Dealing with stress from work.

I'll put it out straight out there. How do you deal with this?

We all work in different environments with various fields of expertise. But, there are days we all experience whether it's working in a retail environment where you were working the 11PM closing shift one day and coming into the opening shift at 6AM the next day, or an office work where your clients' account is fucked up to no end and here you are on a Sunday facing left over emails to answer and reports to finish at your computer either in the office or at home.

So in situations like those days where you just want to scream at the top of your lungs due to pressure from work/your job, what do you do to relieve yourself from it? Do you keep a low profile and continue working just one bit of a time, or do you wait until the weekend to go all out crazy on a drinking binge with your buddies?

I tend to opt for plenty of sleep and really good, home-cooked meals to help relieve myself. That and plenty of manga indulgence, if I get the chance/time to do so. It's too dangerous in my neighborhood for just a walk out in the park (especially at night when I get off work), and drinking alcohol just seems counter-productive for me (I get hangovers before getting drunk).

I just ususally talk shit about management in the breakroom with the co-workers and spread the misery around. I often swear to quit in the middle of the day and fuck the consequences, but who ever follows up with that? Not that it would surprise anyone if I did, it seems like half the store has quit in the last three months because of how disgusted they are with the place.

The best way I relieve stress is job searching. Knowing that sooner or later I can get out of retail is all the incentive I need to keep up appearances with management so I can use them for referrals.

I punch the living hell out of my punching-bag or run a lot to relieve my stress.

Ever since I was a kiddo, my blood pressure (bottom number being the vital one) was always a little high. In childhood it was due to weight, but I lost the weight and it shifted toward stress-induced. Despite how I "relieve" my stress, it's like heavy, dirty baggage. No matter what I do, it's still there and it leaves a mark on my life. I recently had it pointed out to me by a buddy that my hands shake a lot, and he said that it was caused by "internal stress", or rather stress that you bottle up.

Working out typically helps a little, but not incredibly. Unfortunately, it's about as good as I can do. I'm a workaholic, so work is always on my mind. Irregardless if I read, eat, sleep, or whatever, it'll remain on it. The only way I can ease that is to work out at 110% and wear myself out to the point where resting is the only thing on my mind.

Honestly? Piano. Either that or Xbox. : )

Lately I've been running too though, and that's helped quite a bit.

My job isn't overly stressful (yay for part-time), but it can get that way, especially when the company changes certain guidelines.

Hmm... dealing with stress. :\ I mediate. Does that count? The routine doesn't bother me as MUCH as drama does though. Say like my manager always was a prick towards me about certain ways I do furniture placement in the store. One time I only set them aside in the space allowed (unfortunately in the WRONG area) til I make up my mind about where I could put really. He just so happen to walk by and noticed them. He preceded to yell at me about it. :\

I'm thinking "WTF" and well... I don't do anything. I had known to shut down completely though.

I suppose with all the stressful situations that have happened within the last year or so, I realized that I couldn't get myself all stressed-out from work as well, so like many things, I take a deep breathe, think, 'It will work out.' and leave it at that.

Music is another great stress relief. Having an Mp3 player to play a few tunes is another way for me to chill.

I like to think I gather every bit of stress I pick up at work and life in general and use it as a superfuel for when I lift weights. In reality just making sure I get at least an hour or two a day of good ol' relaxation is enough for me.

I rarely ever get stressed at work, even though it can be a very stressful job. When I do get stressed I find that listening to music during lunch helps to keep me stress free throughout the rest of the day.

While I'm at work? If I'm actually working alone on a project or on break then music is normally what keeps me focused. My job isn't too stressful in most cases but when it is I can't say I do much about it. I simply ride out the storm.
At home after a stressful day I tend to draw for hours on end or play videogames. A time waster maybe but it's something I enjoy doing.

I don't have time to be stressed when i'm working. Honestly, i just wait until my break, grit my teeth and deal with it until then. I know it's not the best solution, but it the only solution sometimes.

I don't mean to sound like a prick, but to me the best way to deal with it is to just toughen up. It is hard work, but it isn't going to kill you. I've never believed in using alcohol to easen the burden of life. To me sooner or later you are going to have to deal with a very difficult situation that you won't be able to avoid, so you better be ready to take it head on. That is one of the reasons I have never drank alcohol and never will among other reasons.

But I guess in some ways that may be a superficial outlook since everyone is built differently mentally. I do think that people have the ability to go through hell, given the right motivation. I just think when people have trouble dealing with stuff they don't have the proper motivation.

So my advice would be to find something that motivates you to get through every day. Whether it be to get home and do something, get that paycheck, get home to your girlfriend, whatever.

Attachment to drugs isn't a good way to deal with stress...sex is. At least it isn't destructive as alcohol often can be.

Perhaps, find a way of thinking that allows you to properly cope. I have found that its much easier to work when I am well prepared and my mind is clear of distraction. I have taken up meditation and it does seem to help with quieting my mind after work.

Oh god,
I used to feel so much stress from my work. It wasn't because the work was hard, it was becasue it was that point.. I knew it wasn't what I wnated to do anymore..

