From difficult coworkers to traffic jams, stress management techniques are the key to thriving in a world where stress and overwhelm are all too common.
While a certain level of stress is normal—and can even motivate us—a lack of effective stress management techniques can quickly lead to burnout and impact both our personal and professional lives.
Managing stress can feel overwhelming, but it’s possible to take meaningful steps toward relief. These 15 stress management techniques are designed to help you take back control of your mental health and create a positive impact on every area of your life.
3 fast stress management skills for right now
If you’re experiencing a moment of stress or overwhelm right now, you might not know where to start. In fact, a recent Stress in America survey noted that 36% of adults polled said that they don’t know where to start when it comes to managing their stress.
That’s because stress can make you feel paralyzed, preventing you from taking the steps you need to manage your stress. But even small actions can create momentum, helping you break free from that stuck feeling.
If you’re ready to relieve some stress right now, here are 3 simple, fast stress management techniques to help you get to the other side.
1. Breathe deeply
Harvard Medical School says deep breathing and breath control can instantly slow down your stress response. To practice this stress management skill, follow these steps:
- Sit comfortably with your hands in your lap and feet on the floor.
- Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a relaxing place.
- Next, take a deep breath in and count to four.
- Finally, breathe deeply out for another four counts.
Repeat this deep breathing technique until you find yourself feeling grounded again. You can also explore these 10 parasympathetic breathing exercises for sleep, stress, and relaxation.
2. Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practice of becoming more aware of the present moment. When we’re stressed, it’s easy to give in to our racing thoughts and start trying to fix everything. The problem? This often creates more stress.
By contrast, studies show that practicing mindfulness can help you release negative thoughts and improve emotional regulation, as detailed in research from the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, published in the journal NeuroImage.
To practice this stress management technique, follow these steps:
- Take a deep breath and sit down in a comfortable seat.
- Then, bring focus to this moment. Release any thoughts about the stressors on your mind and begin to ask yourself, what do you hear? What do you smell? What textures do you feel on your clothes and your chair?
- If you find yourself getting distracted, just come back to your breath and your five senses.
Try to be mindfully present for at least 5-10 minutes, and you’ll feel your stress levels begin to go down.
3. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a simple relaxation technique that involves tensing and then releasing each muscle group in the body to relieve physical tension and manage stress.
To practice this science-backed stress management skill, follow these steps:
- Sit or lie down comfortably and close your eyes.
- Starting from your toes, tense the muscles in your feet and hold for a few seconds, then release, feeling the tension melt away.
- Then, move up your body—calves, thighs, stomach, hands, arms, shoulders, neck, and face—tensing and then releasing each area.
As you work through each part of your body, you’ll find your whole system feeling calmer and more relaxed.
3 stress management skills for daily life
Stress can appear in many areas of life, from your physical space at home to your relationships or finances. No matter where it comes from or how it manifests, stressors are just a part of being human—so here are 3 more stress management techniques to keep yourself calm and help you cope.
1. Set boundaries
One of the best ways to manage stress is to set boundaries in your relationships and at home. For example, if exercise is important to you, set a boundary with your loved ones that you need to go to sleep by a certain time, so you can wake up and get to the gym.
2. Prioritize self-care
A daily self-care routine can support your physical and mental fitness, especially when you're dealing with stressors at home or work. Remember that self-care can look different for everyone—the important thing is that you do an activity that brings your stress levels down.
Consider a self-care routine that includes exercise, yoga, a long hot bath, or a relaxation technique like daily meditation.
3. Work on clear communication
Learning healthy ways to communicate can be life-changing when it comes to managing stress. After all, you can have all the boundaries in the world, but if you don't know how to communicate them, it will be tough to see any difference in your stress levels.
If you need help with your communication skills, consider working with a therapist or a specialized communication coach. They can give you the confidence you need to speak up for yourself and reduce stress.
3 stress management skills for work
Stressful situations at work can affect productivity, job performance, engagement, and daily functioning. Yet, the U.S. Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that 65% of U.S. workers are stressed.
If we don't learn how to manage our stress levels at work, we can find ourselves suffering in other areas of life, too—from our hormone health to our closest relationships. So if you've found yourself feeling overwhelmed about a stressful job, here are a few techniques to help you cope:
1. Learn how to ask for (and set) clear expectations
Clear expectations are essential for managing stress and effectively fulfilling your role at work. For instance, you might be overworking to meet what you assume are your boss's expectations, only to discover they’re willing to adjust your workload. By having an open conversation, you can clarify their priorities and reduce unnecessary pressure—because if you don’t ask, you won’t know.
Setting expectations is also important. Whether it’s your manager or your coworkers, one of the best ways to manage stress at work is to set clear expectations upfront. Be honest about what’s possible within a given timeframe, and what’s not.
