How Stress Can Affect Your Productivity
People may not be aware but stress can affect your productivity. Stress can deplete one’s vitality and energy is needed to perform work or study. Without energy, it is difficult for a person to be productive and stress can make someone feel ill. It is important for the individual to remain relaxed since being relaxed maintains vitality.
If you want to learn about being still, check out this post!
When stress occurs the person needs to recover otherwise it will lead to burnout which means a longer recovery time will be mandatory. There can be a number of reasons why people feel stressed. Some examples could be work, family/relationships, stress about the future, or others. Generally, when the body and mind experience trauma it needs rest to function properly. The primary issue is time being wasted when it could be used properly if one took care of themselves (Since time is all we have). Stress weakens the body which results in potential problems like these:
- Digestive issues.
- Depression and anxiety.
- Low energy.
- Pain in areas of the body.
- The immune system is weakened which makes the individual more susceptible to illnesses.
- Headaches can occur.
Can a person not be stressed?
It is possible for an individual to be in a peaceful/restful state. However, people like this have practices or have practiced to keep themselves calm in situations. Something like this to happen can take some time to master. The beauty of this is one’s concentration is enhanced and one is able to navigate their life with ease.
What techniques can help?
The body becomes stiff and heated when being stressed. So there are methods needed to cool down and loosen up the body. When the individual becomes stiff every activity will become difficult to do. But the one who is calm and still, every activity becomes effortless. This is something that is essential since many cannot control what occurs in their life. Here is a list of practices one can incorporate.
- Stretching.
- Laughing.
- Stepping away from what you are doing.
- Sit down in a cross-legged or lotus position and perform some AUM (OMs).
- Maintain your breathing. Your breath will change when feeling certain ways.
Stretching
Stretching is a great way of alleviating stress since the body is tense. Plus the individual is breathing in and out between movements. Here is a list of some you can start with:
Laughing
Laughing helps you restore your energy within. Generally, when a person laughs they feel good. When this occurs the individual begins to feel at ease mentally and physically. Laughter is quite therapeutic and as the saying goes “Laughter is the best medicine”. Laughing has a plethora of benefits and they are:
- Uplifts mood
- Supports mental health
- Improves brain function
- Enhances respiratory functions
- Promote better sleep
- Pain tolerance
- Improve blood circulation
- Reduces stress
Laughter releases endorphins which are natural pain killers in the body. This helps with any pain occurring in the body, especially in people with arthritis. This can also help with relaxing the body, reducing stress, depression, and anxiety. Laughter can suppress cortisol (stress hormone) and other stress-induced hormones.
An experiment was conducted on patients with schizophrenia using laughter as therapy. After some time with the experiment high levels of BDNF (this is great for brain health) were recorded, however went down after stopping stimulated laughter therapy. So this could be a possible treatment without any use of synthetic drugs.
Laughter is a natural remedy to stress moreover, it can help a person be productive since they are relaxed and energized!
Stepping Away
Stepping away is no special practice, but something about it helps. Whether a person is having trouble solving a complex problem or having some heated debate. The power of stepping away for a little bit helps someone recenter themselves. In other words, taking a break since one may need it. Once the individual returns to working on projects or whatever they were doing there is a sense of clarity. As mentioned when doing activities while being stressed makes doing the task difficult. In many cases, it leads to diminishing returns, so there is no need to spend much time to produce little output.
Breaks do help with productivity.
Chanting Aum (Om)
This is a powerful sound to perform while meditating. When chanting aum the body starts to feel a vibration which makes it relaxing. It also helps clear the mind. Meditation and yoga are not only helpful in managing stress but to overall health. Aum is quite effective in making someone calm and focused.
Check out this video to learn more and perform. Yoga for Balance and Joy
Conclusion
Stress can affect your productivity and health which can result in spending more time to recover. Although stress for some is difficult to avoid there are techniques to mitigate them. Stress is primarily developed by the person on how they respond to situations. But the idea is to avoid or alleviate it as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the person will not be as productive as they would like to be. Stress in itself is a distraction and affects the physical well-being of many. Stress will offer no solution to problems, but a calm and content person will have answers to issues.
Sources
Laughter therapy: A humor-induced hormonal intervention to reduce stress and anxiety
The impact of stress on body function
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