Manage Workplace Stress & Strike a Balance

Understand the two branches of your autonomic nervous system & how they contribute to your fight or flight stress responses.

One of the best ways to begin combatting stress is to understand which stressors you respond to & which activities help level your stressed out states. Take a look at this list of stressors & identify those that you know you react to.

How do you respond in a stressful situation? Do you respond aggressively from your fight response or do you tend to take passive flight? Assess your natural response style under stress.

When you are better able to regulate how you respond to day to day stress, it gives your body a break from elevated cortisol levels. Learn more about cortisol & how to keep it at bay.

Try out these strategies to reduce stressors in your workplace. When you activate “rest & digest” you deactivate “fight or flight.”

There are several techniques you can try when the squeeze of work-related stress hits home. In her article for DBusiness, Megan Torrance suggests 3 ways you can find some zen in your workplace environment.

Kelly McGonigal takes us on a journey to find out how stress can actually make your body healthier. What if you viewed stress as your body's response to help you meet that challenge? Participants of a study learned to view their stress response as helpful. Explore what this might mean for you.

Meditation is a simple & inexpensive technique you can use to increase self-awareness & reduce negativity. Meditation activates the parasympathetic nervous system. Learn more about all of the benefits this can bring.

Neuroscientist, Sara Lazer, dives deeper into the scientific research to support the claim that meditation can actually change your brain. Consider her advice & give meditation a try.

Movement based stress relief also activates Parasympathetic benefits. Sometimes movement based mediation can be an easier starting place for people with busy, active minds. When we get our bodies moving, it gives our minds something to think about. Take a yoga pose to quiet your mind & body.

Author Bernie Clark explains why yoga turns off the fight-or-flight system & activates the rest-&-digest system. Feeling good is the end result. Practice this breath work & notice what happens in your life.

Stress often builds in small moments until the proverbial “last straw” sends us over the top. How you handle that last moment of pressure can make a difference. Try these useful tips from Rebecca Knight to stay calm.

Think about this final piece of advice & control worry by changing your internal self-talk. It's time to be good to yourself & manage workplace stress.

Use the tips & tools in this printable PDF to help you manage workplace stress.

What does work-life balance mean to you? Use these best practices to put your personal & work life in sync.

The best balance between work & your personal life is something that you get to decide based on your own individual priorities. The good news is that you can get some help putting all of the pieces together.

Work through this helpful chart to identify all of the important things going on in your career & lifestyle. It's your first step to finding your perfect balance.

Take a look at what you value & redefine balance as the proportional fit that works best to keep your life steady & stable. Then try these tips to build in short-term flexibility. Give yourself permission to do what works for you!

Try these 5 tips from Jen Uscher to incorporate more downtime into your life.

Quiet your internal over-achiever & think about these questions to help you evaluate your goals & priorities. Spend some time answering them authentically & you'll realize more happiness & less regret.

Practice setting goals that are specific, measurable, actionable or achievable, realistic or relevant & time-bound.