Reducing Stress to be More Productive

Sticking with the theme of the passed month of Grad school, I wanted to share some techniques that I’ve found useful to help reduce stress.  Starting a new venture may be, although extremely exciting, the most stress filled time of your life.  Reducing this stress will help you be more productive and feel better about the product or service you are creating. 

A common misconception in modern workspaces is adding elements of fun in the work place, such as a game corner or a basketball court, reduces stress and makes employees more productive.  This might not actually be the case.  So when you take a break by diverting your attention to another completely engaging activity will extract precious mental energy that you will need to complete the important tasks for you new company.

My main suggestion is to find a different activity to do for ten minutes every hour and a half that involves a) standing and walking, b) occurs outdoors, and c) is low in intensity.  By standing and walking you are freeing up the blood that has been pooling in your legs therefore sending more oxygen to your brain and increasing your heart rate.  This will make you more attentive when you return to your workspace.  A good activity to accomplish this would be to just simply stretch outside.  Vitamin D from the sun and fresh oxygen will help suppress stress reactors in your body. 

Further Research: 

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/heart/articles/2008/06/23/time-in-the-sun-how-much-is-needed-for-vitamin-d

http://voices.yahoo.com/10-stretches-relieve-stress-3465445.html

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/the-surprising-truth-about-workplace-happiness.html