10 Tips to help with Business Stress

Here are 10 simple techniques that you can use if you are stressed and short on time. Whether you decide to do them all or concentrate on just one or two, these exercises will help you relax, re-charge and re-focus.

1. Say it out loud – even if there’s no one to hear you say it, admit that you are stressed out. Turns out, simply vocalizing your negative emotions helps to keep them in check.
2. Write it down – write down what bothers you and stresses you out. Once you have your list, rate each entry on a scale from 1 (causes least stress) to 5 (causes most stress). Identifying and prioritizing the causes will clear your mind and help you figure out how to deal with the stress.
3. Reduce – look at your to-do list for today and scratch just one task off of it. The truth is, we usually put too many non-essential things on our plates. Ask yourself whether completing a task will matter much next week, next month, next year.
4. Delegate – choose one item on your to-do list and delegate it. Trying to control every single step leads to unnecessary stress.
5. Take a break – even if you can only spare a few minutes, get out of your office (or home office), stretch and go on a short walk.
6. Drink a cup of tea – take a moment to make a cup of your favorite tea, then make sure you enjoy the result (no drinking at your desk, please).
7. Read – pick up a book, make yourself really comfortable and read a few pages before returning to work.
8. Dance – tune into your favorite music station or pop a CD in a CD-player and bust some moves.
9. Change your outlook – choose one source of your stress (stressor) and think of it as an opportunity, instead of a problem. 
10. Be mindful – choose an object from your surrounding (a pencil or a notepad will do) and spend some time simply looking at it. Concentrate fully on this object, trying to notice the details of color, texture, shape, smell, the way it fills in your hand. This simple exercise in mindfulness is a powerful relaxation technique.