The way I dealt with it was kinda listening to my body... If it was tired, I would go to sleep..If my mind wanted to read about something interesitng, I would google stuff up.. If I just wanted some plain simple entertainment.. I watched the simpsons till I fell asleep.

Not to long ago there was this doctor on this TV special talking about worklife balance and stress related diseaes. Im quoting him here:
"It's now no longer a speculation, but a very common fact.. That stress plays a major factor the dieases that are quite common today"..

The solution to this problem is.. You have to have balance.. And you must listen to your body. This is important, if youre working in a job your absolutely hate, and your body starts sending yoru messages/signals you better adhere to them.. I didn't... I was once working two full time jobs.. What happend is my right lung started to simontaneously collapse, not just once... But 4 times...

Anyways, the way I deal with it is.. listening to my body and following whatever makes me happy.. Afterall that's what life is all about right? We are all in the persuit of happiness.

Try going to work under the influence of various substances. It really spices things up. Or downloading the song titled "take this job and shove it".

When my job is giving me grief, I usually just pick an inopportune time to walk out on their asses and quit. Not too great for my resume, but plenty of satisfaction.

DC kinda hit the ball.

When i first finished my college program, I took a job working as a Tech at Dell, just to try and build up some funds for my certifications. It wasn't until about 5 weeks into training that i found out the job includes sales.. trying to sell DOC contracts and stuff.. and as i couldn't sell water to a man dying of thirst if my life depended on it, i knew things were not going to go well. I decided to try and toughen it out though, and I did for 6 months.

Eventually though I got into a rut. My shift was always 2-11pm, Thursday-Monday, so i lost a lot of my social life, and found myself always tired, to the point that i stopped going to the gym for awhile. I only managed to last even THAT long by basically not caring about whom i talked to on the phone anymore. In fact, I would always feel sick to my stomach when the time came to go to work. At that point i basically started making demands , like better hours or at least a weekend day off, something that would let me enjoy what time I had off. When they denied everything, i flat out quit, and the next day was back to my old self *btw, the average burnout time as a Dell tech is 3-4 months, they have to constantly hire new tech's*. I went out, got a job working as a commissionaire for DND while writing my certs and looking for a job more up my alley *networking/telecommunications*. While the job wasn't my area of expertise, it was laid back and stress free, and i didn't even mind going in to work extra hours , where as with dell i was gone at 11pm on the dot, and never looked back.

Happy to say now though that I am now working as a Network security engineer and loving it. I have worked for 15 hours straight at this job and back the next day ready and prompt. Makes a Huge difference when you enjoy the job, the money, and the company.

Back on topic though, I was able to put up with dell as long as I did by putting the job out of my mind the second I left for the day. I would also read when possible, and treat myself to an Ice Java after a long, stressful day.

Whenever I have stress accumulated from hyperactive or apathetic students that don't or can't focus on their piano lessons, that actually is fuel for emotion in my piano playing. After the night ends, I'll be able to play at peak expressiveness, and redirect all the frustration into a beautiful sounding piece of music. I use all the energy and instead of wasting it, I make sure I am particularly mindful of every detail in a piece to get my mind off the stressful day, and if any events from earlier invoke a certain emotion that applies to a song, it only makes it sound better.

I end up crying in the kitchen while I'm doing the dishes after lunch/during naptime at work (I work at a daycare center). It really doesn't do much, but if I don't let it out that way, I'm afraid that I might say something nasty to a coworker that could get me into trouble.

Then I come home and go on my computer.

I typically don't get that stressed. Of the three jobs that I have, only 2 could be considered stessful and truthfully I don't think I'm stressed at either one. I mean, of course, while at work I do get a little rushed and a little healthy stress comes in and helps me get my work done but to me it isn't that much. Any stress that I do accumulate at those two jobs seem to fly out the window whenever I reach my car. It's probably because I don't have to worry about any deadlines or anything but I think part of it is that I could care less about work when I get off of it and I just forget about it and think of something else.

However during school is a different story. The great thing is though that my 3rd job is at school and it isn't the stressful one at all. They are very nice there, many of the customers that come in understand what is going on or they are tolerant and can wait to get their computers fixed. Also the atmosphere is somewhat relaxing. It's the school work that stresses me but that isn't much of a hassle either, My work puts school before them so if I need time off I don't worry bout that and when I am preassured by a deadline. I work and work all the way through it and once I'm done I usually sleep it off or I tend to hang out with friends and watch some TV. Then I can play video games without getting too stressed.

Originally Posted by Omi-Cron Kenobi

I like to think I gather every bit of stress I pick up at work and life in general and use it as a superfuel for when I lift weights. In reality just making sure I get at least an hour or two a day of good ol' relaxation is enough for me.

Agreed. I think exercise is the best way to release stress. I personally practice martial arts as a hobby and it helps very much keep my mind off work during leisure time. During work I just try to stay out of peoples' way by being as apolitical as possible. Usually it works out eventually when people see after time that I'm unwilling to discuss this person's antics or the boss's relation with a co-worker.