10 ways to de-stress at the office
When things at the office are too much to handle, and I need a breather, here’s how I cope …
- Water. Getting up and re-filling my water bottle is a no-brainer. I wish the water cooler was further away from my office door.
- Pop-Tarts. Privately, I call them “anti-depressants.” I never eat them at home, but I keep a couple in my desk, and when things get reeeeeally chaotic, I spend a quiet five minutes watching it toast in the kitchen. And then I eat it. Ahhhh.
- Reading. Your blogs save me. A few minutes reading them, and I feel so much better. Thanks, thanks, thanks!
- Staring. This sounds stupid, but hear me out. I will lean back in my chair and stare at my university diploma for 15 seconds or so. It’s all in Latin, so my eyes kind of glaze over. Plus, the frame is pretty and has an expensive embossed mat.
- Drawing. I doodle ideas for art projects on my Post-Its and then shove them in my purse. When I open them weeks later, I find things like “fr. w. embro. flws” and have to figure out my crazy creative scribbles.
- Grooming. Taking a couple of minutes to freshen my nail polish = sigh of relief. If I’m really maxed out, I will close my door for 15 and attempt a fancy braid.
- De-cluttering. Having a messy desktop background is the biggest annoyance to me. I can tell when I’m really busy at work, because the whole thing fills up with file icons. It stresses me out, because it’s hard to find anything recent that way. So I take 10 minutes to file them all away neatly. Total zen.
- Cleaning. Same deal as above, except with my actual desktop. Pop-Tart crumbs, nail polish drips, etc.
- Walking. I’ll take any excuse to walk to my bank. It’s a five-minute walk down the street, and it’s nice to get outside. In the summer, this might become a jaunt to the ice cream stand.
- Whiteboards. Drawing on my Whiteboards would be unprofessional-ish. But I have a large set of pretty markers, and I will erase the messy to-do lists and re-write them neatly — usually while pretending I’m an elementary school teacher. It’s strictly boring lists and budgets, although I do manage to sneak in a daisy here and there.
How do you calm down at work?
5 Comments on “10 ways to de-stress at the office”
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Heather's Handmade Life 
I read and write blogs 🙂
But sometimes I really need to get away from my desk, so I’ll take a walk up the street, grab a coffee or a newspaper.
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P.S. Mmm Poptarts.
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I can’t believe I forgot to put “Write blogs.” Sheesh! And yes, Pop-Tarts are amazing.
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I clicked over from Lindsey’s blog and LOVE your list.
I usually circle the building when I get restless. There’s a nice loop around the hallways. Or I go to the bathroom because I’ve been drinking so much coffee!
My office recently put in a little walking path around the marshy side yard by the parking lot. Not so pretty, but like 8 times around is a mile or something? So I wander around that a few times when I get really bored.
Love the blog!
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Thanks, Magchunk! 🙂
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