4 Research-Based Ways to Cut Stress

People are wound as tight as ever, and you probably need to help employees cut stress.

And it won’t likely get better on its own. Stress levels and burnout rates continue to rise, a trio of studies from Deloitte finds.

Everyone is Under Stress

“All of us experience stress. Stress is not inherently bad. Sometimes it can spark us to do new things in new ways,” says Daniel Pink in his podcast, The Pinkcast. “But sometimes stress is so overwhelming – so overwhelming that it captures us. We feel constricted. Our heart starts to race. And we’re not effective in those situations.”

And that’s why you want to help employees combat stress. Or, at least, alleviate pressure when it gets the better of them. Here are four research-proven strategies to help you and your finance employees:

1. Take a ‘Psychological Sigh’

When employees hit a breaking point, sometimes they need immediate relief.

Pink suggests this fast-action technique from Stanford University neurobiologist Andrew Huberman: the psychological sigh.

It’s a simple breathing exercise. You inhale twice through your nose and take one long exhale through your mouth.

Here’s why it works: When something triggers stress – say, an unexpected deadline or a confrontation with a co-worker – little sacks of air in your lungs start to collapse, which is a natural response to it. So your oxygen levels drop, and carbon dioxide levels rise.

The double inhale for the psychological sigh pops open the air sacks for oxygen, and the long exhale lets go of excess carbon dioxide – both naturally good responses to stress.

2. Be More Mindful

Employees might point to one major event that took them over the edge.

“But the stress that causes burnout is produced by more than just trauma,” says Dr. Gabriel De La Rosa, Chief Behavioral Science Officer at Fierce Conversations. “It’s silent, everyday stress that gradually, and then suddenly, leads to a state of being overwhelmed.”

One of the best ways to avoid letting those everyday issues build up to the point of being overwhelmed: Mindfulness.

“It’s often defined as a state of focusing one’s attention on the ‘now’ or being ‘fully present,'” says De La Rosa. “Create mindful moments throughout the day for people to check in with their stress and understand physiologically what is happening.”

And some employees already have the tool to do it. Many smart watches offer raw data around Heart Rate Variability (HRV).

What you want to do is “isolate your stress event or when you are feeling stressed and then practice mindfulness (to) gain deeper insight into the root cause. This is important because this is how you spot patterns and act, so you can build resilience,” De La Rosa explains.

3. Manage the Small Stuff

Tessa West, author of Jerks at Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to Do About Them, agrees: Chronic, low-level daily stress is the workplace problem. But she says most of it’s within the individual’s control.

Employees just need to choose to take that control. West points to these three low-level issues and has a control tip for each:

• Uncertainty-based stress. It comes from cryptic messages, questionable deadlines, and delayed responses and solutions. When people don’t know with full clarity what’s going on, they worry. Fix it: Communicate with blinding clarity. For instance, say, “Let’s meet at 10 a.m. Monday to revise the proposal,” instead of, “Let’s talk Monday morning.”
• Discomfort stress. Wondering if you’ll find a place to park, a quiet, warm place to work or enough coffee to fill your cup are physically discomforting. Fix it: Talk about – and resolve – the biggest comfort issues in the workplace: parking, room temperature and noise levels.
• Control stress. In efforts to appear equitable, workplaces often end up fraught with excessive rules and policies that put pressure on employees. Fix it: Employees need wiggle room in the small decisions so they have a larger feeling of personal control. For instance, let them decide if denim is OK, cameras are on or off, when to call it a day if deadlines are met, etc.

4. Curb Social Media

This could be one of the most difficult – yet rewarding – ways to relieve employees. Pay them to get off social media! We understand it may be impossible to do in your workplace, but we wanted to share the existing research.

One study proves it works.

Researchers at Stanford and New York University paid people about $100 to stay off Facebook for a month. In those four weeks, participants spent less time overall with online activities, spent more time doing offline activities and improved their mental well-being. Specifically, they were happier, more satisfied with life, more social and less anxious and depressed.

Bottom line: Less social media led to less stress. Some people in the study stayed off Facebook and continued to enjoy the benefits – less stress being the biggie – of a reduced social media presence.

Can you entice employees off socials? Maybe with cash. But show overwhelmed employees results like this study, and they just might be willing to try.