Relieve Your Stress- Setting Alarms to Prioritize Meditation

I don’t think it is any kind of revelation when I say that stress accumulates as the day goes on. I know everyone realizes that as the day progresses they might notice some neck and shoulder tension, a headache, fatigue, lack of motivation, or all of the above. This is all due to the accumulation of stress. When you get stressed at work, your stress response kicks in and you start to feel the negative side effects that I have talked about many times before (read more about the negative effects of stress on the body here). This can be remedied with mini “breaks” during the day to take some time for yourself and focus on your breath and meditate. The break doesn’t need to be very long (5-10 minutes), but these little breaks will pay dividends. I have found that setting alarms for every hour or so throughout the day to remind yourself to take a short break and focus on your breath helps tremendously with your stress response throughout the day.

TIP: Set the alarm on your phone to go off every hour or so throughout your work day to remind you to take some time to focus on your breath. Using the box breathing technique that I wrote about in a previous post will work perfect. (Read my blog post about box breathing here) Do your best to allow 5-10 minutes, but even focusing on taking 3 deep breaths will help. I use the box breathing technique or the Headspace app for a short guided session every hour throughout the day. Meditation and breathing will relieve your muscle tension, lower your stress response, and even energize you when you’re feeling tired and fatigued.