2. Improve your focus skills
If you want to reduce stress, it’s critical to learn how to focus at work. To get started, try implementing a “focus routine.” Set a specific block of time on your calendar for uninterrupted work, turn off notifications, and do a mindful breathing exercise to get centered. Try to resist the urge to check your email or multitask.
The Pomodoro Technique is another powerful way to improve your focus. This method typically involves 25-50 minutes of deep focus work, followed by a 5-10 minute break. These short, timed sessions can make it easier to stay on task while giving your mind regular opportunities to recharge.
By incorporating the Pomodoro Technique into your focus routine, you can gradually build your time management and concentration skills, avoid procrastination, and handle a stressful work environment with confidence.
3. Work on your conflict resolution skills
Workplace conflict can be a major stressor for many people. That’s why conflict resolution skills are an important stress management technique. They’ll help you navigate tense situations with confidence—or better yet, avoid them altogether.
6 stress management skills for the long-term
Prevention is better than a cure, and stress is no exception. Keeping your stress levels down over the long term will help with everything from improved mood to better sleep hygiene to regulated hormones.
Reducing stress can even help you live longer—in fact, one study by the Finnish Institute showed that being under “heavy stress” could reduce life expectancy by 2.8 years.
By managing stress now, you can improve both your quality of life and your longevity. Learning the stress management skills below will also help you be more resilient when times of intense, short-term stress inevitably come along.
1. Exercise regularly
Physical activity is a powerful stress reliever. It releases endorphins, the feel-good hormones that give us natural stress relief. But in the long term, exercise also helps combat the physical effects of stress.
For example, exercise keeps your heart healthy and improves overall wellness, including your mood and sleep. It can also help strengthen your muscles and reduce muscle tension.
Ultimately, remember: whether it's running, yoga, or Tai Chi, the key to maintaining a regular exercise routine is finding something you enjoy doing, so you can consistently reduce your stress levels over time.
2. Maintain a healthy diet
Studies show that a poor diet can aggravate your stress response and worsen mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. Unfortunately, stressors often make it tough to maintain a healthy diet—they can cause us to reach for highly addictive, highly processed foods loaded with salt, sugar, and fats. Or, for some people, they can cause you to lose your appetite altogether.
This is a problem because consuming high-glycemic index (GI) foods, such as refined carbohydrates and sugary snacks, can lead to rapid blood sugar spikes followed by crashes, which research shows may contribute to mood disturbances and disrupted sleep patterns. All of these things can further exacerbate stress.
On the other hand, eating a balanced diet has tons of health benefits, including reducing the effects of stress. If you're struggling here, it's okay: you can always start small. Add some greens to each meal and slowly cut back on sugar. Healthy eating habits are a powerful form of self-care, and once you start prioritizing this, you'll be glad you did.
3. Practice meditation
Meditation is a little different than mindfulness. It’s an intentional practice of sitting down and separating yourself from your thoughts. Like mindfulness, meditation has many science-backed benefits, including the fact that it can improve your resilience to stress in the long term.
The best part? Today, it’s easier to meditate than ever before. There are endless meditation apps and mindfulness podcasts out there to help you get started. Give it a try—you might be surprised at how it can change your life and improve your stress response.
4. Learn Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), AKA, tapping
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), or tapping, is a way to manually stimulate simple acupressure points on the body. This can produce an instant sense of calm and reduce anxiety. It can even slow your heart rate and breathing, giving you a more relaxed feeling overall.
Because you can do it anywhere, EFT is a great relaxation technique to have "in your back pocket" when major stressors occur. To try EFT tapping for your anxiety and stress, read our full guide here.
5. Make getting outdoors a habit
Research has shown that getting outside for as little as 10 minutes can improve your overall mood. It can also lessen the physical and mental effects of stress. So if you're feeling stressed, try going on a brisk walk. Even a few minutes of exercise can help release endorphins, our natural mood lifters, and reduce stress hormones, like cortisol.
6. Prioritize quality sleep
Good sleep is a cornerstone of stress management. When we’re well-rested, our bodies can better regulate cortisol levels. Poor sleep, on the other hand, increases cortisol, heightening stress and making it more difficult to cope with even normal daily challenges, like traffic.
To improve your sleep hygiene, try simple shifts like limiting caffeine in the afternoon and reducing screen time before bed. If you find yourself thinking about stressors at night and unable to fall asleep, you could try a Yoga Nidra meditation (also known as non-sleep deep rest, or NSDR). This ancient relaxation technique is a healthy way to relax before bed and has been proven to help reduce stress.
When to get professional help to manage stress
It might feel overwhelming to tackle stress alone. If you're struggling, professional support and guidance can help you cope. For example, BetterUp Coaches can help you develop stress management skills to reduce stress levels and improve your overall emotional well-being to help you feel better.
If stress and anxiety are affecting your daily life or persist over time (or you also struggle with depression), it’s a good idea to consult a healthcare professional who can recommend therapies, medications, or other interventions for your unique needs.
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