Are you in a stressful situation and need stress relief this very moment? Can’t put it off until the weekend? Try these simple stress relief tips to get instantaneous results.

Take a break from whatever it is that is pushing you over the edge. If you’re in a busy meeting, excuse yourself, saying you need to use the restroom. Are your children fighting like crazy? Separate them, pretend you have to make a phone call, and lock yourself in the bedroom for a moment. Spouse pushing your buttons? Tell your significant other you need twenty minutes to think and leave the room. Is the stressful situation a larger scale problem? Schedule a day off. Just by walking away, you will feel your stress level drop. Spend that precious short amount of time decompressing as much as possible.

Take a deep breath. Deep breathing automatically lowers your heart rate and blood pressure, both of which are linked to your body’s stress response. Focus on nothing but your breath as you breathe slowly and consciously. When you’ve regained emotional control, you can go back into the stressful situation.

Think about the big picture. Consider if this situation will matter in a week or month or year. Is your career in jeopardy? Your friendship or marriage? Is this situation life or death? Remind yourself of parts of your life that are stable. Seek out answers. Identify your part of the problem.

Determine what you can reasonably do. Considering what is rightfully your piece of the problem to solve, come up with suggestions to deal with it. Refuse to take responsibility for the things you can’t do anything about, make concrete plans for things you can do, and let the rest go.

Re-engage with a positive, relaxed, proactive attitude. If the other people are still highly stressed, try to be a calming influence on the situation. Find ways to solve the problem together without placing blame.

It’s important to manage stress for optimal health. If your life is high-stress, you may want to build stress relief techniques into your daily routine.

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