. A nice morning run is a wonderful thing for me. It relaxes me, and gives me a sense of well being and accomplishment. Remember exercise gives you more energy, especially when it is done with a sense of enjoyment, and it also releases added endorphins to give you a “fresh and awake” start to your day
6. Work when it’s quiet. I like to do work late at night, when everyone is sleeping. For others, that might be early in the morning instead. Whatever works best for you. When I was working in an office, I liked to get in before everyone else, so that I could get in some solid work before things got busy. I would also work during lunch while everyone else was out — I just liked the quiet. I would eat two smaller lunches before and after the normal lunch hour. Getting in early also allowed me to leave early, so that I could spend time with my kids or get in some evening exercise.
7. Create a clutter-free environment. This is key for me, although I might tell you I’m not very good at it. Clear your desk of any clutter, it’s ok to have a couple of family pictures or an inbox, but too much is just as visual distraction. Clear your walls of everything but a nice picture or other art piece or two. Clutter-free surroundings create a peaceful working environment. Chris Brazel the Feng Shui consultant we are affiliated with says that a clear desk inspires you to be more organised and spend less time feeling disorganised. Feeling disorganised can lead to acting in a disorganised manner and this can lead to you feeling stressed about your ability to get things done.
8. Turn off the distractions. That means phones, email notification, instant messaging, anything that will break into your focus and make you jump from one thing to another. Give yourself a time or more than one, to check your emails and only check your emails during those times. It can be as soon as you get to work, just after lunch and an hour before you go home. Once you have decided on your email times do not deviate! Learn how to prioritise, just because you have gotten a message, doesn’t mean you have to drop everything to answer it, or change your focus.
9. Cut back on your commitments. Evaluate all the things you’ve got going on in your life, and see what isn’t essential. This means choosing 4-5 essential things in your life, and trying to eliminate the rest over time.
10. Cut out meetings. If you have the ability to opt out of meetings, do so. They are generally a waste of time. Sure, it’s possible that a meeting is the most productive way to do something, but it’s rarely done. Usually the point of a meeting could be accomplished with email, or an IM. Cutting out meetings could free up a lot of time and make your workday more relaxed.
11. Single-task. For me, focus is everything. Writing this article would take twice as long, and be much less peaceful, if I was constantly interrupted, if I was constantly switching between this and email and surfing the web and other tasks I have to do. I like to focus on one task at a time, if possible, and really lose myself in the writing. It’s amazing how much you get done when you are focused on one task at a time, sometimes when we are multi-tasking we get less done and feel busier. Multi tasking is also very stressful unless, you are intelligent about it.
12. Take breaks and stretch. While focusing on one task at a time is important, it’s also important to take breaks when you can. Get up, stretch, get a glass of water. Massage your shoulders, neck and head. It keeps you relaxed throughout the day.
13. Go for a walk. I also like to take a break and go for a walk. It helps me get perspective, to think, to get a better overall picture on my workday and my life. Plus it gets the blood circulating.
14. Eat lunch in quiet. It’s all very well to do a lunch meeting, but you will find that it often leads to indigestion and feeling that you haven’t had time to think all day. When I’m at lunch on my own I often come up with new ways of doing things, or new ideas, even new connections that wouldn’t have occurred to me it I hadn’t taken time out on my own.
15. Do mini-meditations. This doesn’t require a mat or a temple or soothing tapes or anything. Just sit where you are, close your eyes, and focus on your breathing — on your breath as it comes into your body, and then goes out. This helps me to centre myself, no matter what is going on with work. When you are stressed out, try this little trick; find your carotid pulse (this is the big one in your neck – your jugular), and begin by counting your heart beats, as you do this begin to regulate your breathing to the count. Breathe in for four beats and out for six, concentrating on counting and breathing until you find much to your surprise your stress has gone. It only takes about 5 minutes, so you can fit it in at any time. Great just before a big presentation!
16. Learn to focus on the present. Related to the mini-meditations and single-tasking. Basically, instead of worrying about what you have to do in the future, and instead of reliving things you did in the past, focus on what you’re doing right now. This can be difficult, as our minds have a tendency to wander to other things, but it’s simply a matter of practice - be aware of where your mind is, and when it drifts to other things, gently bring it back to the present. This helps keep your mind in a peaceful place all day long.
17. Roll with the punches. There will always be things that go wrong. What is important is how we react to them — do we go all Drama Queen, and get stressed and upset? Or do we accept what has happened, and make a calm decision about what to do now? When things get overwhelming, take a step back to get some perspective, and realize that in a few months, none of this will really matter much — and then take steps to eliminate the non-essential and focus on what’s really important. This is very much about the principal of accepting what is and get on with life, rather than reacting to what happens you are now in a position to respond to what happens. A much more capable way to handle your life, and it really impresses the boss!

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