Studies suggest that the percentage of people who are stressed at work is high, and it’s only getting higher. Unfortunately, work stress has significant health consequences that range from the relatively benign to the more serious. This may be why more than 40% of adults say they lie awake at night plagued by the stressful events of the day. But, because stress at work is so common, finding a low-stress job may be difficult or impossible for many people. A more realistic choice would be to simply adopt more effective strategies to reduce stress at work. Here are some stress management techniques to try.

1. Breathe in, breathe out :

This may seem like something you ought to do involuntarily but we ask you to really stop and just breathe, this time only a bit slower. It’s completely natural to feel overwhelmed at work. So the next time you come out from a tense meeting or walk out of your boss’ cabin after an hour-long brief, sit at your desk and simply inhale for five seconds, hold it and exhale. This will help you to refocus and will boost productivity.

2. Goodbye interruptions :

Interruptions all through the day are imminent. No matter what you do to evade them, they simply happen in one form or another – emails, phone calls, a colleague dropping in to ask what’s for lunch or a boss asking for a file. Now you may not be able to strategically avoid these interruptions, but what you can do is limit your response. Start off by accepting the interruption after which you can decide to cut it off or diagnose its importance and make time for it.

3. Eat and sleep adequately :

They say, you are what you eat. It is only natural that you stand to lose if your eating habits are poor. You eating habits take a serious hit when you’re at work, spending more than eight hours at your desk. You tend to patronize the vending machine more than usual or eat at regular intervals. Coupled with insufficient sleep, your body will not be able to rejuvenate and you will feel drowsy all through the day. A trick to falling asleep faster is shutting your right nostril and breathing only through your left one for three to five minutes.