Stress Management Techniques and Tips

Q: Why do employers want to know that you’re good at stress management?

Potential employers understand that if you’re good at managing stress, it means you have good coping strategies that will make a positive impact on how you will fare in the workplace. First and foremost, they want to know you can handle the responsibilities of the role, but managing stress and avoiding sources of stress when you can is equally important.

Q: What are the four A’s of stress management?

The four A’s of stress management are: Avoid: In which you find ways to escape minor stressors by creating distance between you and whatever’s causing stress, making it better with something you enjoy or refusing to do something when necessary. Alter: How you communicate expectations and limitations. For example, “I can only meet for fifteen minutes.” Accept: As the name suggests, this is where you accept the situation, usually after avoiding and altering doesn’t work. Talk to someone you trust and be compassionate with yourself. Adapt: Once you know your stressor, you can make the necessary changes to prevent it from causing you to stress in the future.

Q: What are the 3 kinds of stress?

The three types of stress are: Acute stress: This is short-term stress, usually caused by a new challenge or situation. You might feel stressed out at the moment but once everything is resolved, be it in a few hours or a day, you’ll feel calm and relaxed. Episodic acute stress: This type of stress occurs when you have frequent acute stress. There’s no set date or time when you encounter this kind of stress, which results in making you feel like everything is happening at the same time. Chronic stress: If your stressors continue for a long period of time, resulting in chronic stress. You might feel like your stresses are never going to end and find it difficult to improve your current situation.

Stress management can be critical for excelling in a job. What are some of the best ways to manage stress and maintain productivity?

By Donna Wright Jan 11, 2024 3 minute read

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What is stress management?

Stress management skills are pretty much what they sound like: the ways in which we protect our well-being and manage tense situations. Stress management is especially important in the workplace because it can help to prevent burnout, maintain productivity and keep morale high.

Stress management techniques and coping mechanisms can take many different forms, including breathing exercises, yoga, mindfulness apps and healthy lifestyle choices.

The first step to figuring out what stress management technique to use is to recognize where your stressors are coming from. Stressors are situations that create stress by putting you under physical, psychological or emotional pressure. For example, lack of sleep can cause unnecessary stress, as can being late for appointments or work.

There is no way to remove stress entirely; it is a part of life. But it is possible to cut down on chronic stress as well as the health problems it can lead to. Here are a few tried-and-true techniques for doing so.

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Stress management techniques

If you have previously struggled to deal with high levels of stress and it has had an impact on your physical and mental health, it is important to take steps to improve your stress management skills and develop healthy coping strategies. This is especially important if you have preexisting health conditions that worsen your fight-or-flight response, cause high blood pressure or affect your nervous system.

If you have a stressful job, however, it can be hard to minimize your exposure to stressors. Instead, you should focus on stress reduction and your stress response options, using activities like:

Relaxation techniques:

We can’t control when things become stressful, but we can control how we react to stressful situations. Here are a couple of relaxation techniques you can do or incorporate into your daily routine for stress relief:

Tai chi after work to decompress.
Deep-breathing exercises.
Progressive muscle relaxation.
Yoga or stretches for a few minutes.
Meditation before work or during your lunch break.

Lifestyle changes:

What we do outside of work greatly influences our work environment and how we feel. Everything from your mental health to your physical health is interconnected, so finding balance is key to a better quality of life. Some lifestyle changes you can consider for reducing stress include:

Eating balanced meals.
Regular exercise for at least 30 minutes a day.
Sleeping for at least 8 hours every night.
Treating preexisting health conditions.
Maintaining positive connections with others and our loved ones.

Behavioral adjustments:

As we explained above, the only thing in life we have control over is ourselves. Life will happen, so it’s important to build mental tools to handle the unexpected and stressful in a healthy way, such as:

Understanding your sources of stress.
Using stress management apps.
Learn coping strategies.
Self-care activities, like journaling.
Talking to a mental healthcare professional.

Any activity you find relaxing can be a good stress reliever, so don’t feel like you need to stick to these suggestions. The key is to recognize the signs of mounting or chronic stress and to know how to react in a way that is effective for you.

If you commonly suffer from acute stress in the workplace and your coping strategies are proving ineffective, have a conversation with your employer and seek the advice of a mental health professional. These are the first steps toward a healthier relationship with your work and stress levels.

How stress management skills benefit your resume and job

Stress has become one of the most important factors in rising rates of absenteeism in the workplace. The most obvious benefit that stress management has for an employer is a reduction in absence rates and an increase in productivity and morale in their workforce.

