Create A "Pit Stop" To Manage Stress At Work (and While You Work at Home)
Chronic stress is like a race car without any pit stops.
Imagine a race car driver who shows up on the day of his big race.
His car is well-built and has a powerful engine. The starting gun goes off and the driver speeds down the track. He’s fast and making good progress. So he goes faster and keeps pushing on.
After a few laps, the pit stop crew starts signaling that it's time to refuel, put air in the tires, and change the oil, but the driver doesn't want to stop. He's making good progress and feels fine, so he keeps pushing on.
He completes more and more laps without a pit stop, even though the steering wheel has started to shake a little, and the engine temperature gauge has begun to rise - but the driver keeps going, thinking, "It's ok, I'm still moving pretty fast and there's still so much track left to cover. I'm just going to keep pushing on."
Meanwhile, the crew is frantically waving the driver down, calling him on the radio, and trying to get him to stop for service. But the driver keeps going, thinking to himself, "I'm fine. I've gone this far. If I stop now, it will take too long to repair." So he keeps pushing on.
By now, his foot is pressing all the way down on the pedal, but the car is going slower and slower. It is almost out of gas. The engine is smoking. One of the tires is nearly flat, so the car is wobbling and veering all over the track. No matter how hard the driver pushes, the race car will not be able to continue, and it rolls to a stop.
I tell you this story to create a mental image of how the human body responds to stress. Constantly pushing the race car affected the engine, the tires, the energy supply - basically every system of the car. It is no different with the human body. Chronic stress negatively affects every system.
What is chronic stress?
There are two drivers of the human nervous system - sympathetic and parasympathetic. It's helpful to think of them as "on" and "off" respectively. Similar to the way a light switch works, only one nervous system response or the other can be working at any given time.
The "on" system is the sympathetic system, and it helps with work, problem-solving, creating, and taking care of yourself and your family. It is good. The problem is that it shouldn't be on all the time. Like a light switch, if you don't turn it off sometimes, the bulb will burn out faster.
The "off" system is the parasympathetic system, and it helps with resting and repairing the body. Digestion and cellular repair happens in this state. It is good. Unfortunately, most people don't tap into this system nearly enough - this creates chronic stress.
Chronic stress affects every system of the human body.
Stress is a healthy, normal part of life. However, stress is so prevalent in our culture that most people don’t recognize their stress until it shows up in a physical form such as weight gain, muscle pain, anxiety, or heart disease. Stress is a contributor to a host of chronic diseases, and just like the race car above, it can stop good health in its tracks.
Create a pit stop for chronic stress at work
Unlike other healthy habits that people struggle with, like exercise or eating broccoli, managing stress can be easy and enjoyable to do. It can be as simple as kicking back, putting your feet up, breathing, meditating, or snoozing for 15 minutes right in the middle of the workday.
This may sound counter-productive for getting work done, but considering the example of the race car, a little downtime ensures that the race will continue. Just like in music, the note is what we hear, but the pause is just as important.
Companies report that employees who spend 15 minutes de-stressing come back happier, refreshed, make better decisions, and have better interactions with their co-workers.
One 'go-to' method for de-stressing in many workplaces is quickly becoming zero gravity massage chairs. This is because they offer a comprehensive solution to stress management like zero-gravity body position. This body position puts the feet higher than the heart to instantly relax the nervous system.
You can also create this position without a massage chair by lying down on your back and putting your feet up the wall.
If you do have access to a massage chair, the action of the massage and compression (or squeezing) of the arms and legs helps release good brain chemicals while helping the body drain the lymph system and oxygenate cells.
A 2019 study of stressed nurses working in an oncology unit found a significant drop in heart rate, blood pressure, and perceived stress after a session in a massage chair at work.
Whatever your stress management options look like in your office, I encourage you to make them a part of your daily work routine. Be on the lookout for signs of stress in your body and then make time for your body time to rest and repair. Give yourself a PIT STOP from stress.