Stress-Busting 101

Can you call your work “work” if it is totally devoid of stress? The fact that you are exerting effort and have to direct it to meet a specific objective given your resources and limitations automatically means you are stressing yourself out—though not needlessly. Even in small doses, a typical work day would always give you your fair(most of the time not) share of stress.

Being a call center agent, the moment we seat ourselves at our station and make our first call for the day, we encounter stress. From beginning to end, expect that the entire shift would be loaded with stress that I find it amusing how we manage to stay seated and focused despite being on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I guess it all boils down to how we hold and process it in that determines our chances of staying composed while at work. Beyond this, however, we can do very well with employing effective and simple stress-busting techniques to help us better manage ourselves, hence keeping ourselves sane, competent, and functional. Consider these three suggestions:

• Tune in to your favorite music as you tune out to the world.

  Listening to soothing music, or any kind that appeals to your fancy, automatically drags your stress needle down. When you tune in, you automatically tune out to the rest of the world, thus creating a safe and quiet barrier for your thoughts, devoid of the drudgery and sham posed by reality.

• Breathe deeply.

  Taking deep breaths—inhaling and exhaling, works to de-stress you in a jiffy. A quick and ready remedy when you feel you are about to burst, this method works to incorporate oxygen in your system while it gradually calms your spirit.

• Go on a laugh trip.

  Laughter is indeed the best medicine, especially in dispelling the bad effects of stress. When you guffaw, your mind releases “feel good” hormones that work to relax your already tense system. Whether in company or in solitude, laughing always has its merits. If others chance upon you laughing by yourself and think you've gone nuts, shrug it off and just laugh at them. It's a whole lot better to be thought crazy as you are working to keep yourself from losing your mind, than to have totally lost your marbles and be thought of as sane(Now does that make sense, or what LOL?).