These benefits to employers are why it pays to feature your stress management abilities in your resume and cover letter. Here’s how:

Focus on accomplishments and responsibilities that show you can handle stress. You can mention the number of clients you worked with on a regular basis or talk about an important presentation you had to create at the last minute. For more examples, check out ResumeHelp’s resume examples.
When you write a cover letter, dedicate a sentence or two to the coping strategies you have in place to avoid getting stressed out.

We also highly recommend having a few work examples of how you can use stress management to handle specific job situations ready for an interview. The potential employer will likely ask you situational questions, so practice before your job interview and come ready. If you need expert interview tips, explore our job interview tips and guides page.

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More resume and career tips

When it comes to other skills you should focus on for your career and resume, ResumeHelp has plenty of additional resources and articles to help you:

Soft Skills: Learn all about what a soft skill is and which ones to feature in your resume.
Hard Skills: No resume is complete without hard skills. Read more about them and highlight the right ones.
Communication Skills: Communication is a key skill that all employers look for. Learn why and find out how to feature it.
Interpersonal Skills: Does your resume have the right people skills? Check our guide and be sure.
Leadership Skills: Read our quick guide on leadership skills and learn all about these important skills.
Management Skills: Applying for a senior-level position? Make sure you include the right management skills to impress employers.
Multitasking: Multitasking skills are incredibly useful in the workplace — if used with caution. Follow our guide and become an expert multitasker.
Technical Skills: What are technical skills? We’re here to answer that question and provide examples!
Analytical Skills: Show recruiters and hiring managers that you’re a critical thinker with the right set of skills.
Problem-solving skills: Like stress, challenges in the workplace are expected. Hone your problem-solving skills and assure employers you can handle whatever comes your way.
Time management skills: Find out all you need to know about time management skills and why they’re so important to thrive in any work environment.

FAQ: Stress Management

Have questions? We’re here to help.

Are there health benefits to stress management?

Yes, there are many health benefits to learning appropriate and robust stress management techniques, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular and heart rate problems, increased sleep quality, a general improvement of mental health and a reduced risk of mental health crises and mental illnesses.

Stress affects multiple parts of your well-being and it’s something you carry with you outside your workplace. It’s crucial for your mental and physical health to develop stress management techniques.

How does stress negatively impact my job performance?

Think of it this way: the lack of stress can lead to many positive impacts on job performance. For example, a person who has less stress is likely to have lower blood pressure, reduced risk of burnout, reduced risk of heart disease, and is more likely to get enough sleep. All of this contributes to job productivity and makes it easier for you to be alert, focused and generally quick on your mental feet.<

Why do employers want to know that you’re good at stress management?

Potential employers understand that if you’re good at managing stress, it means you have good coping strategies that will make a positive impact on how you will fare in the workplace. First and foremost, they want to know you can handle the responsibilities of the role, but managing stress and avoiding sources of stress when you can is equally important.

What are the four A’s of stress management?

The four A’s of stress management are:

Avoid: In which you find ways to escape minor stressors by creating distance between you and whatever’s causing stress, making it better with something you enjoy or refusing to do something when necessary.
Alter: How you communicate expectations and limitations. For example, “I can only meet for fifteen minutes.”
Accept: As the name suggests, this is where you accept the situation, usually after avoiding and altering doesn’t work. Talk to someone you trust and be compassionate with yourself.
Adapt: Once you know your stressor, you can make the necessary changes to prevent it from causing you to stress in the future.

What are the 3 kinds of stress?

The three types of stress are:

Acute stress: This is short-term stress, usually caused by a new challenge or situation. You might feel stressed out at the moment but once everything is resolved, be it in a few hours or a day, you’ll feel calm and relaxed.
Episodic acute stress: This type of stress occurs when you have frequent acute stress. There’s no set date or time when you encounter this kind of stress, which results in making you feel like everything is happening at the same time.
Chronic stress: If your stressors continue for a long period of time, resulting in chronic stress. You might feel like your stresses are never going to end and find it difficult to improve your current situation.

WRITTEN BY Donna Wright

Donna is a career expert with extensive experience in the fields of Marketing, Publishing, Direct Mail and Communications. She’s witnessed firsthand the importance of a powerful resume and cover letter to a job search, so she takes great pride in helping change the lives of job seekers by sharing expert career advice and tips to help land the perfect job.