10 Ways to Destress in Five Minutes or Less

Advice for when you need a quick and easy relief.

We humans have a very common problem nowadays: We are high on stress, but low on time. Because we don’t have much time, we don’t want to take the time off to destress, because that means we are losing valuable time that we need to work on something seemingly super-important. A vicious, self-enforcing downward spiral.

What if I told you that even with only five minutes on your hands, there are tons of options you can use to destress yourself and refocus — methods that can increase your performance and makes you more efficient in the long run?

A seminar I recently attended gave me interesting insights into how stress works and the effects it has on your body, some of which I would like to share with you in this article.

To make it easy to understand, I have a simple analogy for you. Think of yourself as a car. A day in your life is like a car going on a road trip.

You wake up in the morning, have some coffee and breakfast, go to work and then start on your projects. The car is started up in the morning, driven out of city traffic and then onto the big highways were it picks up speed and makes some ground.

If it’s a relaxed day and everything is smooth sailing, you won’t stress much. But we all know these days are about as rare as high-quality photos of Big Foot.

More often than not, we get hit with unexpected appointments, last-minute changes and unrealistic requests from our bosses.

Similarly, a road trip isn’t always an easy, cruise-controlled and straight-forward journey on a new and smooth highway. There are traffic jams, detours and uphill roads paved with potholes.

As you get more and more stressed with everything that’s added to your plate, your car’s engine temperature will rise with every traffic jam and uphill road it has to go through.

The interesting thing about stress is that, in moderate doses, it is actually beneficial to our performance — just as warming up the engine is for a car. It is a survival mechanism that triggers our body’s fight-or-flight response, putting us into a state of high alertness and performance.

But if you push your car too hard, your engine will overheat, causing the car to break down.

The same thing happens to us when we experience too much stress. Thought loops, inability to think, lowered cognitive performance, bad temper, panic and ultimately nervous breakdowns are all symptoms of too much stress.

‘Stress is like spice — in the right proportion it enhances the flavor of a dish. Too little produces a bland, dull meal; too much may choke you.’ — Donald Tubesing

You need to stop and take a break on your road trip before your car’s engine gets too hot. You also need to stop and calm down before your stress reaches a critical level.

So far, so good. This is common sense — or at least, it should be. As a friend of mine once said: “Common sense shouldn’t be called common sense because it is not common.”

So why in the name of the holy guacamole do we not take a break but become overstressed? Because theory and practice are two very different concepts.

First, we all know we should take a break every now and then and that burning the candle from both sides isn’t healthy. But taking half an hour for a relaxing yoga session during our workday? No way. We’re too busy. We’re on a road trip to success town and we don’t have time for a stop!

Second, we tend to ignore the symptoms until it’s too late. Yes, we might lose our appetite, experience headaches and panic thinking about a to-do-list that’s filled to the brim. But we ignore these like the blinking red lamp on our dashboard and don’t stop driving until our car is on fire.

We live under the illusion that taking a break is making us less productive. But often, the opposite is true. Small breaks at the right time will increase your cognitive performance as well as efficiency and therefore give you the power to get more work done.

10 Simple Ways to Destress

Since free time is a rare blessing in our hectic and busy lives, I have put together ten methods that we can use to destress, applicable in less than five minutes, wherever you are — at home, at the office, in the bathroom, on public transport or on a first date.

1. Count

A lot of stress is caused by thought loops. We stand in front of a huge problem or task which we can neither solve nor forget about at the moment, so we go through the same thoughts over and over again, increasing our stress level on a never-ending merry go round.

The key here is to break this thought loop by occupying your mind with something else. Counting works wonders if you make it a small challenge. So try to count in increments of three and replace every fifth number with a letter from A to Z, one after another.

Don’t make it too hard on yourself though, simply keep your mind occupied.

2. Empty your cup

Sometimes stress is caused by our mind being filled to the absolute brim. We have so much on our plate that a good deal of our cerebral capacity is used to hold all our thoughts together.

In this case, we can relieve ourselves by writing down what we have in our minds. I always keep a little dump file open on my computer or a sheet of paper next to me while working. This way I can write down all the thoughts and problems I am not currently working on, so I don’t have to worry about forgetting something.

The physical act of writing down your thoughts and knowing that they are archived somewhere that you can easily come back to where you left can provide great relief.

Journaling once a day and writing down the thoughts that have been going back and forth in your head all day works wonders for keeping your mind clear as well.

3. Laugh

I know all the advice I give sounds like I have my life together and everything is as smooth as a baby’s bottom, which is true most of the time. However, anyone who claims he doesn’t have any major issues every now and then is either a liar or a psychopath.

Sometimes, everything seems broken. As the saying goes, laughter is the best medicine. So take five minutes off to look at some memes, watch your favourite comedian or smash a raw egg on your annoying co-worker’s forehead.

Whatever tickles your funny bone.

4. Chew gum

For me, chewing gum is the best thing since sliced bread. It cleans your teeth, gives you something do to, deals with the leftovers of last night’s Aioli sauce and provides stress relief according to this study.

Plus, it takes about ten seconds to pop a piece.

5. Listen to music

My neighbours hate me for this, but music in the form of loud, repetitive beats is my go-to stress relief. Try a few different genres or songs, something soothing might work better for you.

Relaxing your mind and getting lost in a song or two for a couple of minutes can greatly reduce your stress levels.

6. Autogenic training

While most of you might be familiar with meditation itself and the stress-relieving effects of it are obvious and well-known, autogenic training is not quite as popular.

It is a relaxation technique developed by the German psychiatrist Johannes Schultz and induces a state of relaxation in your body and mind.

This is the king of natural stress relaxation techniques. Although it takes some more time (about ten minutes), it will turn you from a furious ball of stress into a calm, grounded and relaxed human being.

There are tons of videos on YouTube which guide you through the process, I usually use this one. All you need are some headphones and a comfy seat or place on the floor.

7. Yoga, exercise and stretching

When you get stressed, it often spreads from your mind into your body. Stiff necks and hardened muscles often lead to pain and headaches. Yoga, exercise and stretching help you release these tensions and reduce the stress.

I keep a yoga mat right next to my desk and when I can feel that my body is becoming tense, I take five minutes off and do some light stretching, some squats or pushups.

It releases a lot of the built-up tension, gets the blood running and clears your head. Win-win-win.

8. Fresh air

I hate the feeling of being in a stuffy room. It makes me feel like I can’t breathe right, feel tired and a headache is usually just around the corner. So pop that window open and go for a little walk every now and then.

A walk in the park is a great way to practice mindfulness. Also, people coming into your room won’t walk into a metaphorical wall and stumble out backwards.

8. Think of past success

When we find ourselves in a stressful situation, we are quick to think that this is the end of the world and there is no way out. Relax. Think of your past success — for sure there have been similar situations before which you managed to get through.

If I have learned one thing about life, it is that everything is going to be ok. No matter how much you stress about that project at work or that check bouncing back, it is all going to work out somehow.

Plus, we are all going to die — so nothing matters that much anyway.

10. Breathe like a Navy SEAL

If your life is at stake, your stress levels are likely to go through the roof. As a combat and battle-tested unit, the Navy SEALS have to be experts in staying calm and focused.

One trick they use is called box breathing (because you breathe in four phases, like going along the edges of a box).

It’s simple: exhale completely. Then, breathe in, hold your breath, exhale, hold your breath, inhale etc., each of these for four seconds. To get yourself used to the breathing rhythm, you can follow this visual.

Sticking to this breath pattern for five minutes will leave you focused and calm. It is also a great method to get ready for a big presentation or meeting.

Don’t Set Your Car On Fire

The most important tip I can give you today is to stop before it is too late. Be proactive, not reactive.

It is easy to cool down your car engine if it overheated, but once it starts burning, you’ll need more than a quick stop to extinguish the flames.

I usually take five minutes off at specific intervals, like once every 60 or 90 minutes. Play around and see what works for you.

I know that we all have a lot on our metaphorical plates. Work out. Stay healthy. Read. Do well at your job so you get a promotion. Spend time with your family. Get life sorted out, make money, have dates and pay the bills. All of these sometimes require tremendous amounts of work.

But to put it into the words of Mark Black:

‘Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.’

So take a break before your car starts burning.

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